Wandering Eyes

Newbury takes centre stage on Europe’s first busy weekend day of 2019, where Guineas candidates of both sexes are put through the rigours of time-honoured trials on Saturday. Without Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the G3 Watership Down Stud Greenham S. has debatable significance as a serious trial for the 2000 Guineas, but the seven-furlong prep has a far more competitive feel in the absence of the sponsors’ star. Gerard Augustin-Normand and Middleham Park Racing share the ownership of Boitron (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who has winning course-and-distance form having taken the Listed Washington Singer S. in August. Fourth in the G1 Prix Jean Luc Lagardere on Arc day at ParisLongchamp, he is one of only two along with Great Scot (GB) (Requinto {Ire}) to have tasted racing at the highest level. “The Lagardere form was given a boost by Broome winning the Ballysax last weekend and the fifth horse, Shaman, came out and won the Prix la Force recently,” Middleham Park Racing’s racing manager Tim Palin said of Boitron. “It was a bit of a strange race, they seemed to keep the same order throughout, on the pace was the place to be and we found ourselves with too much to do. That was his first run in a Group 1, but he was far from disgraced.” Fifth and beaten less than 1 1/2 lengths in Doncaster’s G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy in October, the bargain buy revelation Great Scot had previously turned over the subsequent GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Line of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in a novice contest over this trip at Haydock in July and annexed the Listed Ascendant S. at a mile on testing ground back there the following month. “Richard Hannon’s horse Boitron looks quite good, but we are not going there without a strong chance,” Dascombe said of Great Scot. “He is entered in the 2000 Guineas and Saturday is about where do we go next. It will be quite informative for us and I am looking forward to it with a certain amount of nervous excitement.” Jaber Abdullah’s G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte scorer Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}) has stamina to prove over this extra furlong, but he looked like a colt who would get further in that authoritative display, while Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) took the G3 Horris Hill S. over this track and trip when last seen in October. “We’ve had a good run with him and he seems in good form,” trainer Marcus Tregoning said of the latter. “He is still learning. I think he has more to offer because he was still a bit green [in the Horris Hill]. He definitely has ability and we will see if he has trained on.” Of the unexposed types, Phoenix Thoroughbred’s $950,000 purchase Magic J (Scat Daddy) will continue to warrant close inspection wherever he goes until his bubble is burst. Highly promising when scoring on debut over six furlongs at Yarmouth in September, he needs a quicker surface than was evident in Berkshire on Friday and it may be that trainer Ed Vaughan opts to swerve the race in these testing conditions. “Obviously with the favourite out it’s a bit of a different race, but the ground would still be a concern,” he explained. “On his pedigree and his action, he’s a horse that wants better ground so we will see how it is after racing on Friday. We’re keen to get him out and see where we are. He’s a horse that won his maiden on his only start last year, so it’s hard to know how good he is–you only really know when you get racing. He’s entered in the Guineas, but we’ll see how he goes at the weekend before making plans.” In the G3 Dubai Duty Free S., registered as the Fred Darling, the form standard is set by Ballydoyle’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ So Perfect (Scat Daddy) who races beyond six furlongs for the first time. Successful in the G3 Grangecon Stud S. at The Curragh in July, she was placed in the G1 Phoenix S. back there the following month, the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket in September and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs in November. If she fails to get an extra furlong, especially in this stamina-demanding ground, the race is thrown open and Waverley Racing’s Dancing Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) looks ideally poised to enhance her reputation. Impressive on her sole start in a mile novice race at Doncaster in October, she has to prove she has the speed to cope with peers who showed genuine pace as juveniles. Trainer Ralph Beckett is unconcerned on that score. “She is coming back a furlong, but I don’t think that’s a problem. If she is going to get to the 1000 Guineas she has to run somewhere and this gives her her best chance of recovering for it,” he said. “I think that she will benefit from the run. She will like the ground. She has had a pretty good preparation.” David Elsworth supplies Dandhu (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who was second to the leading Guineas protagonist Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}) in Newmarket’s G2 Rockfel S. over this trip in September, while Great Scot’s similarly cheap stablemate Iconic Choice (GB) (Sixties Icon {GB}) commands respect after a convincing success over this course and distance in the Listed Radley S. in October. “She is a very genuine filly who requires soft ground,” Tom Dascombe said of the latter. “It looks like we are going to get that on Saturday. She handles soft ground better than other horses do. She won the Radley S. on soft and won on heavy at Ayr.” In the G3 Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise S., the newly-gelded Defoe (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) bids to create history by winning this contest, known as the John Porter, on two occasions. Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s G2 Jockey Club S. scorer and G1 Grosser Preis Von Baden runner-up has Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) to contend with as he attempts the landmark. Unbeaten in three starts here, Bernard Kantor’s G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup winner who dead-heated in the G3 St Simon S. will not be compromised by conditions. “Young Rascal is an interesting horse this year,” trainer William Haggas commented. “I think he might stay a bit further this year. He has run well with cut in the ground and most of his best form is on it, but I’m not convinced he needs it.” Elsewhere, John Gosden saddles two runners for The Queen as he bids to make an instant impact as a new trainer for the monarch. In the second division of the mile maiden, he puts forward the newcomer Gold Stick (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), while in the 11-furlong maiden won last year by Young Rascal he has the Chelmsford runner-up Pianissimo (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). She is double-handed in the latter, with William Haggas saddling the unraced Space Walk (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) who is a full-brother to her smart performers Call To Mind (GB) and Recorder (GB). At Naas, the opening maiden sees royalty of a different kind represented as the great American Pharoah has his first runner in Europe. Aidan O’Brien unleashes Monarch of Egypt, the $750,000 KEESEP graduate who runs in the Peter Brant colours and all eyes will be fixed on the colt who could get his sire off to a flying start. Ballydoyle also put forward Prince Faisal bin Khaled Al Saud and Michael Tabor’s 2017 G3 Jersey S. winner and G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains runner-up Le Brivido (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G3 Gladness S., where he encounters last year’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The latter’s trainer Ken Condon said, “He looks good and has wintered well. I’d say he’s about 90% there and he’s ready to start. He seems in good form and I think he’ll appreciate the ground. It’s just on the slow side of good, which is better than it is usually at this time of year, and we’re looking forward to getting him started.” O’Brien is also keen to get the career of Le Brivido back underway after inheriting the 5-year-old from Andre Fabre. “He’s in good form. He’s a horse that shows plenty of pace, we think, and hope that he will get a mile,” he commented. “We’re starting him off at seven and we think it will be a nice start for him, but we’ll learn a lot about him when we run him, hopefully.” The G3 Alleged S. is even deeper, attracting last year’s G1 Irish Derby hero Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), his G1 Irish St Leger conqueror Flag of Honour (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S. heroine and GI Breeders’ Cup Turf runner-up Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), but it is a far more competitive renewal than the norm and it would be no surprise if the winner came from outside this trio. Ryan Moore is on Magical and Aidan O’Brien is excited about arguably the stable’s leading older horse for the campaign. “She’s obviously back after a break, but we’ve been happy with her and she’s been doing everything nicely at home,” he said. “She’s just ready to start, but we’re happy with what she’s doing. We were delighted with her at the end of last year and she really got it together. Obviously we’re looking forward to this year with her.” Of Flag of Honour, he added, “We’re happy with him and he’s just ready to start. He’s in good form and hopefully he will run a nice race. Obviously we know he stays much further and we’ll probably step him up after this.” Joseph O’Brien is also keen to get Latrobe back in action and commented, “We would have always thought that he would make as good a 4-year-old as he did a 3-year-old. I don’t think he is a stayer–he has a big cruising speed and I think a mile and half will be his optimum trip.” View the full article

DEMARCHELIER (GB) (c, 3, Dubawi {Ire}–Loveisallyouneed {Ire}, by Sadler’s Wells), named a ‘TDN Rising Star’ on debut, backed up that effort by running down MGISW Oscar Performance (Kitten’s Joy) half-brother Award Winner (Ghostzapper) in the closing stages of a first-level allowance at Keeneland. Left with a lot to do at the top of the lane when favored first-out Nov. 21 at Aqueduct, the 425,000gns purchase showed a strong late kick to get up over Seismic Wave (Tapit), recent winner of the Cutler Bay S. at Gulfstream. Made the 8-5 favorite to double up in his 3-year-old debut, the bay came away well and traveled in seventh behind splits of :24.23 and :49.71 over the good ground. Advancing three wide midway around the far turn, he swung five deep at the top of the lane and drew alongside Award Winner at the eighth pole. Appearing poised to blow past that one, Demarchelier encountered a stubborn foe, but kept grinding to edge to the lead late and score a half-length success in 1:44.63. The winner’s unraced dam is a full-sister to G1SWs Yesterday (Ire) and Quarter Moon (Ire), the latter of which produced G1SW Diamondsandrubies (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). This is also the female family of MG1SWs Aussie Rules (Danehill), Alborada (GB) (Alzao) and Albanova (GB) (Alzao). Loveisallyouneed is responsible for a juvenile Sea The Stars (Ire) colt and a yearling colt by Golden Horn (GB). Sales History: 425,000gns ’17 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $87,100. O-Peter M. Brant; B-Newsells Park Stud (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. View the full article

The final stops on the Road to the Kentucky Derby are in Hot Springs, Ark. and Lexington April 13, with the Arkansas Derby (G1) bestowing 100 qualifying points to the winner and Stonestreet Lexington (G3) providing 20 points to its winner. View the full article

Anthony Oppenheimer’s Star Catcher (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) had been slow to learn when sixth over a mile on debut on Chelmsford’s Polytrack five days before Christmas, but the John Gosden trainee attracted significant support as she had done on that occasion for an important 10-furlong maiden hosted at Newbury on Friday and showed why with a performance of real substance. Sent off the 10-11 favourite, the bay was keen initially before being granted a lead and travelled strongly to the front inside the final half mile. Outstaying Sashenka (Ger) (Maxios {GB}) in the last quarter mile, the homebred registered an authoritative 4 1/2-length success, with the field spread out behind. Star Catcher was winning the same maiden as the future Oaks heroines Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain) and Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) here and in which her stablemate Lah Ti Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) made such a strong impression 12 months ago. “She was green first time out, but she has learnt a lot there,” Gosden said. “She has got a lot of strengthening and development to do. She handled the ground well. We will look at one of the Oaks trials in early May. I could see her as a filly getting better in the autumn.” The dam, who is owned by the Oppenheimers, is already responsible for the G2 Prix Eugene Adam and G3 Tercentenary S. winner Pisco Sour (Lemon Drop Kid), GSW-Eng & Fr, $412,610, and his even more accomplished full-brother Cannock Chase, who also took Royal Ascot’s Tercentenary as well as the G3 Huxley S. before winning the GI Canadian International, GISW-Can & MGSW-Eng, $680,268. She is a half-sister to the sire Lord Admiral (El Prado {Ire}), a classy performer to race in the silks of the Late Dr Vincent O’Brien and who carried them to success in the G3 Ballycorus S., G2 Jebel Hatta and G3 Al Rashidiya and who was placed in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Her 2-year-old filly Maurimo (GB) is by Kingman (GB), while she also has a yearling filly by Frankel (GB). 6th-Newbury, £8,550, Mdn, 4-12, 3yo, f, 10fT, 2:15.88, sf. STAR CATCHER (GB) (f, 3, Sea the Stars {Ire}–Lynnwood Chase, by Horse Chestnut {SAf}) Sales history: 240,000gns Wlg ’16 TATFOA. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $7,217. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O-Mr A. E. Oppenheimer; B-Hascombe and Valiant Studs (GB); T-John Gosden. View the full article

3rd-Keeneland, $79k, Msw, 3yo/up, 1mT, post time: 2:12 p.m. ET The well-bred Bar Harbor (Orb) stamped himself as one to watch with a flashy late run through traffic to finish second in his debut going one mile over the Gulfstream lawn Feb. 10. Drawn widest of all in post 12 here, the Stuart S. Janney III homebred hails from the same family as millionaires Ironicus (Distorted Humor) and On Leave (War Front). Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey. TJCIS PPs 2nd-Santa Anita, $55k, Msw, 3yo, 1m, post time: 4:33 p.m. ET Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert unveils $725,000 KEESEP graduate Martial Eagle (Curlin) going a two-turn one mile for Juddmonte Farms. The Triple Crown nominee has a pair of bullets on the worktab, including a sharp four-furlong drill in :46 3/5 (1/96) at Santa Anita Feb. 12. Martial Eagle, the 9-5 morning-line favorite, is a half-brother to GIII Toboggan S. winner and GI Carter H. third Great Stuff (Quality Road). TJCIS PPs 7th-Santa Anita, $57k, OC 40k/N1X, f/m, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, post time: 7:15 p.m. ET ‘TDN Rising Star’ Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun) makes her first attempt versus winners following an impressive front-running debut victory at Santa Anita Feb. 16. The $400,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, campaigned in partnership by a group including Mercedes Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by John Shirreffs, is a half-sister to Canadian champion Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d’Oro). She is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the six-horse field. TJCIS PPs View the full article

In his quixotic way, the Mr Smith who goes to Washington believes that the only cause worth fighting for is a lost one. But the Mr Smith who today visits the 42nd President’s home state is interested only in a running mate who can exit the primaries on top. As it happens, the political dexterity required of Mike Smith just now is not confined to keeping lines open to connections of both Roadster (Quality Road) and his mount in the GI Arkansas Derby, Omaha Beach (War Front). Because seniority has lately made him a weathervane for the proposal, ultimately abandoned, for an experimental abstention from the whip at Santa Anita yesterday. Arguably Smith’s own professional longevity is itself instructive of the kind of cultural revolution sought by certain lobbies in the current, anguished debate over welfare. To the European eye, certainly, maintaining speed on dirt has always placed a lesser premium on the physical crescendo of “riding a finish” than racing on turf (or its cousin, synthetics), where horses are typically switched off before being urged into overdrive. Between his longstanding devotion to conditioning and the way he nowadays manages his output, Smith can still bestride the American theater at 53. Even if he were not so secure against any physical advantage in riders half his age, however, experience would still buy him a length, mid-race, for every nose that might be gained by sheer prowess in the stretch. And it is that seasoned judgement that makes him not only worth the wait for the Roadster and Omaha Beach camps, but potentially the key to the next name to be engraved beneath that of the Kentucky Derby winner who took even Smith to new heights last year. Where younger riders make those critical, split-second decisions on the highly temporary basis that they know neither fear nor failure, Smith can instantly summon the closest match from an endless flipbook of parallel scenarios. That’s why he could sit so coolly on Roadster last week, watching Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) take the scenic route-in pursuit of a leader whose stretch fuel was always in question-and only reaching for the whip halfway down the lane. As a result, a closing Roadster goes to the Derby with a new string to his bow. Smith’s one concern will perhaps be that the horse’s brief education has been in such small fields: he has yet to be shoved off the sidewalk, as will very likely happen at some stage during the 20-runner Churchill stampede. Today, reverting to the other colt to have beaten the champion juvenile this spring, Smith will once again be seeking a fresh dimension. In a field strong enough to make it unnecessary actually to win to advance his case, Omaha Beach must at least see out the race in a fashion that encourages Smith he can extend his brilliance over another furlong. Certainly he has been working like a pretty fast horse. On the other hand, he galloped out the stronger when he saw off Game Winner in their Rebel division, when trying two turns on dirt for a first time. While his tactics could not have been more different, having opened up before the home turn, Smith showed exactly the same sangfroid in front that day as he would, way out the back, on Roadster last week. (In fact, he resorted only to a single flick of the whip late on.) On both Roadster and Omaha Beach, he saved ground and maintained his own rhythm so that both were still coasting as they entered the stretch, albeit one was clear and the other closing. With plenty of competition likely up front today, Smith can again be relied on to deploy his mount’s energies evenly. That will not only give Omaha Beach his best shot in what is, after all, a $1 million Grade I race apt to decorate a future stallion brochure, but also preserve him from the kind of frenetic strain that could leave a mark so close to the Triple Crown series. The key for Smith today is whether that tempo feels sustainable. Discussion of Omaha Beach’s pedigree has naturally centred on his grand-dam Take Charge Lady, a top-class runner whose equivalent achievements in her second career are unsurprising in a daughter of Dehere (by the great broodmare influence Deputy Minister). For Take Charge Lady was credited with a remarkable double when her son Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) produced Long Range Toddy to win the other division of the Rebel. But let’s not forget that Take Charge Lady is out of a Rubiano mare-just like Omaha Beach’s sire War Front. And Rubiano was a streak of lightning, near-white winner of races like the GI Carter and GI Vosburgh over 7f. Not, perhaps, the first name you’d look for 3×4 in a Kentucky Derby colt. On the other hand, Rubiano was a half-brother to the dam of Tapit, Tap Your Heels-who was by a son of his own sire, Fappiano, in Unbridled. Their dam, in turn, was by a cooper-bottomed Classic influence in Nijinsky out of a sister to that vital fount of outcross blood, Relaunch. Omaha Beach’s dam is by Seeking The Gold, who for a son of Mr P has proved able to summon useful reserves from his own broodmare sire, the mighty Buckpasser. Perhaps, then, he should instead have been called Gold Beach. As it is, he has a name befitting a champion; and one commensurate, as such, with those adjacent. For his trainer’s wait for a Kentucky Derby sooner demeans the race, than the other way round. And then, of course, there’s the rider. The namesake who went to Washington was Jefferson Smith, pinning as much on his birth certificate as the William Jefferson Clinton who went there from Arkansas. But plain Mike Smith, bearing the most anonymous of all names, could not bring greater distinction to the casting vote between Roadster and Omaha Beach. View the full article

In the last 31 of my 50 years in horse racing, I have earned my livelihood forming racing partnerships. I have been able to do this because, in spite of the obstacles and challenges, enough people still want to race horses, so I have been able to continue with my enterprise. I am involved in one segment of an industry that provides many folks and entities the opportunity to also make a living with Thoroughbreds. But the number of people interested in the game is shrinking. As a keen observer as well as a participant, I feel confident in saying that the ongoing contraction of the game is a direct result of cheating by the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs that tilt the playing field in favor of crooked trainers and owners interested in dominating over their rivals by illegal methods. All of the enterprises in which folks are involved within the industry: breeding, pinhooking, sales companies, racetracks, training, writing, advertising, acting as agents–all of it–is dependent on one simple thing: the integrity of the race. Horseplayers have to feel good about the honesty of a contest to want to bet on the outcome. The vast majority of folks in the industry are hunkered down in their own separate bunkers and do not want to have to think about the integrity of the race. They just want to keep on keeping on, because the game has been so good to them. While these neo-Romans are content to listen to the lilting music from Nero’s strings, the world all around them is crumbling. This week, the Association of Racing Commissioners International announced sweeping proposed changes in the severity of penalties and fines they suggest imposing on parties found guilty of cheating. They put together a blue-ribbon panel of well-intentioned industry experts to come up with the framework. My response to yet another committee, board or group coming up with something that has teeth in it is as follows: wake me when it’s over please. My problem is that no matter how many rules, substandard tests and other measures are introduced, one thing in the struggle to rid the game of cheats remains constant: no jurisdiction in all of North American racing has yet shown the will necessary to move the ball an inch. Having been a civil servant for seven years in the Los Angeles County Probation and Civil Service Departments, and having interviewed plenty of stewards and regulators as a turf writer over the years, I know one thing for sure about regulators and stewards: like Congressmen, their main goal is not to lose their jobs. So in order to achieve this lofty goal of survival, they feel it is incumbent upon them not to rock the boat. They embrace the status quo. So counting on racing regulators to save our game from cheats is a foolhardy concept to begin with. As I see it, our industry’s only chance to clean up the game and insure the loyalty of the horse-playing public is to get behind Federal legislation to install USADA as the overseer of drugs in racing. And I say this not merely as the guy who originally came up with this notion in an Op/Ed many moons ago, but as somebody who does not want the game to wither away and die. USADA has the chops, the mojo, the know-how and the desire to clean up racing. It’s been a long time between swallows since racing even had a face of integrity, back when J. Edgar Hoover appointed a former G-man named Spencer Drayton to head up the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB). USADA can bring an Elliot Ness-like urgency to the task of bringing crooks to accountability by good old-fashioned and modern policing methods. They are an independent body that owes nothing to any one pressure group or entity in racing. And that’s the rub right there sports fans, because groups representing racetracks, trainers, veterinarians, regulators and horseplayers all want to be involved to protect their own turf. Hey, that’s what we have right now and it is not working. One would hope that the dustup and lack of industry coordination over the 23 horse deaths at Santa Anita would have impressed members of the Thoroughbred industry enough to make them realize that our game is one ballot initiative by PETA away from extinction. So any thinking man or woman should have realized that racing needs to get its house in order. Is the mood right for trainers, veterinarians and owners to realize that it is time not only to close the medicine cabinet, but to address the elephant in the room? People: the biggest names in the game are trashing our sport by the illegal use of PEDs and they are flaunting it right in our faces. They are rubbing our clean-scrubbed faces right in the muck pit. Are we going to stand up and do something about it? Or are we going to continue to ignore it or simply complain about it to our wives? Let’s reach out to our leaders of the alphabet organizations and tell them to start representing us as responsible participants in the industry and get real. C’mon ladies and gentlemen. Let’s have an industry we can be proud of. Isn’t that what it’s really all about? View the full article

The winner of the 2017 and 2018 editions of the $500,000 Count Fleet Handicap (G3), Whitmore will take on a field of just four other older horses April 13, with the Steve Asmussen-trained Mitole being the main threat. View the full article

With the planned closing of Portland Meadows, state racing industry leaders are rallying around a plan to have fair circuit track Grants Pass take over commercial dates in Oregon. View the full article

‘TDN Rising Star’ Improbable (City Zip) lost his perfect record by a neck in his last visit to Oaklawn for the split GII Rebel S. Mar. 16 and he will attempt to make amends in Hot Springs Saturday in the GI Arkansas Derby. A debut winner at Santa Anita Sept. 29, the chestnut captured the Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs next out Nov. 2 and followed suit with a win in the GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity S. Dec. 8. Originally set to make his seasonal bow in Arcadia, the Bob Baffert pupil was re-routed to the Rebel after racing was temporarily suspended at Santa Anita and he was run down late by Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy). Improbable adds blinkers for this start. A two-time stakes winner as a juvenile, Long Range Toddy was third in the Feb. 18 GIII Southwest S. prior to his Rebel upset. The Rebel was split into two divisions to accommodate the California contenders and the second division winner Omaha Beach (War Front) also returns here. Never off the board, the Richard Mandella pupil took a little time to come around, but romped by nine lengths at fifth asking in a seven-panel test at Santa Anita Feb. 2. Taking the lead in the first half-mile of the Rebel, he maintained his advantage in the lane, where he was confronted by previously undefeated champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}). Omaha Beach had just enough to hold that rival at bay, winning by a nose in a tight photo. Smarty Jones S. winner Gray Attempt (Graydar) could do no better than 11th in the Southwest, but came back to win the six-panel Gazebo S. last time Mar. 23. The question for this colt will be whether or not he can navigate this distance. MSW Galilean (Uncle Mo) returns to Hot Springs after finishing third behind Long Range Toddy and Improbable. The bay, who was recently bought into by Coolmore, sheds his blinkers in this test. Another worth a look is ‘TDN Rising Star’ Country House (Lookin at Lucky), who finished fourth last time in the GII Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds Mar. 23. View the full article

Connections of Lady Kaya (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), the eye-catching winner of last weekend’s G3 1000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown, have indicated they are leaning towards the G1 1000 Guineas with their talented 3-year-old. Lady Kaya, who races for Joanne Lavery, was winning for the first time in four starts since breaking her maiden in August. “She came out of the race very well, and I would imagine that we are leaning towards Newmarket, but we’ll make a definite decision closer to the time,” said trainer Sheila Lavery. “She did surprise me a little, because I wasn’t convinced she’d stay on that ground. You’d have to be happy. It was soft ground down the back, which she wouldn’t have been keen on, so I was delighted and surprised.” Performing so well over seven furlongs, Lady Kaya also helped eased doubts that she would get the one-mile Guineas distance. “The big thing now is she has really learned to settle,” Lavery said. “[Jockey] Robbie [Colgan] can put her where he wants. He gave her a beautiful ride. “The consensus seems to be Newmarket is an easier mile than The Curragh, so all things being right, we’ll be aiming her at Newmarket.” View the full article

Given what's at stake, the best bet of the weekend is that emotions will be on overdrive during the Arkansas Derby (G1) and Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) as the final steps are taken on the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby. View the full article

Before the colts even line up in the starting gate for Sunday’s G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) at Nakayama, a couple of parallels can be drawn between this first colts’ Classic of the year and last Sunday’s G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas). First, there is an even-money favourite. Second, it is a race with a sub-par record of favourites emerging victorious. Last weekend, we saw the 2-year-old filly champion Danon Fantasy (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) turned over at Hanshin. This weekend, it will be Saturnalia (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) running with a target on his back. Carrot Farm’s Saturnalia is unbeaten in three runs but has not been seen since taking the G1 Hopeful S. over this course and distance on Dec. 28. Assistant trainer Yasuyuki Tsujino said of the son of G1 Yushun Himba and GI American Oaks winner Cesario (Jpn) (Special Week {Jpn}) and half-brother to G1 Japan Cup winner Epiphaneia (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S), “He showed both mental and physical strength last time when winning the Hopeful S. After that he had a break at Northern Farm Shigaraki and came back to the stable on Mar. 13. His work since has been good and we have enough time to get him just right for the race.” Earning the crown of 2-year-old champion last year off a win in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity-and his three prior races-was Riichi Kondo’s Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}). The chestnut lost a bit of lustre, however, when second to the unbeaten Danon Kingly (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G3 Kyodo News Service Hai on Feb. 10. Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi said, however, that tactics may have got him beaten. “In the Kyodo News Service Hai, he was out in front, and I thought he might be able to sustain things to the end, but the pace was a bit slow and the winner was just able to find a bit more at the finish,” the trainer said. “He’s had a break at the farm, but we now have this race in mind for him.” Danon Kingly looks a progressive sort and while he’ll be trying 2000 metres for the first time, he did win an allowance race over the course last December. Connections of Velox (Jpn) (Just A Way {Jpn}) have taken the route of plenty of seasoning this campaign, so the bay shouldn’t lack fitness. The son of Selkis (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) had a relatively unremarkable juvenile campaign, winning one of three starts, but he has won both outings in 2019, both over this trip, comfortably: the Wakagoma S. at Kyoto on Jan. 19, and the Wakaba S. at Hanshin on Mar. 16. Assistant trainer Teruhiko Saruhashi said, “It was a good win last time in the Wakaba S. and he’s come out of that race well. There’s no tiredness about him and things are as usual.” View the full article

California state senator Bill Dodd, D-Napa and Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced, have announced plans for a joint oversight hearing on horse racing safety. The duo also announced the introduction of new legislation to authorize the California Horse Racing Board to promptly suspend racing if dangerous conditions exist. The hearing is expected to be conducted next month and “will include testimony from expert witnesses highlighting the steps the industry and regulators have already taken to improve safety as well as exploring areas where more needs to be done,” according to a press release from Dodd’s office. Dodd and Gray met with California Horse Racing Board head Chuck Winner weeks ago to discuss steps that could be taken to improve safety at Santa Anita. “This common sense bill is one part of the solution, and Chairman Gray and I will be convening a hearing to determine whether there are additional steps the industry or the state should take to enhance safety,” said Sen. Dodd. “It’s clear that state regulators need the power to act swiftly and decisively when exigent safety concerns arise.” Senate Bill 469 would allow racing board directors to convene an emergency meeting to consider temporary track closure when a situation emerges requiring prompt action. The usual 10-day meeting notice would be waived, but the board would still be required to notice the emergency meeting to the media and public. SB 469, which is scheduled for its first hearing on April 23, is also co-authored by Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park and Assemblymembers Ed Chau, D-Arcadia, whose districts include Santa Anita. This story will be updated. View the full article

Given what's at stake, the best bet of the weekend is that emotions will be on overdrive during the Arkansas Derby (G1) and Lexington (G3) as the final steps are taken on the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby. View the full article

Linda Carroll and David Rosner won for Out of the Clouds, The Unlikely Horseman and the Unwanted Colt Who Conquered the Sport of Kings, which chronicles the Cinderella tale of legendary trainer Hirsch Jacobs and the gritty "people's horse," Stymie. View the full article

1st-Newbury, £10,000, Mdn, 4-12, unraced 2yo, 5f 34yT, 1:04.98, sf. HIGHLAND CHIEF (IRE) (c, 2, Gleneagles {Ire}–Pink Symphony {GB} {GSW-Ire & MSP-Eng, $186,684}, by Montjeu {Ire}) tracked the leaders in seventh after a mainly level break in this firsters’ test. Nudged along approaching the final quarter-mile, the 16-1 chance quickened smartly to challenge passing the eighth pole and found plenty under mild urging in the closing stages to deny the persistent Separate (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) by an ultimately snug neck, becoming the first winner for his Coolmore Stud-based freshman (by Galileo {Ire}). He is the latest of four foals and third scorer out of G3 Give Thanks S. victress Pink Symphony (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), herself kin to MGISP G3 Prestige S., G3 Nell Gwyn S. and GIII Modesty H. heroine Fantasia (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) and to the dam of MGSW G2 Prix Eugene Adam victor Western Hymn (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}). The latter also won a conditions heat on this very card in 2014. The homebred bay’s third dam is G1SW European champion Blue Duster (Danzig), herself a full-sister to G1SW sire Zieten. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, £6,469. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. 1ST-TIME STARTER. O/B-Mrs Fitri Hay (IRE); T-Paul Cole. View the full article

A world champion sprinter will add major doses of speed and precocity to the Darley stallion roster in 2019 with Harry Angel (Ire) to stand at Kelvinside. The son of European sprint sire Dark Angel (Ire) enjoyed a decorated racing career and earlier this year was the highest-rated short course performer to retire to stud in England for more than three decades. Dual Group 1 winner Harry Angel took up duties at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket in 2019, proving extremely popular being oversubscribed during his first season. Runner-up on debut as a 2-year-old, Harry Angel broke his maiden next time out in the G2 Mill Reef S, earning a rating four kilos superior to what his sire Dark Angel achieved in the same race. In a stellar season as a 3-year-old, Harry Angel won the G1 July Cup and the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup, scoring by the widest margin in recent history, having earlier announced his presence among the top echelon of sprinters by claiming the G2 Sandy Lane S. at Haydock. He ended the year rated 132 by Timeform, level with Muhaarar (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and the best by any sprinter to retire to stud in Great Britain since 1985. “He was the world’s best sprinter in a year when there were a lot of good sprinters going around, particularly in Australia,” Darley Head Of Sales Alastair Pulford said. “The international handicappers rated him better than Chautauqua, better than Redzel, better than Vega Magic. “He’s a very, very exciting horse. The United Kingdom market has gone head over heels for him and his fertility is fantastic.” His first appearance aside, he raced exclusively in group company and retired with five wins and four placings from 12 outings. “Harry Angel is such an exciting horse. The thing I really liked about him was his manner of racing,” Pulford said. “He sat on the pace and was fierce, wanted to get on with the job and then go away from them. I like that in a horse.” The panel of international handicappers duly assessed him the world champion sprinter at the conclusion of his 3-year-old season. He was rated two points and more above Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Chautauqua (Encosta de Lago), Lady Aurelia (USA) (Scat Daddy {USA}), Redzel (Snitzel) and Caravaggio (USA) (Scat Daddy {USA}). Trained throughout his career by Clive Cox, Harry Angel returned as a 4-year-old in the G2 Duke Of York Stakes, again retaining his peak Timeform mark when accounting for Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) by two lengths when conceding two kilos. Harry Angel is the best son of Dark Angel, who won the G1 Middle Park S. and at stud he has produced nine stakes winners and seven individual Group 1 winners. “Dark Angel is the English equivalent of I Am Invincible,” Pulford said. “He started from relatively modest beginnings and it’s the outcross line we are looking for in this country.” Harry Angel is out of Beatrix Potter (Ire), who is a daughter of fellow G1 July Cup winner Cadeaux Genereux (GB) and possesses an outcross pedigree with just one line of Danzig (USA) in the fifth generation, who is a half-sister to the dual G1 HKJC Champions’ Mile winner Xtension (Ire) (Xaar {GB}). “Harry Angel is a high-end sprinter whose precocity will work well in this part of the world,” Godolphin Australia’s Managing Director Vin Cox said. “We have been to have a look at him and were very impressed with him on type. We’re sure he’s the sort that Australian buyers will like. “We will be supporting him with Godolphin mares and expect him to get off to a good start.” Harry Angel will stand at a 2019 fee of $22,000 including GST. View the full article

It was fantastic to see Tiger Roll win back-to-back Grand Nationals and who knows he might emulate Red Rum next year by adding a third National. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to add my name to the score sheet at Aintree with Federici and Fin And Game (On holidays now) both pulling up on Saturday. That being said I […] The post Donald McCain Blog – Weekend Runners appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Peter Thomas unearths the secrets of Richard Hannon’s powerful Wiltshire yard Richard Hannon’s biggest win of 2018 came from an unexpected source but there was no fluke about that victory or the rest of a highly successful fifth campaign for the man at the helm of Herridge Stables. “Last season began with a bang when Anna […] The post Richard Hannon Stable Tour appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Record-breaking mare Winx will aim to finish her career on a high and stretch her amazing unbeaten streak as she runs her final race in front of 40,000 fans on Saturday. View the full article

Waikato Stud has released the 2019 service fees for its internationally-renowned stallion roster. The acclaimed stud has set this year’s prices to meet the current market, ultimately making access to its stallions – considered some of the best in Australasia – more attainable for more people. The announcement comes amid Waikato Stud celebrating one of its best seasons to date. Stud principal Mark Chittick says: “The revision of our stallion fees for 2019 is partly market-driven, but a si... View the full article

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