Wandering Eyes

Trainer Bob Baffert says grade 1 winner McKinzie is making good progress on the comeback trail and will work Aug. 12 at Del Mar in continued preparation for an anticipated start in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) Sept. 22 at Parx Racing. View the full article

The “Girls” team and in particular Hayley Turner grabbed the headlines on Saturday when the team lifted the Shergar Cup and competition stalwart Turner won the Silver saddle from “Magic man” Moreria. Hollie Doyle got the team off to a flyer in the first when Clive Cox’s Tis Marvellous won snugly from Gracious John. Hayley Turner won the Shergar Cup Mile aboard Via Serendipity who was prominent throughout and found plenty when asked inside the final furlong. This victory left the girl’s in a strong position but Moreria pushed them all the way as he landed the final two races. Firstly, aboard Berkshire Blue who landed a late plunge despite wandering all the way up the straight. Green Power landed the last under another fine ride from Moreira and had Hayley not finished second on Roundhay Park, then silver saddle would have been going home with the Brazilian. “I’m going to wake up in a minute. I can’t believe it,” said Turner The Shergar Cup is all about the jockeys but trainer Andrew Balding deserves a special mention as the had a three-timer at Ascot with Cleonte, runaway winner Genetics and the aforementioned Berkshire Blue. Teams: The Girls: 76 Europe: 70 Rest of the World: 48 Great Britain and Ireland: 46 Riders (Top Five) Hayley Turner: 39 Joao Moreira: 38 Pers-Anders Graberg: 25 Andrasch Starke: 25 Hollie Doyle: 22 At Haydock, there was an unforgettable performance from Hugo Palmer’s Unforgettable Filly in the Listed Dick Hern Stakes. Ben Curtis held the four-year-old up in the early stages and was pushed into the lead at the two-furlong marker to eventually win by an impressive eight lengths. It had been a disappointing campaign up to this for the filly but if she can reproduce a performance like this then she’ll win more races this year. The Group 3 Rose Of Lancaster Stakes was the feature race at Haydock and Richard Kingscote stole the race from the front on the Tom Dascombe trained Teodoro. The son of Teofilo was allowed to dictate things from the front and took full advantage from the consistent Brorocco. I think this was in truth a weak Group 3 event, where the fancied three-year-old runners all disappointed and it’s not a race to follow. Main EditionThe Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes went the way of Mark Johnston’s Main Edition who was bouncing back from a below-par effort at Newmarket in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes. P J McDonald’s mount made all and confirmed Albany form with Godolphin’s Le Pelosa. Richard Hannon’s Arjar and John Gosden’s Pennywhistle were both bitterly disappointing in behind. On the International front, there was Grade 1 action at Arlington Park and Johnny Velazquez took both. The high-profile double started with Carrick showing much-improved form in the Secretariat Stakes. Thirteen three-year-olds went to post and five of these were trained in Ireland but best of the raiding contingent was Dermot Weld’s Bandua who finished third at 40/1. Sistercharlie completed the double when staying on strongly inside the final furlong to land the Beverly D Stakes and incredibly Chad Brown trained the first three home in this Garde 1 contest. The former French-trained filly Sistercharlie was winning her third Grade 1 of the season and looks like one of the leading fillies in training. Alpha CentauriSpeaking of leading fillies, at Deauville the star three-year-old filly of this season, Alpha Centauri won her fourth successive Group 1 in the Prix Jacques Le Marois. Jessica Harrington’s stable star was prominent throughout and kicked on at the two-furlong marker to ultimately win by an easy two and a half lengths. Afterwards, Harrington said: “She’s an amazing filly. I must admit, bringing her here to take on colts and older horses, I thought I must be mad. But then again, I felt we might as well keep her going and it was a fantastic performance”. In Germany, the Group 1 Preis Von Berlin was the feature race at Hoppegarten where Godolphin’s Best Solution landed the spoils under Pat Cosgrave. The Saeed Bin Suroor trained son of Kodiac seems to have found a new level of form this season in Meydan and back in Europe where he made it 2-2 this season. The final Group one this weekend was at the Curragh where a bullish Martyn Meade had been quoted as saying his Advertise wouldn’t be beaten. In fairness, his prophecy was correct as the son of Showcasing dug deep late on to fend off the strong challenge from Aidan O’Brien’s battalion, principally So Perfect. Frankie Dettori was the first jockey at work in the Phoenix Stakes but his mount responded generously. An overjoyed Meade said: “I’m very pleased with him, it’s great, and maybe we’ll step him up to seven furlongs now. “We’ll give him a bit of a break and then go for the Dewhurst or something like that I suppose. It seems logical and he’ll get further”. Considering how he kept galloping, a tilt at next years 2000 Guineas will no doubt be on connections minds. The post Weekend Review – Scintillating Centauri, Turner On Top & Meade Advertises His Skills appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

4th-Saratoga, $85,000, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, post time: 2:40 p.m. ET Plenty of purchase power shows up in this Monday juvenile event scheduled for colts sprinting on the turf. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert LaPenta teamed up to bring home CURRENT (Curlin) for $725,000 at Keeneland September. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the chestnut is a half-sister to GISW Weep No More (Mineshaft) out of a half to GSW/MGISP Filimbi (Mizzen Mast). Second dam Flute (Seattle Slew) captured the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Alabama S. in 2001. Peter Brant’s FOG OF WAR (War Front) certainly has the pedigree to excel over grass. Bought for $400,000 at KEESEP, the Chad Brown trainee is out of European GSW Say (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who in turn is out of American MGISW turfer Riskaverse (Dynaformer). Stonestreet Stables and e 5 Racing Thoroughbreds, the tandem represented by champion and recent GI Haskell Invitational winner Good Magic (Curlin), went to $800,000 at OBS April to secure SEISMIC JOLT (Kantharos) after the colt breezed a quarter-mile in :20 4/5. The chestnut shows a sharp worktab for trainer Mark Casse, highlight by a half-mile gate move over this track in :47 2/5 (2/81) July 25. TJCIS PPs View the full article

Martyn Meade's huge belief in Advertise was vindicated at the Curragh Aug. 12, when the classy juvenile provided the trainer with group 1 glory in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes. View the full article

Racegoers at Deauville Aug. 12 for the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois (G1) can be comforted that her awestruck trainer, Jessica Harrington, was inclined to back up the impression they will all have formed for themselves. View the full article

After establishing that North American betting handle on Thoroughbred racing has been essentially flat since 2011 and that the number of tracks, races, horses, and owners is in a “slow decline,” The Jockey Club announced that it will explore a series of paradigm-shifting initiatives that could radically change the landscape of how tracks and races are run, how bets are taken, how takeout affects those wagers, and how the sport is promoted. Most startling among the ambitious, game-changing concepts listed by chairman Stuart S. Janney III at the end of Sunday’s 66th annual Round Table Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, was the revelation that The Jockey Club will “develop plans to consider track ownership and operations” in an attempt to keep foundering racetracks from going out of business. “Quite simply, we would willingly step in as an owner, lessor, or partner when a racing resource is imperiled, not unlike what The Jockey Club of the United Kingdom has done,” Janney said. “The Jockey Club has and will be there for this industry.” Janney did not offer specifics or funding details about the potential bailing-out of tracks, although he did qualify his remarks beforehand by saying that it was only on Saturday that The Jockey Club’s management team got “the go-ahead to further investigate some additional projects” from its board of stewards. Two of the initiatives Janney listed deal directly with moving away from North American racing’s eight-decade reliance on pari-mutuels as the primary way to place bets. “Since 2011, we’ve been intrigued with single-pool wagering, which would potentially end late odds changes and facilitate new bet types,” Janney said. “We’ll be working with several industry stakeholders, and we’ll seek to introduce a pilot for single-pool wagering in the North American market as soon as we can.” Single-pool wagering aims to create a larger, more liquid betting market comprised of numerous different bet types. In theory, more uniform payouts can be calculated based on “reverse engineering” the total market support in straight and exotic bets for a particular wagering entity. Janney said The Jockey Club will also lobby for a fixed-odds wagering pilot program that would enable a bettor to lock in a guaranteed return on investment at the time a wager is placed. “Virtually all sports bets are placed with fixed odds…and customers are accustomed to it,” Janney said. “They want to know the payoff they’ll win. Especially in this era of sports betting, shouldn’t horse racing be able to offer fixed odds like everyone else?” Advocating for tracks to experiment with decreased straight-wager takeouts will also be on The Jockey Club’s to-do list, although no details were offered on how this would be accomplished. “This has been a hot-button issue for our fans for years, and more than a third of our fans will cite it as a major concern,” Janney said. Circling back to a 2017 Round Table presentation that asserted the racing industry could recoup an estimated $400 million in unrealized annual betting handle if the sport invested in advanced data analytics to minimize the daily problem of conflicting post times, Janney said The Jockey Club would explore funding a “permanent office of race-day scheduling.” A pilot program to better coordinate post times among a handful of volunteer tracks was already undertaken earlier this year, yielding promising results. “We heard a year ago, and again today, how badly the overlapping of races is hurting our industry,” Janney said. “The creation of this office and strict adherence to a schedule by participating racetracks would solve that problem.” The promotion and marketing of the sport was also listed as a priority. Among the concepts Janney said The Jockey Club would be involved in were the cross-marketing of sports and horse betting, pushing for more live racing on national television, and a digital/online investment in the America’s Best Racing platform that will transform it into “a full-fledged digital media services company” that could “engage as many as a million casual fans in one year.” In an attempt to upgrade the industry’s behind-the-curve quality of simulcasts–which Janney underscored by citing the statistic that more than half the 50,000 races shown on TVG annually remain in lower-quality, standard-definition formats–The Jockey Club will aim to develop a capital improvement grant fund for high-definition (HD) broadcast conversion and on-track improvements. “The program would feature grants of up to $150,000 to qualifying tracks for the purchase or long-term lease of HD television and production equipment,” Janney said. Janney’s closing remarks were preceded by survey results and state-of-the-sport presentations by representatives from McKinsey & Company, the management consulting firm that has been retained by The Jockey Club since 2011 to offer long-term looks at the industry from an outside perspective. Among other speakers, a representative of The Jockey Club of England gave a “From 1750 to Today” retrospective on that organization’s activities, and the head of sales strategy for Google shared observations on digital marketing strategies for fan development in horse racing. The first 23 minutes of the online stream of the Round Table conference were inaccessible, and the live stream thereafter occasionally cut in and out because of technical difficulties. View the full article

The incorrect starting gate placement that caused the fifth race at Saratoga on Aug. 8 to be run at 1 1/8 miles instead of the as-carded 1 1/16 miles over the outer turf course was an embarrassing gaffe made worse by the failure of multiple track officials to recognize the mistake before the race went off. The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) has launched an investigation into the bungled race, and any sanctioning of track officials is likely to hinge on whom the commission believes should bear the ultimate responsibility on the checks-and-balances totem pole. But in reality, this mistake could be more aptly termed a lack of team effort. The off-kilter fractions that were posted during the running of the race were the catalyst for realizing the race was being run over the wrong distance–as opposed to anyone in a position of authority figuring out beforehand that the gate had been placed in the wrong spot. A race run over the wrong distance is a scenario that doesn’t appear to be directly addressed in the NYSGC racing rules. The closest applicable entries I could uncover by searching the 185-page document for the separate terms “distance” and “wrong” were the following two sections, and neither appears to fit properly in this instance: 4039.17. Objection to distance of course. An objection to the distance of a course officially designated must be made not less than 15 minutes before the race. 4039.18. Objection to matters occurring in race. An objection to a horse on the ground of the horse not having run the proper course or of the race having been run on a wrong course or of any other matter occurring in the race must be made before the numbers of the horses placed in the race are confirmed officially. Regardless of how this lapse is adjudicated, several important questions will linger unanswered. Most notably, did not knowing they had to cover an extra 330 feet in a 2-year-old race make a difference in the way the jockeys rode the breakaway pacemakers, who jumped out to a lead of nearly five lengths on the backstretch? The eight-length winner, Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown) certainly looked like he was going to inhale the field at any distance. But the New York-bred MSW race also featured five first-time starters–including the beaten favorite–and no one can say for certain how the extra sixteenth of a mile factored into their efforts considering they weren’t being prepped in training to negotiate nine furlongs at first asking. And if you bet money on the race, you incorporated similar expectations into your assessment of all the horses before you placed a wager. After initially publishing adjusted times, Equibase, the sport’s official record-keeper, has opted not to assign any recalculated or hand-clocked final time to the race. Yet here’s the more pervasive problem: I don’t buy the logic that a single race as Saratoga is unclockable when every week, at tracks all across the country, races are being “silently” contested with skewed fractional and final times, largely because of ambiguous “about” distances, clocking equipment malfunctions, human errors, and ever-changing timing beam run-ups that vary not only from track to track, but from race to race over the same courses. A single botched race at the nation’s premier Thoroughbred venue will get plenty more attention than the day-to-day inaccuracies that get logged into charts and past performances. But the latter scenario is the one that deserves more scrutiny. The general public rarely notices so-called “run-of-the-mill” timing errors. But if you check out online message boards and handicapping forums devoted to figure-making, you will see no shortage of complaints about timing inaccuracies on a regular basis. One such thread that started about 2 1/2 years ago on PaceAdvantage.com lists 588 posts that have been viewed 81,460 times by forum readers under the heading “Fractional Time Errors.” The tracks alleged to have mistakes range from small- and mid-level venues to the sport’s most elite race meets. Pointing out timing errors is hardly new. In a 2014 Washington Post column titled “Horse Racing’s Runaway Run-ups are Moving the Starting Line,” Andrew Beyer, the dean of turf writing and the creator of Beyer Speed Figures, wrote that the system of allowing up to hundreds of feet between the starting gate and when the first horse triggers the electronic timing beam is “preposterous” because “Thoroughbred racing is the only sport that can’t produce accurate timing of its own events…. In a perfect world, Thoroughbred racing would do what every other sport does: Run races at exact distances and time them from the start.” Earlier this year, Craig Milkowski of TimeformUS wrote in a blog post that the problem might be bigger than it appears at first glance. As an example at just one repeat offender, he cited data from 2009 through 2017 at Gulfstream Park showing the popular 7 1/2-furlong distance had been run nearly 800 times over the Florida’s track’s grass course. Yet in races at that distance, an astounding 100 different course set-ups were used, including one rail- and gate-placement configuration that resulted in a run-up of 384 feet–exceeding the sixteenth-of-a-mile gaffe at Saratoga on Wednesday by a full 54 feet. To be fair, different grass race rail and gate placements need to be incorporated to save wear and tear from starting at the exact same spot on a turf course. But this still doesn’t address the bewildering array of fluctuations that exist on dirt-track configurations or the near-daily timing errors that only diehard figure-makers seem to catch. So when you read in a few days or weeks about which Saratoga official (or officials) are on the hook for a very public wrong-distance miscue, bear in mind that the industry as a whole remains unmotivated to fix or accept responsibility for a more widespread problem that undermines the sport’s most crucial data point: Exactly how fast and how far did a horse run? View the full article

Twice unsuccessful at the top level in Germany, Godolphin’s Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) made it third time lucky on Sunday as he swooped late to capture the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten. Returning to Europe to garner Newmarket’s 12-furlong G2 Princess of Wales’s S. July 12, the bay who was sent off the 12-5 favourite missed the break and raced in last early under a patient Pat Cosgrave. At the top of the straight, he had a lot to do as the long-time-leader Royal Youmzain (Fr) (Youmzain {Ire}) kicked clear but his pursuit up the rail was timed ideally to overwhelm that rival 75 metres from the line. He had a neck to spare over Sound Check (Ger) (Lando {Ger}) there, with Royal Youmzain a half length behind in third. Sunday, Hoppegarten, Germany 128TH LONGINES GROSSER PREIS VON BERLIN-G1, €175,000, Hoppegarten, 8-12, 3yo/up, 12fT, 2:29.35, gd. 1–BEST SOLUTION (IRE), 132, c, 4, by Kodiac (GB) 1st Dam: Al Andalyya, by Kingmambo 2nd Dam: Kushnarenkovo (GB), by Sadler’s Wells 3rd Dam: Eva Luna, by Alleged (32,000gns Wlg ’14 TATFOA; 90,000gns Ylg ’15 TAOCT). O-Godolphin; B-Cecil & Martin McCracken (IRE); T-Saeed bin Suroor; J-Pat Cosgrave. €110,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW-Eng, G1SP-Fr, SP-Tur, 20-7-2-3, €698,738. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Sound Check (Ger), 132, h, 5, Lando (Ger)–Sky Dancing (Ire), by Exit To Nowhere. O-Gestut Ittlingen; B-Gestut Hof Ittlingen (GER); T-Peter Schiergen. €40,000. 3–Royal Youmzain (Fr), 122, c, 3, Youmzain (Ire)–Spasha (GB), by Shamardal. O-Jaber Abdullah; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Ltd (FR); T-Andreas Wohler. €15,000. Margins: NK, HF, 1. Odds: 2.40, 5.60, 2.00. Also Ran: Dschingis Secret (Ger), Khan (Ger), Windstoss (Ger), Rapido (Ger). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. View the full article

3rd-Curragh, €30,000, Cond, 8-12, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:25.55, gd. LADY KAYA (IRE) (f, 2, Dandy Man {Ire}–Kayak {GB} {SP-Ity}, by Singspiel {Ire}), third on debut over six furlongs here June 9, was quickly in front and in the clear and gone at halfway. Keeping up the gallop all the way to the line, the 13-8 favourite had an impressive 10-length margin there from Ballydoyle’s newcomer Pink Dogwood (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the €380,000 GOFORB full-sister to the G1 Irish Derby hero Latrobe (Ire). “That was class,” jockey Robbie Colgan commented. “I pushed her out to teach her a bit at the end, but it happened so quick. I was going to take a lead, but I gave her a squeeze and she was in front and going up through the gears the whole way. Sheila [Lavery] has been waiting on a little ease in the ground and she has strengthened up over the past few weeks. There is improvement in her–she’ll go forward again and will definitely get a mile.” The listed-placed dam Kayak is a half to two other black-type performers headed by the listed scorer Bukat Timah (GB) (Inchinor {GB}). Her yearling colt by Excelebration (Ire) was bought for €26,000 by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock at the Goffs November Foal Sale, while she also has a colt foal by Camacho (GB). Sales history: €15,000 Wlg ’16 GOFNOV; €12,000 RNA Ylg ’17 TIRSEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $22,930. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O-Joanne Lavery; B-John O’Connor (IRE); T-Sheila Lavery. View the full article

With his main market rival Sergei Prokofiev (Scat Daddy) pulling away any chance and finishing last, Phoenix Thoroughbred’s Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) was left with a relatively straightforward task in The Curragh’s G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. and he showed the professionalism that has marked his brief career so far to add to his G2 July S. success. Sent off the 11-10 favourite, the bay raced close to the pace-setting The Irish Rover (Ire) (No Nay Never) and when committed by Frankie Dettori approaching the final furlong toughed it out to prevail by a half length from TDN Rising Star So Perfect (Scat Daddy), with the same margin back to The Irish Rover in third. “I was surprised that there wasn’t enough pace and I knew he stays well so I kicked pretty early,” Dettori said. “I got a bit of a fright when the others came to me, but he still had plenty left and probably needs to step up to seven now. He’s got a great temperament and really wants to do it for you.” Trainer Martyn Meade added, “This is a great relief–he’s always been held up, but today wasn’t run like that and luckily Frankie took the bull by the horns. Firstly, he’ll have a break as I don’t believe in overdoing horses and the Dewhurst is his aim.” ADVERTISE (GB), 129, c, 2, by Showcasing (GB) 1st Dam: Furbelow (GB), by Pivotal (GB) 2nd Dam: Red Tiara, by Mr. Prospector 3rd Dam: Heart of Joy, by Lypheor (GB) 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (£60,000 Ylg ’17 GOUKPR). O-Phoenix Thoroughbred Ltd 1; B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd (GB); T-Martyn Meade; J-Lanfranco Dettori. €142,500. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng, 4-3-1-0, €241,723. View the full article

Despite the preceding rain turning the ground slightly easier than ideal, the Niarchos Family’s Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) made light work of her latest task in Sunday’s G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville. Tracking fellow TDN Rising Star and G1 Prix Rothschild winner With You (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in the stand’s-side group, the 9-10 favourite was pulled out to swamp that leader 500 metres from the finish and was soon clear. At the line, the homebred had 2 1/2 lengths to spare over Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper), with 3 1/2 lengths back to With You in third. In doing so, she was winning her fourth straight group 1 after the May 27 Irish 1000 Guineas, June 22 Coronation S. and July 13 Falmouth S. and providing her owner with a ninth renewal. Sunday, Deauville, France PRIX DU HARAS DE FRESNAY-LE-BUFFARD JACQUES LE MAROIS-G1, €1,000,000, Deauville, 8-12, 3yo/up, c/f, 8fT, 1:34.27, g/s. 1–ALPHA CENTAURI (IRE), 121, f, 3, by Mastercraftsman (Ire) 1st Dam: Alpha Lupi (Ire), by Rahy 2nd Dam: East of the Moon, by Private Account 3rd Dam: Miesque, by Nureyev O/B-Niarchos Family (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington; J-Colm O’Donoghue. €571,400. Lifetime Record: MG1SW-Eng & G1SW-Ire, 9-6-1-0, €1,356,328. *1/2 to Tenth Star (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), SW & GSP-Ire, GSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Recoletos (Fr), 131, c, 4, Whipper–Highphar (Fr), by Highest Honor (Fr). O/B-SARL Darpat France (FR); T-Carlos Laffon-Parias. €228,600. 3–With You (GB), 121, f, 3, Dansili (GB)–In Clover (GB), by Inchinor (GB). O/B-George Strawbridge (GB); T-Freddy Head. €114,300. Margins: 2HF, 3HF, 1. Odds: 0.90, 13.00, 3.40. Also Ran: Noor Al Hawa (Fr), Romanised (Ire), Intellogent (Ire), Trais Fluors (GB), Cascadian (GB), Success Days (Ire), Accidental Agent (GB), Zalamea (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

Trainer Bob Baffert says grade 1 winner McKinzie is making good progress on the comeback trail and will work Aug. 12 at Del Mar in continued preparation for an anticipated start in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) Sept. 22 at Parx Racing. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Preferred Yearlings Sale, which opened just hours after a pair of New York-breds captured graded stakes at Saratoga Race Course and a third nearly won a Grade I at Arlington Park, produced a session-record average and a pair of offerings over the $400,000 mark. “There was continued strength at the top end of the market tonight,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “The average, over $100,000, will be a record for any night of the New York-bred sale. There continues to be significant demand for what are perceived to be the higher quality offerings and lots of competition.” Early in Saturday’s opening session of the sale, Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo purchased the day’s highest-priced offering, going to $450,000 to secure a filly by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. The yearling was sold by Summerfield on behalf of breeder Joanne Nielsen, who sold a $1-million American Pharoah colt during Monday’s session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Sale. Lincoln Collins, bidding on behalf of Tracy Farmer, acquired the day’s second-highest-priced offering when purchasing a son of Ghostzapper for $400,000 from Thomas Gallo’s consignment. Thirteen horses topped the $200,000 mark Saturday, up from six in last year’s opener. In all, 80 yearlings sold for $8,326,000. The average was $104,075–up 18.7% from last year’s opening session and 16.8% above the 2017 record-setting cumulative average of $89,088. The buy-back rate was a hefty 41.2%, but Browning said that figure has been traditionally higher at the New York sale. “The buy-back rate was higher than we’d like,” Browning admitted. “There are probably a combination of factors there. It is still a selective marketplace and we are going to continue to see that selectivity all year long. And this sale has traditionally had a higher than you would hope for buy-back rate because the owners and breeders of those horses have significant alternatives. It’s very important, if they don’t get what they think is a fair price, to control the destiny of that horse with regards to its racing career. That tends to result in a little bit higher RNA rate in most years.” The start of the sale could not have come on a better race day for New York-breds. Following on from a one-two finish by Empire-breds in the GI Whitney S. last weekend, Voodoo Song (English Channel) put on a determined display to take the GI Fourstardave S. at Saratoga Saturday and Sue’s Fortune (Jump Start) came home first in the GII Adirondack S. At Arlington Park, Fourstar Crook (Freud) came up just a half-length short when second in the GI Beverly D. S. “The New York-breds truly do compete at the highest levels and they consistently demonstrate that ability,” Browning said. The Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale concludes Sunday with a session beginning at 6:30 p.m. American Pharoah Filly to Hartley/DeRenzo Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo, standing alongside Breeze Easy’s Sam Ross, signed the ticket at $450,000 to secure a yearling filly by American Pharoah as the skies opened up out back of the sales pavilion in Saratoga Saturday evening. The transaction completed a powerful one-two punch for New York breeder Joanne Nielsen’s Sunnyfield Farm. During Monday’s session of the Fasig-Tipton Select Sale, Nielsen sold a colt by the Triple Crown winner to Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier for $1 million. Both yearlings were consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield. “She is just a beautiful filly,” Hartley said of the yearling (hip 329). “She had all the presence and all the class.” The two horsemen purchased a colt by American Pharoah for $525,000 during the select sale and Hartley admitted he is high on the young sire. “We are such big American Pharoah fans right now,” he said. “His babies are looking fantastic. We have several foals that we bred on the farm that we love; a couple yearlings, a couple weanlings and we are breeding probably five back because we think they are so nice.” The session-topping filly will likely return to the sales ring at the juvenile auctions next spring. “She is going to pinhook,” Hartley confirmed. “We feel like it is going to be a thinner market of those in the 2-year-old sales and we want to try to have some.” From what he has seen, Hartley believes American Pharoah’s offspring will develop quickly. “They just have that look to them,” he said. “The one we bought in the last sale is very muscular like this filly and I think they are going to be able to do anything. I think there is a lot of potential for that stallion to be something fantastic.” Hip 329 is out of Visions of Annette (Distorted Humor) and from the family of General Challenge and Evening Jewel. Nielsen, who is a New York Thoroughbred Breeders Board Member, purchased the mare in foal to Giant’s Causeway for $150,000 at the 2013 Keeneland November sale. The mare’s filly by Ghostzapper sold for $150,000 at last year’s New York sale. Ghostzapper Colt to Farmer Bloodstock agent Lincoln Collins, bidding on behalf of longtime owner Tracy Farmer, signed the ticket at $400,000 to acquire a colt by Ghostzapper during Saturday’s first session of the Fasig-Tipton New York sale. The yearling, who was consigned by Thomas Gallo on behalf of breeder Donald Schupak, will be trained by Mark Casse. “He’s a very nice colt,” Collins said. “We all loved him. Mark Casse loved him, so that’s where he will go. There was a lot of interest in the horse, so it was clear we were going to have to give it a go and we prevailed in the end.” In addition to hip 384, Collins also purchased a colt by Empire Maker (hip 313) for $225,000 and a filly by Constitution (hip 394) for $210,000 on behalf of Farmer Saturday. During the select sale, Farmer purchased a Sky Mesa filly (hip 57) for $220,000. “We’re just looking for good racehorses,” Collins said. “Mr. Farmer is game and has been in the business a long time. We’ve worked together for a long time and now Mark is on the scene, so hopefully we’ll buy a good one.” Collins agreed the quality of recent graduates of the New York-bred sale and the strength of the state’s breeding incentives made buying out of the auction appealing. “This sale has clearly shown in the last few years that it can produce a horse who can go all the way,” he said. “And consequently it gives the buyers confidence. The pedigrees are here and the individuals are here to back it up. Why wouldn’t you give it a go? Everybody wants to run at Saratoga and, if you have a New York-bred at Saratoga, you’ve got a chance [to run in a race] that is a little bit softer for very similar money to running in open races. That has got to be appealing. Obviously, we hope horses at this kind of money go to the top level. But you do have a fall back as well that gives you more confidence. The New York program is very appealing.” The transaction was a highwater mark for Thomas Gallo, who has been consigning horses for 43 years. “I had my first consignment in 1981 down in Maryland,” Gallo said. “I used to have a giant consignment. Then I got down to just selling my babies and clients that I manage. So I manage [Schupak]’s broodmare band.” Gallo purchased the yearling’s second dam Saintly Scholar (Danzig) on behalf of Schupak. The mare’s daughter Clear Pasaj was a two-time stakes winner in the colors of Schupak’s Anjes Farm. The breeder kept Clear Pasaj’s first foal, a 2-year-old filly named Street Chamber (First Samurai), currently in training at Belmont Park. Gallo put the recent explosion of the New York sale in perspective. “I topped the sale here back in 1986 or 87 with a $40,000 sale,” Gallo recalled. “So we’ve come full circle here to sell one for $400,000.” Malibu Moon Filly to White Birch Gallagher’s Stud helped get the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Sale off to strong start Saturday, selling a filly by Malibu Moon for $300,000 to Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm. Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, who signed the ticket on hip 321, accepted congratulations on the purchase from Mallory Mort and reminded the Gallagher’s Stud manager he had purchased multiple graded stakes winner Straight Story from the farm at the 2007 Keeneland September sale. “Mike bought Straight Story from us years ago and he was a very good horse,” Mort explained. “This is the same family and they are very closely related.” The yearling, who was consigned by Denali Stud, is out of Tulipmania (Empire Maker). That daughter of Eventail (Lear Fan), a Gallagher Stud homebred and graded stakes placed, is half-sister to Straight Story. Tulipmania’s 2-yest-old son Market Bubble (Fed Biz), himself a $185,000 graduate of this sale and $375,000 OBSMAR purchase, was an impressive first-out winner on the Belmont turf June 30. Marlene Brody’s Gallagher’s Stud has been breeding New York-breds for four decades. After watching her Malibu Moon filly sell Saturday, Brody admitted the explosion in the state’s breeding industry has been gratifying. “We bought our first horses in ’78,” Brody recalled Saturday evening. “[The growth of the industry] is very exciting because it started very small. New York-breds were sort of looked down upon. But now, after the [New York-bred Diversify’s win in the GI] Whitney and a New York-bred [Fourstar Crook] came in second in the Beverly D. today, everyone can see we breed a very good horse. I take a lot of pleasure in that.” View the full article

Robert Bruce led home a 1-2 finish for Chad Brown in the Arlington Million XXXVI Stakes (G1T) Aug. 11 at Arlington International Racecourse. View the full article

Saving all her energy for the deep stretch, Secret Message gave it all she had in the final seconds to pull away from the pack and win the $100,000 Pucker Up Stakes (G3T) Aug. 11 at Arlington International Racecourse. View the full article

Lou Gehrig was known as the ‘Iron Horse.’ He was nothing compared to the racehorse Band Performance, who died suddenly on my farm the evening of Aug. 10. With the help of Andrew Motion, Band Performance was foaled on Mar. 25, 1992 at Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, Virginia. His first race was Mar. 4, 1995 at Laurel Park and his last race was at Penn National 10 years later on Mar. 10, 2005. Band Performance raced in 130 races, including seven races at age 13. He had 28 wins, 26 seconds and 22 thirds and was claimed 10 times. To quote Graham Motion, he was a “hard-knocking horse.” Upon completion of his seventh race as a 13-year-year-old, he was promptly shipped to the sales in New Holland, Pennsylvania to be sold for slaughter. Mercifully, he was rescued by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, but could not stand for the first couple of days. Nursed to health, he came to our farm 12 years ago. He was very sweet and very sturdy and a joy to be around. He was in very good health until [Friday] afternoon when he very rapidly showed signs of distress. Within minutes he lay down on his side and for 30 seconds he moved all four legs as in a race, then he peacefully passed away. So I say farewell to a true champ, who ran in 130 races through age 13. Amazing. It is the Band Performances of the world that deserve our affection and support. He campaigned long and hard for racing fans and I felt it a honor to have him with us after such an amazing racing career. Johnathan Miller, Bay Watch Farm Paeonian Springs, VA View the full article

Peter Brant's Sistercharlie kept the Chad Brown train rolling in the $600,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) Aug. 11 with the trainer's fourth straight score in the race at Arlington International Racecourse. View the full article

OXO Equine's Instagrand put on a nearly identical performance to his debut in the $200,000 Best Pal Stakes (G2) Aug. 11 at Del Mar. View the full article

Crouching Sun shines first-up for birthday boy Freedman View the full article

Preditor gives Poon second Group win in Jumbo Jet Trophy View the full article

The real Noah scores from go to whoa second-up View the full article

Marine Treasure races away to lucky win View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings August 12 View the full article

Horses' body weights August 12 View the full article

Red Symphony leads Baertschiger 1-2 at Kranji maiden win View the full article