Wandering Eyes

A deal has been struck between Newmarket Racecourse and bet365, which sees Newmarket’s three-day Craven Meeting sponsorship extended another three years, it was announced on Monday. The bet365 Craven Meeting is the first of 39 fixtures held at HQ in 2019 and begins on Tuesday, with the G3 bet365 Craven S., won last year by subsequent G1 Investec Derby hero Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), on tap for Wednesday’s card. “We are delighted to have agreed an extended deal with bet365 ahead of what is sure to be another fantastic curtain raiser to the 2019 season at the Home of Horseracing,” said Amy Starkey, Regional Director of The Jockey Club, East Region. “bet365 have long been valued supporters of Newmarket Racecourses and we are excited to discover which star names will emerge at bet365 Craven Meetings in the seasons to come.” Added bet365 Head of Racing PR Pat Cooney, “”We are delighted to continue our support of the Craven Meeting for a further three years, maintaining our close relationship with Newmarket Racecourses. Our association with this meeting goes back many years and we are looking forward to welcoming in the new Flat season at the Home of Horseracing.” View the full article

When Country House finished third in the Arkansas Derby (G1), he left Bodexpress at the top of the list of as many as five 3-year-olds who may be re-routed to the Preakness unless there is a rash of defections from the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1). View the full article

“Happy New Year” used to be the traditional greeting at Newmarket’s Craven meeting and for aficionados of racing on the level it was apt, even allowing for the excitement of the Cheltenham festival and Grand National that preceded it. Tuesday sees it come around again on racing’s welcome continuous cycle with a storm of some of the world’s finest bloodstock cutting through the vibrant spring air. This year, due to the nature of a late Easter, the Suffolk venue’s first major feast of the season takes place after Newbury and ParisLongchamp’s Classic trials so there is a sense that we are already well underway. Nevertheless, these three days at “HQ” have a unique appeal as the true high-board of the flat and a glance down the honour roll of the Nell Gwyn and Craven S. certainly says so. The former, a Group 3 contest over seven furlongs for the fillies whose connections are set on the 1000 Guineas, graces the opening fixture on Tuesday with it now being 13 years since Speciosa (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) won it and the main event. Despite that statistic, it is always a trial of substance, more so for the beaten fillies of late with the Hannon-trained pair of Billesdon Brook (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) turning around reversals in the 2 1/2-week gap between this and the mile Classic. Roger Varian has a strong contingent this time, with the stable’s G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner Mot Juste (Distorted Humor) carrying the famous silks of Robert Barnett just three days after the owner-breeder’s Star Terms (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) ran a creditable fourth in the Fred Darling. Alongside her is Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani’s course-and-distance maiden winner Qabala (Scat Daddy) and despite the gulf in experience that exists between the duo their trainer is highly complimentary of both. “Mot Juste has wintered well and strengthened up considerably,” he said. “I am pleased with the way she has been working but, although she is ready for a run, the Nell Gwyn will bring her on and we are treating it as a stepping stone to the rest of the season for her. She has a fast ground action–the ground is quite important to her–so the dry forecast is in her favour. I hope that she is a filly good enough to merit a place in the 1000 Guineas line-up. “Qabala is a filly full of potential and I think that she is a group-race performer of the future. This will tell us a lot about her current level and if she is more of a filly for later in the season.” Racecourse savvy is supplied in abundance by Saif Ali’s Main Edition (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who was out last May and scooped the prizes on offer in the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot and the G3 Sweet Solera S. on the July Course here before winding up third behind Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}) and Saturday’s Fred Darling winner Dandhu (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in the G2 Rockfel S. over this track and trip in September. Charlie Johnston, assistant to father Mark, is in confident mood. “She’s the highest-rated filly in the race and on her Albany and Sweet Solera runs, she’s the one they all have to beat,” he commented. “It looks a decent opportunity for her and hopefully she can give us some confidence that we can come back to Newmarket next month with a realistic each-way chance.” Charlie Appleby’s performance at this meeting 12 months ago was outstanding and his pair of fillies by Dubawi (Ire), Nashirah (GB) and Orchid Star (GB), will provide a guide as to where he stands with his Classic crop. Nashirah has the benefit of a Dubai winter behind her and is obviously considered better than her latest fifth in the Jan. 31 Meydan Classic Trial over this trip, while Orchid Star has been on the all-weather during the cold months. An impressive winner of a mile novice contest on Newcastle’s Tapeta last time Feb. 15, she may have a touch of last year’s winner Soliloquy (GB) about her. “We feel that going back up in trip will probably be on the cards for Orchid Star in time,” Appleby commented. “She has made all on her last two starts and will be ridden forwardly again, especially as she is coming back to seven furlongs.” It is 28 years since the winner of the Listed European Free H. went on to 2000 Guineas glory and while it seems fanciful to suggest that any of this year’s cast of seven can end the drought, there is a promising type in the John Gosden-trained Azano (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Last seen finishing runner-up to Saturday’s impressive G3 Greenham S. winner Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) in Newbury’s G3 Horris Hill S. over this seven-furlong trip, Martin and Lee Taylor’s bay gets six pounds from Saeed bin Mohammed Al Qassimi’s G3 Tattersalls S. winner Arctic Sound (GB) (Poet’s Voice {GB}) with the racing weights determined by the horses’ positioning in the World Rankings. Despite having to give weight to all, Arctic Sound carries high hopes into his comeback. “He’s a course-and-distance winner and I’d like to think he’s the one they all have to beat,” Charlie Johnston said of him. Nestled between the Nell Gwyn and European Free is the Listed Feilden S., where Phoenix Thoroughbred’s Kadar (Scat Daddy) will be seen for the second time after missing two group engagements last season due to rain-softened ground. Having beaten ‘TDN Rising Star’ and strong-staying type Waldstern (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in a mile novice race at Haydock in September, he is moving up to nine furlongs rather than tackling the speedier Classic trials. “We’ll learn a lot about him,” trainer Karl Burke commented. “I’ve said plenty about him in the last year–probably too much–but I think he’s a lovely horse.” Burke has made no secret of the regard in which the €700,000 Arqana May Breeze-Up graduate is held, but said he feels that the Guineas may be on the sharp side. “I hope I’m wrong, but he is just showing that a mile in the top grade might just catch him out for a turn of foot which is why I’m happy to run him over an extra furlong.,” he added. “For me he’s a mile-and-a-quarter-horse plus. If he wins then we have the option of coming back for the Guineas, because he’ll have had a look at the track as well. I was probably over cautious last year–he was a big baby of a horse, but he’s much more mature now.” Kadar’s material will be measured in his performance against Aidan O’Brien’s G1 Futurity Trophy third Western Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and he is race-fit after a return second in Dundalk’s Listed Patton S. Mar. 6. Newmarket’s Craven meeting is not just about the black-type races, however, with abundant promise in evidence in the various maidens and novice races. Last year, Sea of Class (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) managed to get beaten on her debut in the second division of the mile fillies’ maiden on this card and the next time she tasted defeat was at the hands of Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the Arc. Even the closing 10-furlong handicap has proved a surprisingly fertile source of classy individuals in recent times, with Papal Bull (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), Wigmore Hall (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), Main Sequence (Aldebaran) and Old Persian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) all winning before achieving on a more grandiose scale. Perhaps Papal Bull’s trainer Sir Michael Stoute has high hopes for Saeed Suhail’s Newcastle novice winner Solid Stone (Ire) (Shamardal) in this year’s renewal, with the colt being his only runner on the opening card. In the five-furlong 2-year-old fillies’ maiden, Charlie Appleby unleashes Godolphin’s 750,000gns Tattersalls October purchase Chasing Dreams (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) as the operation’s first juvenile runner of 2019. View the full article

The Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center (MMSC) is located in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2004, with major donations from Marylou Whitney, the late Dr. Frank Lyons, and Maker’s Mark, through their Triple Crown commemorative bottle sales, the MMSC gives off-track Thoroughbreds a world stage in the heavily trafficked horse lovers destination. Retraining at MMSC is based on the Horse Centered Reschooling Program, developed by MMSC Director Susanna Thomas. I caught up with Thomas, who just recently announced a new satellite location for MMSC in Illinois. The MMSC is a TAA-accredited organization. DP: What is your background in horses and how has it influenced the mission and work at MMSC? ST: Horses have been my lifelong interest and passion. I grew up a horse crazy little girl in New York and in Europe, and was constantly seeking out ways to be close to and to learn about horses. Because of where I have lived, I have an eclectic background with horses. In addition, I am ceaselessly curious and forever fascinated by the art, philosophy and science of horses and horsemanship. Over the years I have competed in dressage and hunt seat, done extensive groundwork training, foxhunted, driven carriages and I’ve ridden sidesaddle. I taught riding, spent many years writing for horse magazines, worked in many aspects of the racing industry from working with broodmares, breaking yearlings, working at the sales, being a vet tech, night watching, and breeding a few sport horses. Add all of this to my holistic approach to wellness in life–a constant balance of–mind, body, spirit, relationship–and what we get is the Horse Centered Reschooling Program, a training methodology where each of these factors is addressed to give the horse the best chance of success in whatever job it is being asked to do. When I took over the Center in 2008, I wanted to move as many horses as possible but in doing so, I had to stay true to my personal beliefs and make sure that we were fulfilling our duty to the horses in every way. You sometimes feel in the business of racing, the best interest of the horses isn’t or can’t always be the number one priority. The horses have to fit into the racehorse mold–perform or move on. That makes sense at the track, but not so when putting horses up for adoption. The end goal is to make sure that these horses have successful new careers and homes. The best way to achieve that in my opinion, is to make sure that each horse is prepared for a new job, and placed properly. Instead of running horses through the center speedily because that is the foremost need of the industry, we flip the ratio and make each horse’s individual needs the focus first. Taking the time it takes, as expeditiously as possible–we do whatever is necessary to give every horse the best chance to succeed in a new job and to have longevity in a new home. Education matters, right? As Alois Podhajsky, head of the Spanish Riding School always said, “one makes haste slowly with horses.” So we go as fast and as slow as we can and it has really paid off because we have adopters who love our methods and approach, very few mismatches and many, many repeat customers who want an additional MMSC horse in their barn. DP: Let’s talk about MMSC by the numbers. How many stalls do you have at MMSC? Does that determine the number of horses in training at MMSC? How many horses are in the MMSC barn at this time? ST: We have 10 stalls at MMSC, all named for donors who sponsored them, and 10-15 horses on the grounds at a time throughout the year. We try to keep them outdoors as much as possible, although we generally have five or six up at night if they need special attention. Over the year, we will move between 40 and 50 horses through our program. DP: How many staff and volunteers does it take to keep it running? ST: We have four full-time employees who handle the horse care, training, adoptions, marketing, educational outreach, fundraising and office management. We all do barnwork, and groundwork, whatever it takes, and we have a covey of the most wonderful volunteers and amazing interns to help us keep the place up. DP: Are you launching any new initiatives in 2019? ST: I am thrilled about a new program conceived of by our chair, Dorothy Crowell, an international level event rider and Olympian, granddaughter of Leslie Combs, a Thoroughbred aficionada, called the Allstar Program which aims to bring the Thoroughbred back to the highest levels of sport. There are many owners who get into the business of racing because of the love of the horse and seeing it compete. Dorothy’s thought was why does the fun have to stop when the racing days are done? For a cost that is minimal in comparison to racing expenses ($4,000 a year), the owners can support their horse–if it seemingly has the talent–in a competition syndicate and cheer it on, perhaps even to the highest levels of equestrian sport. We have one international level rider already, Jonathan Hollings and his MMSC graduate Ragtime Rebel (Union Rags) who was given to us by Charlie LoPresti. And we have received quite a few calls from upper level riders all over the country who want to join the effort to showcase the Thoroughbred as America’s elite sport-horse. Now, all we need are more owners to join in. DP: The MMSC is located in the much-revered Kentucky Horse Park. Tell us how that affects the day-to-day operations of the MMSC and how has that location helped or hurt your mission? ST: The great thing about being in the Horse Park is that Lexington is not only the Horse Capital of the World, it is the Thoroughbred Horse Capital of the World. That gives us a huge stage from which to shout out the wonders of this amazing breed and the value of our industry. The challenges are that we have a very small campus, so we are limited to the amount of horses that we can take on. We also do tours and get many drop-in visitors which one might call “interruptions” because it does curtail our work routine. I take them not as interruptions at all but, as opportunities to share our passion and knowledge and make new friends for the MMSC and for racing. We are very proud of our location and we want to do anything we can to showcase the Kentucky Horse Park as the amazing facility that it is. We have discussed a variety of ways that the Horse Park and the MMSC can work together for the mutual goal of educating and celebrating the horse-in this case, the Thoroughbred horse. I would welcome the TB industry reaching out to us more and using our stage to broadcast their good works in aftercare. DP: What is unique or special about the training program at MMSC? ST: What is special about the MMSC is our laser-like focus on each horse–what it tells us with its body, its reactions, its actions. Then we make an individualized plan using the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes and the compassionate tact of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller’s companion, to search out the mysteries of each horse and to teach it in a way that it can best understand. Every horse receives, not only the dental and farrier care it needs, we also do bodywork, chiropractic adjustments, integrative therapies, proceed through desensitization and trust–building exercises using natural horsemanship, problem solving skills by introducing Tellington-Jones techniques. We start from the ground, lunging, and long-lining, and free jumping. When we ride, we give them a curriculum based on the fundamental principles of dressage, introduce them to cavelletti and small jumping courses, take them trail riding, and even sometimes foxhunting or to horse shows. Finally, we insist that people come ride the horses they are interested in before they can adopt one. We don’t get as many horses adopted this way as those organizations which allow horses to be adopted sight unseen, but we believe it is the best way for the horse, the adopter, and the reputation of the breed. Think about it–if a horse is shipped to a new home and the fit is not right, the adopter could get hurt, the horse could get hurt or confused, and you reinforce the belief that “Thoroughbreds are only fit for racing.” DP: What is the biggest challenge facing your organization in 2019? ST: We have two huge challenges. The first is funding. I am honored that professionals and amateurs alike have called us the “Gold Standard of Thoroughbred Reschooling,” but Gold Standards are pricey to uphold. The racing industry is beleaguered by charities doing good work, but clamoring for the same funds. It is a constant struggle to be able to afford to give these horses what they need. The second challenge is that our campus is really small–17 acres of paddock. This limits the number of horses we can take in. Not only that we don’t have an indoor arena so training is often limited by the weather and the season. If we had more funding, we could solve both of those things, so I guess, the biggest challenge is truly funding. DP: You recently announced a satellite facility. Can you tell us a little about it? ST: It seemed to us that the way to help more horses was to open additional facilities. This was something the board had discussed over the years, but it seemed really challenging to find a way to ensure that our “Gold Standard” would be upheld. Over the last two years, the MMSC has adopted out five horses to the lesson program at a showcase facility in Frankfort, Illinois called the Ranch. As a result we have come to know Rick Bulthuis, owner of the Ranch in Frankfort Illinois and his general manager, Daniele Turner, really well and we realized that they were very much in line with our philosophy. We began talking about a satellite arrangement in the spring of last year and we are super excited to announce that we are open for business now in Illinois. In fact, in the short time since the announcement, we have adopted out two lovely reschooled horses from the MMSC at the Ranch. DP: Is there a horse you have in training today to whom you’d like to introduce us? ST: Yes, War of Ideas. He was a $470,000 sales yearling, who ran a bit, and was felled by a guttural pouch infection that threatened his life. With the support of Dr. Liz Barrett at Hagyard Medical Center, he was nursed back to health at the MMSC and is the RRP Makeover horse of our talented trainer, Kara Toye. He’s a gorgeous, gray masterpiece of a horse–which goes English, or western, has a great jump, and is wonderful field hunter. Please follow him on our social media and come cheer him on at the Makeover! For more information go to www.secretariatcenter.org Diana Pikulski is the editor of the Thoroughbred Adoption Network. View the full article

G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas contenders Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) will both work publically on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse in advance of racing on the first day of the three-day Craven Meeting on Tuesday. GSW Phoenix Of Spain, who won the G3 Acomb S. and ran second in the G1 Vertem Futurity S. in October for trainer Charlie Hills, will work over seven furlongs in company with a lead horse at 11:55 a.m. local time. G1 Phoenix S. victor and Phoenix Thoroughbred-owned Advertise is slated to work at 12:15 p.m. over six panels with a lead horse for trainer Martyn Meade. The first day of the Craven Meeting will feature eight races, with the first race going off at 1:15 p.m. View the full article

Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Improbable, along with third-place finisher Country House and sixth-place finisher Long Range Toddy, arrived at Churchill Downs the morning of April 15 following a flight from Oaklawn Park. View the full article

Terry Hamilton's multiple graded stakes winner Heart to Heart has been retired said trainer Brian Lynch April 15. The 8-year-old son of English Channel leaves racing with a 15-6-4 record from 41 starts and earnings of $2,035,090. View the full article

Apologies for the tardy start of this weekly digest. It’s certainly not a case of taking the Newmarket resident’s view that the Flat only really begins today with the start of the Craven meeting, more that family matters rendered this correspondent a non-runner in the first fortnight of the season. Fortunately we have had the excellent Pat Smullen to give us his take on the racing scene, and his much-enjoyed weekly column will be back tomorrow. Even ahead of today’s racing action, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile has already been the scene of plenty of activity this week, with around 120 breezers having been put under the spotlight yesterday morning ahead of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale, which starts its two-day run later today. The 2-year-old sales are not universally loved but a good reminder that such auctions can offer more than just blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em juveniles was served by the admirable Stormy Antarctic (GB) (Stormy Atlantic) on Sunday. Now six, the Ed Walker-trained gelding added the G3 Kalkmann Frujahrs-Meile at Dusseldorf to his record on his 2019 debut, extending his tally to seven wins and 11 places from 26 starts. Those victories, spread between Britain, France and Germany, include the G3 Craven S. of 2016—run, appropriately enough, during a sudden lightning storm—a year after he had been sold at the eponymous breeze-up sale by Grove Stud for 200,000gns. He was also beaten just a head by Johannes Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) while aiming for Group 1 success at two in the Criterium International. When interviewed for the TDN last summer, Walker said, “Stormy has kind of saved our bacon every year. He’s been a flag-bearer and a star.” He is unlikely to have revised his opinion of his stable favourite and the trainer deserves equal plaudits for keeping Stormy Antarctic in such good shape both physically and mentally. The Wonder of Winx While we are on the subject of longevity, the above statement of course applies to Chris Waller in his handling of Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}). There’s little left to say about Australia’s darling that hasn’t already been said, but alongside her legion of fans there are those who will continue to feel that her connections’ reluctance to travel beyond her home country means that we’ll never know how good she really was. That debate is largely irrelevant, however. The true wonder of Winx is her extraordinary retention of form, soundness and will to win. In every racing stable in every jurisdiction there will be horses whose trainers feel that they’ve never really shown their true potential because they’ve been difficult to keep sound, or that they didn’t really have the heart for the job. In truth, those two things usually go hand in hand. A sound horse, free of aches and pains, is usually a happy horse, prepared to go out there and run as it was bred to do. For those knocking Winx, it’s worth remembering that during her 33-race winning streak which lasted just shy of four years, an American Triple Crown winner has come and gone in just six—albeit brilliant, unbeaten—starts, not to mention countless other horses now being feted at stud whose race records don’t amount to a hill of beans in comparison to that of the great mare. Thanx, Winx. Turgeon, too The award for longstanding services to racing must however go to Turgeon (Caro {GB}). There can be few, if any, stallions with a new crop of foals on the ground at the age of 33. That was the remarkable benchmark reached by the Haras du Mesnil stallion, who died last week. He will be missed terribly by Henri and Antonia Devin, who stood him for the entirety for his stud career, which began in 1994. In the week before the Cheltenham Festival, at which the Mesnil team was represented by the Close Brothers Novices’ Chase winner A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) and G1 Queen Mother Champion Chase runner-up Politologue (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}), Antonia Devin was celebrating the arrival of a good filly foal by Turgeon but admitted that the stallion would for the first time not be covering this season. Turgeon himself posted a new Festival winner this year in the form of Siruh Du Lac (Fr), while he features as broodmare sire not just of Politologue but also one of the stars of the season, La Bague Au Roi (Fr), a daughter of his Mesnil stud mate Doctor Dino (Fr). A stayer in every sense of the word, Turgeon met his end peacefully in the place that had been his home for a quarter of a century, but his name will be remembered for many years to come. More Power To The Champion Silvestre de Sousa claimed his second jockeys’ championship last year on the same day he met King Power Racing’s Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha to discuss a retainer for the owner’s horses this season. A week later, Srivaddhanaprabha, a major investor in racehorses in recent years, was killed in a helicopter crash while leaving the ground of his Leicester City Football Club. His family’s decision to continue racing the team of horses which had been assembled for him by Alastair Donald has been rewarded so far this season with a terrific strike-rate for King Power Racing and de Sousa, and, with a number of Classic prospects under their ownership, it will be hoped that greater success is yet to come. On Saturday, Fox Chairman (Ire), a Kingman (GB) half-brother to Group 1 winner La Collina (Ire), was the impressive four-length winner of a Newbury maiden, following up the previous day’s success at the same track, and also for trainer Andrew Balding, of Happy Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). The same team also has today’s European Free H. runner Shine So Bright (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who holds a 2000 Guineas entry, as well as the portentously named King Power (GB), a Frankel (GB) half-sister to Oaks winner Talent (GB) (New Approach {GB}), who is entered for that same Classic. On Saturday morning, de Sousa was spotted in Sir Michael Stoute’s string aboard last season’s maiden winner Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal), the sister to Australian Group 2 winner Puissance De Lune (Ire). She too has potential Classic engagements. Fine and Dandy A good run last season for Ballyhane Stud’s Dandy Man (Ire) shows no sign of abating. In consecutive weekends he has been represented by Classic trial winners Lady Kaya (Ire) and Dandhu (GB), while Godolphin’s La Pelosa (Ire), a graduate of last year’s Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale from the Tally-Ho Stud draft and subsequent winner of the GI Natalma S. at Woodbine, has entries in the Irish and French Guineas. Chatez (Ire) gilded the lily at Newbury on Saturday, winning the valuable Spring Cup after Dandhu had triumphed in the G3 Fred Darling S. for the redoubtable veterans David Elsworth and Gerald Mosse. These results have combined to leave Dandy Man out in front in the British and Irish sires’ table at this early stage of the season, ahead of Dark Angel (Ire) and Kodiac (GB). Five of his offspring are catalogued to sell at Tattersalls this week. Success no Accident As the G1 Queen Anne S. winner Accidental Agent (GB) (Delegator {GB}) nears his seasonal return, perhaps in the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S., his owner-breeder Gaie Johnson Houghton will have been buoyed by more success for the family via G3 Greenham S. winner Mohaather (GB). The son of Showcasing (GB) is a half-brother to Accidental Agent’s dam Roodle (GB) (Xaar {GB}) and was the final foal of his listed-placed dam Roodeye (GB) (Inchinor {GB}) and was sold to Shadwell as a yearling for 110,000gns. Two of his three victories have come at Group 3 level at Newbury and he is now around 12/1 for the 2000 Guineas to give trainer Marcus Tregoning a second Classic after the Derby victory of Sir Percy (GB) in 2006. Five generations of this particular equine family, which descends from the foundation mare Sirnelta (GB), have raced for the Johnson Houghtons. The breeder’s daughter Eve trains not just Accidental Agent but also his half-sisters, Madame Tantzy (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and Roodica (GB) (Due Diligence). The 3-year-old Madame Tantzy made her debut at Newbury on the same day that Mohaather won the G3 Horris Hill S. last October. Though she was down the field when again appearing on the same card as her relation on Saturday in the G3 Fred Darling S., she became a winner last month at Kempton. The siblings’ dam, one of two mares owned by Johnson Houghton, is booked to be covered by Showcasing this season. View the full article

NEWMARKET, UK–With the breeze-up calendar this year lurching straight from the blue-collar to the blueblood, it’s not easy to read the barometer. Will the Tattersalls Craven Sale take its cue from the uplifting spring sunshine that favoured the youngsters who exhibited their wares on the Rowley Mile yesterday; or from the residue of winter that laced the icy headwind into which they galloped? Last year, consignors arrived in Newmarket reeling. They had endured a particularly dispiriting start at Ascot, where only half those into the ring managed to find a new home, and found little respite in the intermediate market at Doncaster. This time round, however, the latter sale has been pushed back to later in the month. And it would be rash to treat a sale as different in emphasis as the one staged at Ascot a couple of weeks ago as any kind of signpost, for better or worse, to the likely trade when the first of two evening sessions is staged after racing concludes up the road on Tuesday. Nonetheless consignors enter the fray with guarded optimism, recognising that there were lessons to be learned last year, and hoping that a new bonus scheme will help their cause. There was a consensus last year that the sector had become bloated, partly thanks to those opportunists–emboldened by the headline coups of those specialists whose expertise had driven a boom in the market–who “dumped” unsold yearlings on the breeze-ups. Even this sale expanded its catalogue, from 152 to 172, but has been trimmed back to 147 before withdrawals this time. John Cullinan of Horse Park Stud, who has earned so many plaudits for his work heading the Breeze-Up Consignors’ Association, knows that it can be tough for yearling vendors just to write off a hit–for the very good reason that he is also one himself. “But people were losing sight of the fact that this is a specialist sector,” he said. “Just because a yearling is unsold doesn’t necessarily mean it will be suitable for the breeze-ups. When we make those decisions, as yearling vendors, it’s based on the horse. “Remember the breeze-ups were never a mainstream activity. The breeze-ups were a way for trainers to top up their 2-year-old stock for the current season, typically adding a couple more provided what they already had at home was paid for. The sector was never capable of absorbing the kind of numbers that ended up in the system last year.” Tattersalls have certainly done their bit, introducing a £15,000 bonus scheme modelled on the success of its £25,000 Book I incentive at the October Sale. Ascot, likewise, had come up with a new carrot, in a £100,000 bonus for any graduate that proceeds to win at the Royal meeting. So while the postponement of the Doncaster sale removes a wider base for judging the market’s morale, Cullinan feels the signs are positive. “There has been a correction, both on the sales companies’ side and the consignors’ side,” he said. “Numbers have been tightened up, which needed to happen. Ascot cut back considerably, because they had too many last year when the clearance rate was very poor. I think they’ve cleverly created an identity for that sale, as a place to find your early 2-year-old; coupled with the bonus, which was a good marketing ploy, the clearance rate was much better.” Admittedly the increased traffic at Ascot made it hard for the median to recover. But this sale is a whole different ball game, with many lots pinhooked for sums far greater than that given for the top lot at Ascot. There will be plenty of interest, for instance, in the American Pharoah colt consigned by jockey John Egan and his Alliance Bloodstock team as lot 29–not least after an impressive success by the Triple Crown winner’s first runner in Ireland last week. This half-brother to Group 3 winner and G2 Queen Mary S. runner-up Shumoos (Distorted Humor) was bought for $375,000 at Keeneland last September and Egan will be hoping for another exciting day, having pinhooked $270,000 yearling Global Prospector (Scat Daddy)–a striking debut scorer at Wolverhampton last month–through Mocklershill when he realised 800,000gns here last year. But the poster girl for the 2018 sale, adorning the back of the catalogue, is La Pelosa (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who was sold to Godolphin by Tally-Ho Stud for 280,000gns and proceeded to win the GI Natalma S. at Woodbine five months later. As one consignor put it, you seldom get any pleasant surprises from a breeze. The most you can hope is that they do themselves justice according to what you have seen at home, and that you get no reaction–in the shins or elsewhere–to what were pretty firm conditions yesterday for those adolescent limbs. Needless to say, the timing spreadsheets will have their usual impact at the top of the market–whatever agents might claim about treating the clock as just one among umpteen factors–but at least disaster was averted when Norman Williamson’s Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt (lot 122) was unable to stretch out because of a broken rein. The Oak Tree Farm consignor was relieved that the colt showed such a sensible disposition that he was able to regroup, after an hour’s rest, and show what he could do. “And he breezed well,” Williamson said. “I’m very hopeful: I have four nice colts by the right sires. That Invincible Spirit is the only one in the sale, and the same goes for a beautiful horse by Farrh (GB) [lot 41]. And we’ve a very quick, sharp 2-year-old by Dark Angel (Ire) [lot 127], who breezed very well, and a Kodiac (GB) with a very good pedigree [lot 117, out of a group-winning sister to Classic scorer King Of Kings (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells)]. All ours did what we thought they would, and they all moved well, which is a big help. They’re in good shape, so fingers crossed. “The whole sector has tightened up a bit on last year and, while it’s hard to read [this sale] after Ascot, it looked like there was trade there: plenty of horses being sold for £20,000-£30,000. But here will tell a lot about the future. There are well-bred horses that cost a bit of money, and the standard looked good out there. It was quite quick ground, but there’d be no excuses on it for Flat horses; and while there was the headwind it didn’t inconvenience anyone, because it was the same all the way through.” Cullinan, for his part, was largely happy enough with his team–as usual presented in partnership with Roger Marley of Church Farm. “It was the usual mixed bag,” he said. “We do have one very smart horse there, lot 80, a naturally quick 2-year-old by Tagula (Ire). But he changed his legs half a dozen times in the Dip. So he didn’t breeze quite as well as we would have liked, but our opinion of the horse hasn’t changed. We’ve two Kodiac colts who aren’t five-furlong horses, they’re seven-furlong horses, but a nice horse is a nice horse and we think they’re racehorses [Lots 45 & 108]. Like the Tagula, the Dandy Man [lot 133] is also ready to rock, so hopefully there will be punters out there for them. And we’ve a filly, another Kodiac, who again won’t be a Queen Mary filly [lot 54] but she’ll win her races and has a residual value with a good book and a good physical, so hopefully she’ll have her admirers.” His faith in the Tagula colt typifies the scenario in which a bond of trust between consignors and past clients can be worth even more in this sector than is the case with yearlings or foals. “Yes, vendor input can be much more influential because, by and large, we know what we have,” Cullinan said. “From seeing them on a daily basis, we know which horses are going to be trainable. All we hope is that they show on the day what we think they can do. They never find an extra leg here!” And that takes us back to his original point. This is a highly specialised business, and you can’t chuck just any yearling into the process. “Breeze-up consignors know what might work and what won’t,” Cullinan said. “But it’s tricky. We’ve a lot of risks involved. Between us we have spent £90-million over the last four years and, typically, this sale here and the one at Arqana would have about £6-7 million apiece [of stock] coming in. So there’s a lot at stake. Thankfully, we’ve very good people at it and the results on the track have been very, very good. “So we just hope people recognise the way we’re adding huge value to the raw material that is your yearling. We show soundness, ability, you can listen to their wind, see their action. But in doing so we’re also exposing the ordinary beasts. So we’re taking 20% of the yearling market, sorting out the good ones and culling the bad ones. That makes it a very valuable selection process for our customers.” View the full article

The Kentucky Horse Park is partnering with Visit Horse Country, the premier resource for equine-related tours in Kentucky, it was announced Monday. The Park will serve as a convenient location for guests to purchase one-of-a-kind equine tours based on their specific interests. “The Kentucky Horse Park was developed to get people close to the horse, and for more than 40 years has done an excellent job pursuing that mission,” said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of Visit Horse Country. “We’re proud to be joining the resources and experiences of our privately-owned locations as a complement to the work of the Commonwealth at the park.” Visit Horse Country, founded in 2014, is a not-for-profit organization representing 39 members across Kentucky. Tours are available at stallion farms, nurseries, clinics, feed mills and aftercare organizations including the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center and Spy Coast Farm–both located on or near the Kentucky Horse Park. View the full article

Garrett Smith has been hired as the new trainer at Donald Dizney’s Double Diamond Farm in Ocala, Fla. the farm announced Monday. Smith, who has already taken up his post, joins Double Diamond following a four-year stint at GoldMark Farm in Ocala. Prior to that, he managed a training center in South Carolina where he worked with such stakes stars as Congrats, Flatter, First Samurai, and Madcap Escapade, and he also served as Farm and Racing Manager at Stonecrest Farm, where he worked with multiple Graded stakes-winning multi-millionaire Perfect Drift. “I am very excited about the opportunity to work with this first-class operation that Mr. Dizney and General Manager Roger Brand have assembled here at Double Diamond,” Smith said. “The sky is the limit. It’s a beautiful farm, we can train on dirt and turf, and we have lush, spacious paddocks which make it beneficial for lay-ups and rehabilitation as well.” View the full article

Jason Beem, a veteran racecaller with more than a decade of experience, will handle Monmouth Park’s announcing duties until the return of Frank Mirahmadi following the conclusion of the Santa Anita meet June 23, general manager Bill Anderson announced Monday. Beem, a Washington state native who called races at Portland Meadows for 10 years starting in 2006, will begin his new assignment when Monmouth Park kicks off its 74th season of Thoroughbred racing Saturday, May 4. Mirahmadi will return for his fifth season at the Jersey Shore track starting with the June 28 card. He was hired as the full-time announcer by Santa Anita last fall. “I was happy to recommend Jason for this opportunity,” said Mirahmadi. “Jason does an excellent job calling races and I know the fans and horsemen will appreciate his talents.” “If you look at Monmouth Park’s last three announcers–Larry Collmus, Travis Stone and Frank Mirahmadi–you’re talking about the guy who calls the Breeders’ Cup, the guy who calls the Kentucky Derby and the guy who calls Santa Anita,” added Beem. “So I’m flattered even as a fill-in to get the opportunity to call there. I’m certainly nervous but it’s a good nervous. I’m excited for this opportunity.” View the full article

History, of a minor sort, was made at Lingfield on Feb. 23 when Wissahickon landed the G3 Winter Derby to become the first European group winner by America’s two-time champion sire Tapit. The same 4-year-old colt had already become his sire’s first black-type winner in any of the major European racing powers when he won the Listed Quebec S. on his final start of 2018. I should add, though, that Tapit had gone very close to notching up that elusive first European group success nearly 10 years earlier when his Spanish-trained son As de Trebol–a member of Tapit’s first crop–had narrowly landed the G3 Prix du Palais-Royal, only to lose the race in the stewards’ room. Bearing in mind that the 18-year-old Tapit has been represented by well over 100 black-type winners in North America, his previous lack of high-level European success seems extraordinary. The knee-jerk reaction is that it must be because Tapit raced exclusively on dirt and is a grandson of A.P. Indy, another stallion who made a far greater impact in his native U.S. than in Europe. It mustn’t be forgotten, though, that doubts about the adaptability of dirt stallions often become self-fulfilling prophecies. European breeders and buyers usually demand that such stallions prove themselves in Europe before they are prepared to support them, but how can the stallions prove themselves if only a few of their offspring are brought to Europe? Although Tapit has had well over 900 starters in North America, statistics show that he has had just 16 runners in Britain, 13 in France and six in Ireland. This didn’t deter George Strawbridge from sending Wissahickon to be trained by John Gosden and he’s had no cause to regret the decision. A highly progressive son of that excellent broodmare No Matter What, Wissakickon has won eight of his ten starts, including six of his seven appearances on all-weather tracks. However, the BHA considers his best effort came when he ran to a figure of 117 in winning the Cambridgeshire H. on a fast turf course. Of course, it’s said that one swallow does not a summer make, and I would still be somewhat wary of Tapit’s progeny in Europe. However, there are now encouraging signs that any such prejudice need not be applied to the progeny of Tapit’s broodmare daughters. In the last few weeks we have seen them represented by Scat Daddy’s fast son Sergei Prokofiev, who added the Listed Cork S. to his 2018 win in the G3 Cornwallis S., and War Front’s Munitions, who was winning for the third time in five starts when he narrowly landed the G3 Prix Djebel. Sandwiched between these two wins was the Japanese 1000 Guineas victory of Deep Impact’s daughter Gran Alegria, with this winner of the G1 Oka Sho being a daughter of Tapit’s GI turf winner Tapitsfly. This success has also spread as far as Australia, where this year’s Group 2 seven-furlong winner Qafila was sired by Not A Single Doubt from Zighy Bay, a Tapit mare who was placed in the French Provinces. It was a bold move by Godolphin to send Munitions to be trained in Europe after purchasing the Winchell-bred colt for $550,000. After all, the Djebel winner is by War Front, a stallion who raced only on dirt during a 13-race career, and he is out of War Echo, a four-time winner on dirt, including in the GIII Silverbulletday S. over 1 1/16 miles and the Daily Racing Form Distaff S. over a mile and an eighth. War Echo is herself a three-parts-sister to Pyro, a GI-winning dirt specialist sired by Tapit’s sire Pulpit. As I’ve already mentioned, War Echo is by Tapit, another who raced only on dirt. The next dam, Wild Vision, won on dirt on her only appearance and was a sister to Wild Wonder, a multiple graded winner at up to 1 1/16 miles on dirt. Perhaps the Godolphin team remembered that War Echo’s brother Farrier handled turf well enough to finish second to Tryster in the G1 Jebel Hatta in 2016. Of course the Godolphin team will also have witnessed the turf exploits of numerous European-raced progeny of War Front, such as Roly Poly, U S Navy Flag, Declaration of War, Air Force Blue, Brave Anna and War Command. It will be interesting to see whether Munitions can become another European Group 1 winner for the Claiborne stallion. His chances of doing so will improve if he stays a mile, which he should. Munitions belongs to a crop which promises to be one of War Front’s best, and most versatile. Other members include Omaha Beach and War of Will, both of whom have done so well on dirt that they are on the Kentucky Derby trail. Omaha Beach ranks second on the points table behind Tapit’s son Tacitus, having amassed 137.5 points, principally from his victories in the GII Rebel S. and the GI Arkansas Derby. War of Will (whose pedigree I reviewed on Jan. 21) ranks 12th, with 60 points, having won the GIII Lecomte S. and the GII Risen Star S. Omaha Beach RNA’d at $625,000 as a yearling, despite possessing a first-rate pedigree. His dam, the Seeking The Gold mare Charming, has already produced a champion in the top American juvenile filly Take Charge Brandi. Charming is also a daughter of the outstanding racemare Take Charge Lady, which makes her a half-sister to the top colts Will Take Charge (GI Travers S.) and Take Charge Indy (GI Florida Derby). This reads like a dirt pedigree, but Omaha Beach’s older brother Courage Under Fire chased home Caravaggio after setting the pace for his long-odds-on stablemate in the G1 Phoenix S. in 2016. Other members of War Front’s 2016 crop, which was sired at $150,000, include Fog of War (GI Summer S,), Dogtag and Simmering (both listed winners on turf at two in the U.S.) and the group-placed fillies Secret Thoughts and Happen. View the full article

When Country House finished third in the Arkansas Derby (G1), he left Bodexpress at the top of the list of as many as five 3-year-olds who may be re-routed to the Preakness unless there is a rash of defections from the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1). View the full article

While moving twilight racing at Belmont Park from its traditional Friday spot to Thursday may seem curious, it was rooted in a willingness to experiment and an understanding of a market that includes twilight racing on Thursdays at Churchill Downs. View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost.Lucky Hero charges down the centre of the track to score under Vincent Ho Chak-yiu for Danny Shum Chap-shing – @HKJC_RacingWin 250 is a major one for Hong Kong’s local jockeys – it signifies the end of their claim (after completing their apprenticeship, they get three pounds from win 70 to 95 and then two pounds from 95 to 250).So when Ho collected his milestone… View the full article

Another Group Two Italian Derby (2,200m) winner enters Hong Kong racing at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, with Party Together following in the footsteps of Super Chic.Super Chic won the 2016 Italian Derby before joining Tony Cruz’s stable and Party Together is now trained by Peter Ho Leung after winning last year’s edition when named Summer Festival.Party Together debuts in the Class Two King’s Park Handicap (1,650m) and Super Chic, who has won four times in Hong Kong, was almost there to… View the full article

Chris Waller reflects on an amazing day at Randwick on Saturday with Radio Trackside’s Des Coppins.... View the full article

Trainer Daniel Miller discusses the win of Sheezallmine at Te Rapa on Sunday.... View the full article

Te Rapa trainer David Greene discusses his double at his home track on Sunday.... View the full article

Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards talks with Radio Trackside’s Des Coppins... View the full article

Zacada could be set to embark on a new career on the racetrack after failing to shape up in Sydney. Twelve months after finishing second to Who Shot Thebarman in last year’s Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m), Zacada could do no better than 14th in Saturday’s edition of the Randwick staying feature. It was his third start this campaign in Sydney and he had also disappointed in his other two outings, finishing last in the Gr.3 Manion Cup (2400m) and beating just four home in the Gr.2 Chairman’s Handic... View the full article

Talented galloper Adrossan recorded two further Group placings in his recent Australian campaign but he has joined the injured list and is returning home to trainer Stephen Marsh’s Cambridge barn for rehabilitation. “Ardrossan unfortunately comes home tonight (Monday) with a slight strain of the suspensory,” Marsh said. “That was a bit of a blow to the team because he was flying that horse. He’s out of the top draw that one, so it’s a real shame. “We will just bring him home and lo... View the full article

Quality New Zealand juvenile Probabeel will not contest Saturday’s Gr.1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick despite finding the line well in the Gr.1 Sires’ Produce (1400m) when beaten less than two lengths by Microphone. “She’s going to come home,” trainer Jamie Richards said. “We’re going to give her a break. She has done a terrific job for us and we believe that she has got it all in front of her. “She is headed home tonight (Monday) and she will have a break and be set for ... View the full article

It may have been a day of celebrating the career of world champion Winx at Randwick on Saturday, but there was no one happier in the crowd than the connections of her talented stablemate Verry Elleegant. The daughter of Grangewilliam Stud stallion Zed took out the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) and a tremendous roar emanated from her supporters when she struck the lead down the home straight. There’s a distinct Kiwi flavour behind the talented New Zealand-bred filly. She is trained and ridden by... View the full article