Wandering Eyes

Sent off the prohibitive 1-2 chalk in Sunday’s GII La Jolla H. at Del Mar, River Boyne (Ire) (c, 3, Dandy Man {Ire}-Clytha {GB}, by Mark of Esteem {Ire}) was given a tactically flawless ride by Flavien Prat and ran out a comfortable winner of the middle leg of the 3-year-old series that ends with the GII Del Mar Derby in four weeks’ time. Settled in the second half of the field as Calexman (Midshipman) galloped them along at a leisurely tempo, River Boyne was right in behind the leading group, needing only a bit of clear sailing as the field neared the stretch. Pulled out three wide into the lane, the dark bay eased alongside and past the pacesetter and on to a comfortable victory as Arawak (Uncle Mo) closed well to touch Calexman out of second. River Boyne is the fifth graded/group winner for Dandy Man, best known as the sire of the talented Hong Kong G1SW sprinter Peniaphobia (Ire). Lifetime Record: 10-5-2-0. O-Red Barons Barn LLC & Rancho Temescal; B-Limestone & Tara Studs; T-Jeff Mullins. View the full article

The morning following the big win by Lauren and Ralph Evans’ Diversify (Bellamy Road) in Saratoga’s prestigious GI Whitney S. Saturday, trainer Rick Violette Jr. confirmed his stable star was a “a pretty happy camper.” According to Violette, the imposing bay was “tired but content.” Offering an update on the gelding’s post-race morning, Violette said, “He’s supposed to be tired. If he wasn’t, I’d be a little concerned. We kicked him out in the [round pen] for a couple hours and let him graze for another hour. He had a pretty cool morning, and he still didn’t want to go into his stall. Sometimes you just have to listen to them. He kept telling me [prior to the Whitney], ‘Don’t be a chicken, put me in,’ and it worked out. He was pretty special yesterday.” The Whitney was his third consecutive stakes victory following the May 28 Commentator S. against New York-breds and romp in the July 7 GII Suburban–both at Belmont Park. His Whitney score earned Diversify an automatic berth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs. Looking ahead, Violette added, “I probably won’t even nominate to the [Sept. 1] Woodward. Off this race and the two before that, I just think it would be unreasonable. It’s four weeks and then four weeks to the [Sept. 29 GI] Jockey Club [Gold Cup] and then four weeks to the Breeders’ Cup. I don’t think that’s logical. I think we will set our sights on the Gold Cup and see what happens after that. We could go right to the Breeders’ Cup if the situation arises, but he does like Belmont. I’ve said it too many times; if you want to make God laugh, make long-range plans.” Whitney runner-up Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) also appeared in good spirits, according to his trainer Chad Summers. “I came back last night about midnight, the feed tub was licked clean,” said Summers. “He was calling for more food, I gave him another scoop, he ate it up. He walked the shedrow this morning, and I couldn’t be happier with how he came out of the race.” Summers indicated the plan is to keep all options on the table for this season’s G1 Golden Shaheen, adding that he could be under consideration for the Woodward. “Rick Violette taught me a very important lesson yesterday,” said Summers. “If he’s doing good on the morning of the entries, we’ll enter in the Woodward, but it would be between one of four races right now: the Woodward [Saratoga], the [GII] Kelso [one mile, Belmont, Sept. 22], the [GIII] Ack Ack [one mile [Churchill Downs, Sept. 29] or the [GIII] Lukas Classic [1/8 miles; Churchill Downs, Sept. 29].” Whitney third-place finisher Discreet Lover (Repent) appears likely to make his next start in the Woodward, according to trainer Uriah S. Lewis. Norma’s Charm (Creative Cause), fifth in the GI Test S., is also possible to make another start at the Spa this meet. “We are going to take it one step at a time, but the Woodward is next,” said St. Lewis of Discreet Lover. “Both horses came out of their races good. We’re going home and get a few days off. In a few days, if he says he is ready, we go back into training. We’ll probably bring him back up here a little early.” Discreet Lover won the nine-furlong GIII Excelsior S. at Aqueduct earlier this spring. View the full article

DER LU (f, 2, Orb-Taboo, by Forestry) was hammered into 3-5 favoritism for Sunday’s second at Del Mar and had to work for it a bit, but took care of business in the end. Nicely away from the seven hole, the sleek chestnut was ultimately outsprinted to the lead by the rail-drawn Courteous (Midnight Lute) and was patiently ridden from there. Biswhacks (Fed Biz) got through inside at the quarter pole to poke a head in front, but despite having to cover a bit of ground while three deep, Der Lu fought her way past and came clear inside the final sixteenth of a mile to take it by about three lengths. A $170K purchase out of last year’s FTSAUG sale, Der Lu stopped the clock in :21 flat at this year’s FTFMAR sale and was purchased by Charles and Susan Chu’s Baoma Corp. for $900K (1/26). The filly’s dam Taboo (Forestry) produced SP Smartly Agree (Smart Strike) and is a daughter of GISW Dream of Summer (Siberian Summer), the dam of top sire Creative Cause (Giant’s Causeway), MGSW Destin (Giant’s Causeway) and MGSP Vexatious (Giant’s Causeway). Taboo is represented by a yearling Uncle Mo filly, a colt foal by Frosted and was most recently bred to Pioneerof the Nile. O-Baoma Corp; B-Merriebelle Stable (KY); T-Bob Baffert. View the full article

Corey Nakatani, No. 2 all-time with 108 stakes victories at Del Mar, remained at Scripps La Jolla Hospital Saturday night pending further examinations of a possible back problem. Nakatani and Geovanni Franco were taken to the hopsital following Saturday’s 10th race when the 47-year-old’s mount, Irish Spring (Spring at Last), went down after clipping heels with a horse in front of him. Franco’s mount, Bitter Ring Home (Lemon Drop Kid), went over his stricken foe and also went down. According to a Sunday morning text from Nakatani’s son and agent, Matt: “Positive news! We just met with the spinal specialist and he will be released from the hospital shortly. He thankfully escaped without any major injuries, however, his timetable to return to riding is uncertain..We will be heading back to L.A. tonight to visit with a specialist in the coming days.” He added, “Thank you to everyone who has called/texted checking on my dad. We can’t thank you all enough for your prayers.” Nakatani notched his second win of the meeting, from 20 mounts, aboard Little Juanito (Exchange Rate) for trainer Victor Garcia in Saturday’s sixth race. Franco returned to the track to work horses Sunday morning and was listed on four mounts on Del Mar’s afternoon card. According to agent James Giannone, the 21-year-old native of Mexico suffered a bruised left foot. “He’s very fortunate, and blessed, to be able to come out of it the way he did,” Giannone explained. “Something like this is tough on everyone, but he’s cowboy tough. The last time he went down like this, last year at Oaklawn Park, he won two races the next day.” Franco, in his second season at Del Mar, has eight wins from 59 mounts through the first 14 days of the meeting, placing him sixth in the rider standings. View the full article

Saratoga Springs, NY – The Fasig-Tipton Sales Paddocks were ablaze with activity Sunday morning, as a wide swath of buyers made the rounds ahead of Monday’s opening night of the Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale. The two-session boutique auction, which features a catalogue of 255 yearlings, will capitalize on the high-end of the market, which has been particularly active in recent years. “We’ve seen the marketplace has been really strong for the quality type of horses,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “And we feel very confident that we have quality horses here. We think in two or three years, we are going to have another spectacular group of graduates on the sales catalogue cover.” The yearling auction season began last month with a strong renewal of the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, which produced figures up across the board. Browning looks for that momentum to continue on in Saratoga. “The marketplace was good in July,” Browning said. “We felt very confident with the quality of horses that were coming up here and, after our crew has had a chance to go through them for a couple of days, as well as getting feedback from buyers and sellers alike, there seems to be very positive reception to the horses on the grounds. We’re ready to get started.” Consignors were kept busy on the sales grounds Sunday by a wide-range of shoppers, both domestic and international. Major pinhookers like Eddie Woods, Randy Hartley, Nick DeMeric, Bobby Dodd and Ciaran Dunne, vied for viewing space alongside bloodstock agents Mike Ryan, Donato Lanni, David Ingordo, Kerri Radcliffe, Liz Crow, Mike McMahon and Patrick Lawley-Wakelin, while connections of high-profile owners like Coolmore, Godolphin, SF Bloodstock, China Horse Club, Stonestreet, Bridlewood Farm and Starlight Partners were joined by a host of conditioners as training hours concluded at the racetrack across the street. “We are witnessing very strong demand on the grounds this Sunday morning,” confirmed Michael Hernon of Gainesway, which was represented by three of the top five prices at last year’s Saratoga sale. “There is a deep domestic bench with a cross section of agents and trainers topped off by significant European agent representation, led by top camps Coolmore and Godolphin. It all adds up to what will, in all likelihood, be a very healthy marketplace.” As he oversaw multiple showings at Barn 1, Paramount Sales’ Gabriel Duignan agreed activity Sunday seemed to surpass recent years. “It has been extremely busy and there have actually been quite a few new faces,” Duignan said. “It feels good and people are saying there are a lot of good horses on the grounds.” Consignor Tom VanMeter agreed all indications are for a strong sale. “I think it’s going to be gang busters,” VanMeter said. “I think it’s a select, boutique sale and based on our action so far, we’re very optimistic it will be a strong sale.” Last year’s Saratoga Sale, which was topped by million-dollar colts by Curlin and Orb, saw 156 yearlings gross $52,995,000 for an average of $339,712. Bidding will get underway in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Monday and Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. American Pharoah Colt Brings the Hype The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga catalogue features 15 yearlings from the first crop of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and the contingent includes a colt out of J Z Warrior (Harlan’s Holiday) who is the auction’s highest-priced pinhooking prospect. The youngster (hip 10), consigned by VanMeter Gentry Sales, was purchased for $575,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. “He is a very popular horse and he’s making a lot of lists,” said consignor Tom VanMeter. “He is the most expensive pinhook in the sale, so we are a little scared about that, but he’s a very nice horse. And he’s an obvious horse. He’s bio-mechanically a monster. He moves like a slinky, somebody said. He moves like a jaguar.” Scott Dilworth signed the hefty ticket on the colt on behalf of a pinhooking partnership. “We put a group together, Olin [Gentry] was involved, Scott Dilworth was involved and Renee [Dailey] was involved,” VanMeter said. “We specifically targeted all the Pharoahs last year and he was at the top of our list–this was one horse that we all kind of landed on.” Asked if any of the partners started to get cold feet as the bidding progressed at Keeneland last fall, VanMeter smiled and said, “I think we all wanted to get him.” VanMeter is particularly familiar with the yearling’s family. American Pharoah was foaled at his Stockplace Farm and he boarded the colt’s second dam Carson Jen (Carson City). “I delivered him–these hands right here–delivered American Pharoah,” VanMeter said. “And then the female family, I had Carson Jen on the farm for a long time for Mr. [Ahmed] Zayat and then later for Bell Tower Thoroughbreds, so it’s really special.” In addition to multiple stakes winner J Z Warrior, Carson Jen also produced Grade I winner A Z Warrior (Bernardini) and graded stakes winners Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile) and E Z Warrior (Exploit). American Pharoah is also represented by the Saratoga sale’s second highest-priced pinhooking prospect in hip 26. Out of multiple Grade I winner Life at Ten (Malibu Moon), the filly was purchased by the pinhooking partnership Blue Sky Stables for $500,000 at the Keeneland November sale. She is consigned by Gainesway. View the full article

He was tempted to, but in the end trainer Rick Violette Jr. didn’t drink the Kool-Aid. The Violette-trained ‘TDN Rising Star‘Diversify (Bellamy Road) won the $1.2-millio GI Whitney S. at Saratoga Saturday, putting himself into the conversation for the older male championship. It was a strong effort from a very good horse who was in good form and was made the 8-5 favorite to win one of the most prestigious races on the calendar for his division. And Violette almost didn’t run in the race. He’s been training for 42 years, but even he, the proverbial old school trainer, had a very hard time bucking the modern system of doing things. You know the one, the one that says after a horse runs a big race you better send him into the witness protection program until he has had the time, which can drag into seven or eight weeks, to recover from such a demanding effort. Diversify ran perhaps the best race of his life when winning the July 7 GII Suburban H. at Belmont by 6 1/2 lengths. His Beyer figure of 110 was the best of his career. There was a time when running a horse like that back in the Whitney would have been a no-brainer, but for much of the week leading up to the race Violette was saying he was going to sit this one out. “He ran so fast in the Suburban,” Violette said. “It was a sub two-minute (1:59 4/5) mile-and-a-quarter and there’s only been a handful of those that have happened in the last decade at Belmont. He ran so fast and he won by many lengths over what I thought was a pretty nice field. There were serious horses in there and he ran away from them. So the reflex, especially in these days when everyone is thinking about the ‘bounce’ was to not come back in four weeks off a performance like that. Even in the performance in the race before the Suburban, the Commentator, he ran a ‘three.’ You’re supposed to be tuned in and not wait until they crash and say afterwards. ‘I shouldn’t have run him there.’ My first reflex was ‘discretion is the better part of valor’ and skip the Whitney and go to the [Sept. 1 GI] Woodward.” Trainers will tell you you need to listen to your horse and Diversify kept telling Violette that he needed to take a step back, rethink the situation and pay attention to how well he was doing. “He shipped up here well, he trained well, he ate well, his breeze was phenomenal and he came out of it well,” Violette said. “His blood, which sometimes can be a little volatile, was very good for him. It was kind of like he was saying, ‘Ok, chicken, enter me.’ So we went in. I acted a little bit old school, paying attention to the horse and letting him tell me what to do.” He may not have been completely comfortable with the decision, but once it was made, Violette prepared himself for what he knew could have been viewed as a major blunder. “I feel very, very justified,” he said. “[Owner] Mr. [Ralph] Evans said to me, ‘Good for you, you stuck your neck out.” He thought if we lost there we would have been open to second guessing. I’ve never let myself worry about second guessing. Maybe there’s a little bit of arrogance there. You do what you think is right and you live with the result.” The Woodward, which is worth $750,000, is next and it will be run on Sept. 1. Violette took a chance once. He’s not going to take it again. He is still a believer that a horse had only so many big races in them. “This is a valid theory,” he said. “Maybe it is too arbitrary, but I still believe in it. There was a time when people didn’t pay attention to this and ran horses back in three weeks or four weeks and the guys in the race that were coming back in six or eight weeks just kicked butt. It doesn’t have to be absolute, but it’s not fiction. You can only run so many superior efforts and you have to pay attention to that. We will not run back in the Woodward. I don’t care if he’s kicking the stall doors down.” Instead, Diversify will likely go next in the Sept. 29 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, which he won last year. That will give him eight weeks between races, the type of spacing Violette–not to mention virtually every trainer on the planet–is most comfortable with. A footnote to the Whitney was that it represented a huge day for the New York-bred program. Both Diversify and runner-up Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) are New York breds. The Hambletonian: Horse Racing’s Purest Race In the Hambletonian, the most prestigious trotting race in America, the use of Lasix is not permitted. The same goes for its sister race, the Hambletonian Oaks. While the use of Lasix is not nearly as predominant in Standardbred racing as it is in Thoroughbred racing, Standardbreds do use it and three horses in the Hambletonian had to come off the medication. Remember, the Hambletorian is a race with heats, meaning the horses have to race twice in the same day. The Hambletonian has been contested for 93 years and for the 93rd time, no one reportedly bled, there were no major form reversals and the race was as competitive and as exciting as ever. A filly, Atlanta, beat the boys, the 14th time a filly has won the race and the first time since 1996. The story was made even sweeter by the fact that the horse was trained by Rick Zeron and driven by his son, Scott. Yes, they are different breeds, but if harness racing’s number-one race can be held without Lasix, why can’t it happen in Thoroughbred racing, too? Just saying. Female Jockeys: Where Have They All Gone? When Julie Krone knocked down the doors that she did, it appeared the future was bright for female jockeys. Krone proved that a quality female rider can more than hold her own against the best male jockeys around. Then came Rosie Napravnik, who, like Krone, won some of the biggest races in the sport and showed everyone she was not just a good “girl” jockey, she was a good jockey, period. But since Napravnik retired in 2014, not only has no one filled the void she left, it’s harder than ever to find a female rider having any success. When Ferrin Peterson finished fourth in Friday’s second race at Del Mar aboard Chocolate Goddess (Square Eddie), she became the first female to have a mount at the Southern California track this year. To date, not one female has ridden in a race at Saratoga in 2018. Among the top 100 riders in the country based on wins, all are male. Peterson is an interesting story as not only is she a jockey she is a veterinarian student at U.C. Davis. She has seven career wins. Stanley Gold’s Five-Pronged Attack Trainer Stanley Gold did not win Saturday’s 13th race at Gulfstream, the $100,000 Florida Sire Desert Vixen S., but he surely made racing history along the way. In the race for 2-year-old Florida-bred fillies, Gold had five starters. Even more remarkable, all five were by the same sire (Brethren) and owned and bred by the same operation (Arindel Farm). Gold could do no better than third as Capriati came from far back to grab the show position. View the full article

Hronis Racing LLC’s Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), early favorite for the Aug. 18 GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 18, worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 Sunday morning. With assistant trainer Juan Leyva up, the 5-year-old reeled off fractions of :13.00, :25.40, :37.20 and :59.80, completing the final quarter in :23.60. “Super, really sharp,” said trainer John Sadler. “A very good work, so we’re right where we’re supposed to be and we’re very pleased.” According to Sadler, this season’s GI Gold Cup and GI Santa Anita H. winner is slated to record his final major work ahead of the Pacific Classic Sunday. Also working for Sadler Sunday, Curlin Rules (Curlin), went five furlongs in 1:02.80. The five-year-old is slated to make his next start in the Aug. 12 GIII Longacres Mile H. at Emerald Downs. Tyler Baze will make the journey to ride. View the full article

James Garfield looked to have the Aug. 5 Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1) all but put away when the Oasis Dream filly Polydream caught him at the finish to deny him his first group 1 victory. View the full article

2nd-WO, C$61K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT), post time: 1:28 p.m. ET BOHEMIAN QUEEN (Animal Kingdom) is the latest to make the races for her dual Grade I-winning dam Life At Ten (Malibu Moon), who was acquired by Adena Springs for $1.95 million at the 2011 Keeneland November sale. Bohemian Queen is kin to 2017 GII Amsterdam S. third Singing Bullet (Hard Spun) and a yearling filly by American Pharoah that fetched $500,000 as a KEENOV weanling last fall. Life At Ten was sold to SF Bloodstock for $550,000 in foal to Shackleford at the same venue and produced a colt this year. TJCIS PPs 7th-SAR, $90K, Alw, 3/up, f/m, 1 3/8mT, post time: 4:24 p.m ET Formerly a member of Godolphin’s French string under the care of Andre Fabre, LADY MONTDORE (Medaglia d’Oro) makes her stateside debut in this extended test. The 4-year-old, Group 3-placed in France, is a daughter of Hystericalady (Distorted Humor), winner of the GI Humana Distaff and narrowly beaten in the 2007 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Godolphin purchased Hystericalady for $3 million at KEENOV in 2008. Osare (Medaglia d’Oro), the half-sister to champion Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song), takes on winners for the first time, having finished fast to break her maiden over 10 furlongs at Belmont when last seen June 21. TJCIS PPs View the full article

Above all in Saratoga, the Turf can seem a world apart. Look at all the discord in society–yet mostly we all get along so nicely, learning fatalism and (its close kin) sportsmanship from those capricious horses of ours. Often, in fact, the whole premise of participation is release from the stresses and strains out there in the “real” world. Yet there is no getting away from the fact that the bloodstock market, as a prelude to all this escapism, is inextricably linked to the ruthless, hard-bitten calculations of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve. So it is that those speculators convening for the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Sale at Saratoga can be expected to persevere in the kind of spending that has made bloodstock such a faithful index of the quantitative easing (QE) era. Better qualified observers can judge how much longer a model devised for an emergency should also sustain a growing economy. They might also care to predict how the erratic political tides of populism, around the world, will ultimately respond to the gains enjoyed by the affluent through QE. But it seems safe to say that at least some in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion on Monday and Tuesday will be quietly pondering the way interest rates are now being stoked from their slumber. Perhaps central banks feel that a decade of QE has released enough liquidity into such markets as luxury cars, fine art and, well, Thoroughbred racehorses. The Fasig-Tipton July Sale processed yearlings at a 7% gain in both average and median, so the season has resumed with familiar momentum. At a boutique sale like Saratoga, admittedly, you have to be careful about reading too much into the weather on so narrow a peak. After all, it registered its second highest tally ever in 2009, on the face of it a wild response to the financial crash of the previous year. Keeneland September, in contrast, promptly nosedived to $192 million from $328 million. Over time, however, the Saratoga Selected Sale has corroborated the broader trends of the market as QE steadily freed up spending. In 2011, morale still remained so fragile that it had to be propped up by a heroic spree by Sheikh Mohammed. John Ferguson, on his behalf, signed for seven of the top nine lots, all by Darley stallions. If turnover remained more or less stationary for the next three years, at least the diversification of investment spoke of a deeper rally. Equally, however, the much higher aggregates registered in the last three years–the average gross for 2012-14 was $32,385,000; and for 2015-17, $48,440,000–offer only a limited insight into the boom shared by other elite auctions. True, the $52,995,000 of business done last year overtook that 2009 aberration to become the second highest in the sale’s history. But the recent elevation in turnover has coincided with catalogue inflation, from an average 110 sold (2012-14) to 152 (2015-17). So while average prices have advanced somewhat–from $295,301 (2012-14) to $317,989 (2015-17)–they have hardly matched the gains made, for instance, by Tattersalls Book 1 (where the average has more than doubled since 2011). That said, the sale last year was clearly strong by any measure and certainly rebounded from some relatively hesitant numbers in 2016. The median, indeed, was a record–and this, perhaps, is a signpost to a more legible reading of the Saratoga market over the past six years. Let’s cut it into two sectors, either side of the $500,000 yearling. As the table below shows, those selling for that sum or more have consistently accounted for just over a third of aggregate turnover at five of the last six sales. The advance to a 38.15% market share last year compares with 35.81% in 2012, an increment that echoes the relatively modest elevation in averages over the same period. $500,000-plus yearlings at Saratoga No sold % of sold aggregate % of gross 2017 30/156 19.23 $20,220,000 38.15 2016 23/156 14.74 $16,130,000 35.4 2015 24/145 16.55 $17,155,000 36.69 2014 17/114 14.91 $12,060,000 36.23 2013 13/108 12.04 $8,975,000 28.16 2012 13/107 12.15 $11,460,000 35.81 In the same period, however, the $500,000-plus sector has substantially increased as a proportion of those yearlings sold overall, and has done so in expanding catalogs. From barely 12% of sales in 2012 and 2013, they have accounted for just shy of 15% in 2014; 16.55% in 2015; 14.74% in the 2016 blip; and a whopping 19.23% last year. Paradoxically, that would suggest not only that big money is being spent on plenty more horses but also that stock remaining below the elite tier is also doing well. Business below $500,000 comprised 64.19% of sales in 2012, and 61.85% last year; but the average value of yearlings within that sector has risen nicely from $218,511 to $260,119. The cake is considerably bigger than it was, but the relative proportions of the two sectors are more or less the same. So it is the middle-to-lower market, now divided among a reduced percentage of overall sales, that is being served in bigger slices. Complaints about polarisation at so many other sales, then, may not apply to this one. As a boutique auction, bringing together classy individuals with good pages, it has been able to bring more horses into the top tier even as it has fortified values lower down. On the face of it, you might even say that this market has all the balance and breadth QE has not really managed to achieve in the wider economy. But it’s an elite auction, top to bottom, so perhaps it’s just another case of the rich getting richer! Now let’s just take a quick look inside that $500,000-plus category. It was back in 2012, the year after the whole sale seemed to hinge precariously on Bernardini and the man who stands him, that Tapit sold his first $500,000 yearling at Saratoga. He has since shifted another 22. In the same period, only four other stallions have mustered more than five $500,000 yearlings at this sale: Medaglia d’Oro with 15; Malibu Moon, 10; Uncle Mo, nine; and War Front, eight. Between them, these five have accounted for no fewer than 65 of the 120 yearlings sold here for $500,000 or more since 2012. Clearly this quintet are all at different stages. Malibu Moon and Medaglia d’Oro are approaching the evening of their careers, whereas Uncle Mo has sold his nine $500,000-plus yearlings in just the last two years. War Front’s relatively restricted books, meanwhile, will always make him a collector’s item. But for all that they represent a pretty random group, here’s their collective foothold in the Saratoga Select market over the past six years: Market share of top five Saratoga Selected Sale sires (by $500,000 yearlings sold 2012-17) (Tapit, Medaglia d'Oro, Malibu Moon, Uncle Mo & War Front) No sold Aggregate % of sold % of gross #others w/$500k yearlings 2017 27/156 $14,005,000 17.3 26.4 9 2016 29/156 $15,480,000 18.6 34 5 2015 19/145 $11,360,000 13.1 24.3 11 2014 16/114 $8,675,000 14.1 26.1 8 2013 19/108 $7,235,000 17.6 22.7 4 2012 24/107 $9,755,000 22.4 30.5 7 TOTAL 134/786 $66,510,000 17.1 27.4 On the face of it, these figures show monster sales stallions predictably punching their weight in the ring. But it’s worth noting that the same five sires accounted for 33.7% of yearlings sold in a single-session Book 1 in Keeneland last year, and 50.8% of the aggregate. That’s a bigger difference, between percentage of sales and turnover, even than they achieved here in 2016 (when cornering 18 of the 23 $500,000-plus yearlings). So while sire power will always be a factor at a select sale where only classy physicals will be admitted, there is possibly a slightly higher premium here on certain other assets. For one thing, we know that consignors will only risk animals of redoubtable temperament in Saratoga. There are a hell of a lot of people in town, and not that many horses to pull out between cocktails. Maybe that is why–in contrast with 2016; not quite such a vintage sale, remember, by some recent measures–there was a conspicuously eclectic feel to those stallions with $500,000 yearlings here in 2017 and 2015. Last year there were nine others, besides this dominant group; and in 2015, 11. Nonetheless the emphasis here tends to be on sires with stripes on their shoulders. An $825,000 Strong Mandate filly sold last year is the only yearling by a freshman to make more than half a million in the last two sales. That said, we plainly have something out of the ordinary this time round in American Pharoah, who has been dignified with no fewer than 15 lots after racking up a $467,307 weanling average. That’s out of a catalogue boosted back up to 255, from 224 last year and 252 in 2016 (156 ultimately sold on both occasions). Back in 2013, American Pharoah himself took a tour round this ring as one of just 152 catalogued. Other champions to have preceded him here include a colt sold for $5,000 to Samuel Riddle exactly a century ago, the last summer of the war in Europe. Racing was a sanctuary from the real world then, too. Its own foundations were only shaken, a year later, when Man o’ War suffered the solitary defeat of his career, against Upset, just over the road. Which just goes to show that you that even the interest rates of the QE era will sometimes be a safer bet than the very greatest of Thoroughbreds. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Monday’s Insights features a full-brother to dual Guineas hero Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). 2.15 Curragh, Mdn, €17,500, 2yo, 7fT BLENHEIM PALACE (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of three bluebloods from Ballydoyle and possibly the pick as a full-brother to the G1 English and Irish 2000 Guineas hero Churchill (Ire) and last year’s G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Clemmie (Ire). Partnered by Donnacha O’Brien, he is joined by Barbados (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-brother to the G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Maybe (Ire), dam of Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), and Sydney Opera House (GB) (Australia {GB}), a 525,000gns TATOCT half-brother to reigning G1 Melbourne Cup titleholder Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}). View the full article

Swedish jockey Josefin Landgren, 27, was crowned the champion after the second edition of the Lady Jockeys’ Thoroughbred World Championship at Bro Park, Sweden on Sunday. During the event, female jockeys representing Great Britain, France, New Zealand, Germany, Brazil, Norway, Belgium, and Sweden competed in a points-based competition over five races. Landgren, who won the first and fifth races, earned 54 points, six points clear of Brazil’s Victoria Mota (48). “We are proud to host the Lady Jockeys’ Thoroughbred World Championship,” said Svensk Galopp CEO Fredrik Reuterskiold. “The future is very bright for Swedish racing and, considering it is only two years since we opened Bro Park, we are delighted with the progress and development. I am very pleased for Josefin.” “We already have world-class owners, breeders and trainers and now we have a world champion jockey,” said Svensk Galopp Director of Racing Dennis Madson. “It’s a great result for Josefin and a great result for Swedish racing and I am so pleased there was a good crowd here today to celebrate Josefin’s victory.” View the full article

Running for purse money only with the scratch of her entrymate Mo Wheels Up (Uncle Mo), Scott Dilworth’s Lady T N T (f, 2, Justin Phillip–High Heeled Hope, by Salt Lake) jumped straight into the bridle from the outside stall, set a decent pace beneath Manny Franco and was pushed out mostly hands and heels to break her maiden by about five lengths in the Sunday opener at Saratoga. Second home Into Mystic (Into Mischief) was declared the pari-mutuel winner and returned even money. A $115,000 Keeneland September purchase last fall, Lady T N T was the highest-priced of a half-dozen of her sire’s juveniles to sell this season, hammering for $335,000 after breezing an eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 ahead of the OBS March Sale. Her dam, a dual stakes winner and multiple Grade I-placed at two for Paraneck Stable, is responsible for Sweet Hope (Lemon Drop Kid), a Grade III winner and second to champion Indian Blessing (Indian Charlie) in the 2008 GI Test S. Lady T N T was a troubled eighth, placed seventh, in her lone previous start to date at Churchill June 24 and was blinkered for this second go. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0. O-Scott Dilworth; B-Castleton Lyons (KY); T-Joe Sharp. View the full article

Phoenix Thoroughbred and Zen Racing’s Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) remains on target for the G1 Prix Morny at Deauvile on Aug. 19–despite being given an entry in the G2 Sky Bet Lowther S. at York four days later. Trainer John Quinn is keen to test his youngster at the highest level after she won the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot and then the G2 Prix Robert-Papin at Maisions-Laffitte on July 22. Malton-based Quinn said, “I’m very happy with her. She has come out of the Papin in good shape. I’ve put her in the Morny and she’s also in the Lowther the week after. The plan is to go to France, though. She’s a dual Group 2 winner now and we want to see if she is capable of running at that level. We think she’s worthy of a place in the field.” View the full article

The G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster on Sept. 14 is the likely next port of call for Rumble Inthejungle (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) following his impressive victory at Goodwood. Having finished fourth behind American raider Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby) in the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot, Richard Spencer’s charge ran out a dominant winner of the G3 Molecomb S. on Wednesday. Spencer is happy to stick to five furlongs for the time being, but will consider stepping his juvenile up to six in the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket at the back-end of the season. “All being well Rumble Inthejungle will go to the Flying Childers at Doncaster and then potentially the Middle Park,” said Spencer. “We want to keep him at five furlongs for his next start. He is just so fast, but we know he will get six. I don’t want to go abroad with him yet. Hopefully Doncaster in September will be perfect for him. He has come out of the race well, eaten up and trotted up well. View the full article

Wild Illusion (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is likely to sidestep the G1 Yorkshire Oaks later this month and instead be prepared for the G1 Prix de l’Opera on Oct. 7 before a potential appearance at the Breeders’ Cup. Having finished fourth in the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and second in both the G1 Investec Oaks at Epsom and the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot, the Godolphin-owned ‘TDN Rising Star’ was not winning out of turn when claiming Group 1 honours in Thursday’s G1 Nassau S. at Goodwood. The Yorkshire Oaks was mooted as a possible target in the immediate aftermath, but Appleby is keen to stick to a mile and a quarter with Wild Illusion for the time being. “It is all still quite open,” said Appleby. “We are potentially going to give her a little break. We saw what she can do over 10 furlongs at Goodwood, so what could just be the way forward is the Prix de l’Opera and then the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. We are probably edging more towards the Opera next now [rather than the Yorkshire Oaks.] Did she not really stay a mile and a half? People can question that, but I think we were beaten by two very smart fillies that have outstayed us.” View the full article

Godolphin’s Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) is set to return to Group 1 company in the G1 Grosser Preis Von Berlin on Aug. 12. Having made a successful return to Britain in last month’s G2 Princess of Wales’s S. at Newmarket, the Saeed bin Suroor-trained 4-year-old will go in search of a top-level success. “He will go to Germany on Aug. 12 for the Grosser Preis Von Berlin, which is a Group 1 over a mile and a half,” said bin Suroor. We will see about the Irish St Leger, but I think I’m thinking more about going to Australia with him. So far the horse is going well.” Stablemate Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) could bid for his first top-level success on British soil in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 22. Following a dominant success in the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan in March, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ was favourite for the curtain-raising G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, but was ultimately disappointing. He bounced back to form to claim his second Group 1 victory in Germany last weekend in the Grosser Dallmayr Preis and an appearance on the Knavesmire could be next. “He ran well in Germany,” said bin Suroor. “We will keep [his] options open. It could be he goes for the Juddmonte, but I will talk to Sheikh Mohammed. Closer to the race we will make a decision, but it is good to see all the horses in the stable going well. Going back to a mile and a quarter in Germany helped him 100%.” G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) has the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic as his long-term objective and is likely to journey to America for another race beforehand. Bin Suroor added, “He worked well on Friday and he is coming along nicely. The plan with him is to take him to the [GI] Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park at the end of September, then after that the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It is difficult to find a mile-and-a-quarter race in Europe for him. There is not much left apart from the [G1] Irish Champion [S. at Leopardstown on Sept. 15] or the Juddmonte.” View the full article

That voice. So rich and deep, you could listen to it for hours—and, such is his easy, discursive way, quite possibly you will. Maurice Burns is at his kitchen table, expounding the challenges facing the commercial stallion master in Ireland. “Think of Liam Cashman, God rest him,” he says. “He started with Kampala (GB) (Kalamoun {GB}) and Taufan (Stop the Music), just worked his way along with that knack of finding something, time after time; something people mightn’t think much of, originally. But the more people saw what he could do, of course, the more people would go to him. And he ended up with Acclamation (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}).” Burns is still seeking an Acclamation of his own, the ultimate horse to define his contribution to decades of achievement by a remarkable clan of breeders. But a posse of young guns now at Rathasker Stud is led by Bungle Inthejungle (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), Europe’s most prolific freshman with 16 winners from 35 starters, who just celebrated his first group winner when Rumble Inthejungle (Ire) emulated his sire with a score in the G3 Molecomb S. on Aug. 1. And, in offering new sources of the kind of speed previously processed here by the likes of Mujadil (Storm Bird), Burns is reiterating a perspicacity as valued—by his own clients—as was that of the late, admired Cashman at Rathbarry. Bungle Inthejungle himself, after all, fell through the cracks. He failed the vet as a yearling, two sesamoid fractures prompting an unequivocal pronouncement that he would never make the track. “And when our vet first saw him, he said this horse couldn’t have raced,” Burns says. “I said no, he’d won all these races on all types of ground. And he said he’d never seen anything like it. So now there a lot of babies out there, without his sore legs but with his raw ability, and maybe they can run even faster.” Certainly the horse’s failure to train on—after winning four of nine juvenile starts, including Group 3 sprints in the Molecomb and Cornwallis—was no reflection on his build. This was no pocket battleship. Burns remembers going to inspect “Bungle” at Mick Channon’s yard. “He looked like an Australian sprinter,” he says. “Not the biggest walk in the world, but a big horse, 16.2hh, with loads of bone. And a lovely eye. He’s a gentle giant, just lopes around the place, covers his mares and goes and has his dinner. And he seems to produce horses with the same mentality: they just get on with it, don’t worry about things.” That disposition is evidently complemented by a natural physical aptitude. If one or two more expensive rivals may yet run him down, this autumn, Bungle Inthejungle made a flying start—eight winners by the end of May catapulting him to the forefront of that sector where Rathasker typically operates. “You won’t see a mile-and-a-half horse here,” Burns shrugs. “Fruits Of Love (Hansel) did okay for us, but we ended up selling to a National Hunt farm. He didn’t suit our mares, or our client base: the Richard Hannons, the Mick Channons, the Richard Faheys. They know we know what they’re looking for, often come to us at the sales and ask: ‘What have you that I’d like?'” But a roster that reliably produces “trainers’ yearlings” is vulnerable to a market often sieved, nowadays, by agents instead. “At our end of the game you probably only have the first crop’s first season,” Burns says. “With sprinters, with 2-year-old speed, if you don’t produce immediately, your mares very soon dry up. In my father’s time, there wouldn’t have been 20 bloodstock agents, and most trainers went to the sales. But you were only looking at a couple of hundred yearlings. Now there are thousands. So people use agents to whittle down a catalogue. And the agents say, ‘Right, I can only look at 30% of these. So even before we start I’m going to put a line through this, and that, and that.'” Burns has around 70 mares on the farm, just outside Naas, three-quarters typically supporting the stallions and the rest covered elsewhere in the hope of upgrading a page. And you need only look at the pedigree of the Derby winner to remember that the Burns family knows just how to do that. For while everyone celebrated the fact that Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) is inbred 4×3 to Urban Sea (Miswaki), fewer observed the equal contribution of Ahonoora (GB) (Lorenzaccio {GB})—responsible for the mothers of both sire and damsire, in Park Express (Ire) and Park Appeal (Ire). “A Burns is never scared to have a horse in training,” confirms this one. “[Brother] Seamus and [his wife] Patricia had Classic Park (GB) (Robellino), Aidan O’Brien’s first Classic winner. And Park Appeal and Park Express ran in Dad’s colours. Both were covered by Green Desert the same year: one produced Shinko Forest (Ire), who became a stallion down in Rathbarry; and the other, Cape Cross (Ire). And then of course Park Express produced New Approach.” These rag-to-riches tales—Ahoonora, Acclamation—embolden Burns that someday one of his own, hard-knocking sprint sires might conjure some latent genetic seam of class. “Nobody could have seen that happening with Ahonoora,” he reflects. “And that’s what gives everyone a chance in this business. It was Larry Ryan who wanted him, he was chairman of the Irish National Stud at the time. Others couldn’t see it but Larry just had this thing in his head, that he wanted this horse. Otherwise Ahonoora would probably have gone off to Turkey or somewhere. As it was they got him at small money, stood him at small money, and he covered a nice commercial book. And the rest is history.” Ahonoora still remained a query when Seamus and their father Paddy bought Park Appeal as a yearling. “But she was such a tall, elegant filly, everything in proportion,” Burns recalls. “She was working very nicely and Jim [Bolger] wanted to run her in the Queen Mary. But Dad was an old stockman, a cattle man, and he looked at her and of course she looked—fit. Very fit. Dad said, ‘That filly needs the May grass. I’m taking her back to the farm.’ Jim was not very pleased. But Dad being Dad, he won. He put her in a paddock and she blossomed. Then he sent her back, she won her maiden in August, and after she won the Cheveley Park [she] was sold to Sheikh Mohammed.” At the next round of sales, then, every Ahonoora filly was checked out. “They weren’t overfond of most,” Burns says. “But then they found this big plain filly, completely different from Park Appeal—except for these grey flecks on her tail. And that was Park Express.” Paddy Burns had always been a trader as well as a farmer, touring marts in the south for livestock to sell to neighbours in Ulster. (“I think my mother used to see him once a week, on a Sunday,” Burns recalls.) In time he started buying mares, too, booking blocks of nominations from a young man named John Magnier at Castlehyde. For a long time Burns, Sr. was the record vendor of foals at Ballsbridge. The family moved south: first to Lodge Park, then adding Rathasker and nearby Newlands, today base of another brother in Patrick. And an inherited eye means the next generation includes nephews Ronan, at Herbertstown, and Paddy, at Loughtown; while Burns and his wife Theresa appreciate the role of their daughter Madeline at Rathasker. Red God stood at Loughtown and Burns enjoys that his nephew, named after the family patriarch, should be bringing things full circle where the whole story began—Red God being sire not only of Folle Rousse (GB), the family’s first champion in 1968, but also of Red Sunset, the first Rathasker stallion in 1984. “The horse business in this country is very family oriented,” Burns says. “And it’s all a big family, really. The stallion owner needs the breeder, for his mares; then the pinhooker buys the foal; then he sells to the trainer; and so on until, if they’re very good, they go to be stallions. It all trickles down.” “Our clients would mostly be fellas with less than five mares, usually just one or two. And when a stallion does well, like Bungle, everyone has a positive experience. The lady who bred his first listed winner, Eileen Farrelly, is a phlebotomist, used to take blood at the Mater Hospital. She sold the foal for five grand, so didn’t make any money. But all of sudden the mare has moved up the ladder hugely, and she’s over the moon. That’s a big kick.” But much else is afoot, besides, at Rathasker—not forgetting Gregorian (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), bred here and 50% syndicated at the National Stud in Newmarket because Burns already had Clodovil (Danehill) (a class act, held back only by fertility) and another son Es Que Love (Ire) standing at home. Gregorian is up to seven winners from his first crop. “Remember he broke his maiden in the autumn and went on from there,” Burns emphasises. “So I’d be looking at him as a work in progress.” The cherished Es Que Love won the G2 Lennox S. after being acquired as a horse in training, his dam (herself added to the Rathasker band for just 25,000gns) meanwhile responsible for winners of the G1 Hong Kong Vase and Hunt Cup. Es Que Love has also landed running, with four winners from just nine starters. Then come the next two turns of the carousel: the first foals of Coulsty (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and first yearlings of Anjaal (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}). “Coulsty’s have loads of quality,” Burns says. “All bays, same as Kodiac, good walkers with a bit more size than most by the sire. And Anjaal covered a huge amount of mares, 190 or so, his first year. We didn’t get him until Christmas, but when we started showing him we sold breeding rights to a lot of influential people in the business. He’s producing real Bahamian Bounty types, with plenty of hip and backside.” But nothing heartens Burns more than brother Patrick’s enthusiasm for “Bungle”, sending mare after mare up the road. “He has a sixth sense for stallions,” Burns says. “He was the same with Mujadil, and has a phenomenal ratio of ordinary mares producing black-type horses.” In most cases, Burns suspects, a stallion can do little more genetically than keep out of a mare’s way. “But then you get the cheap stallion who makes himself into a Kodiac or Dark Angel,” he marvels. “The ones that start with mares producing 60-rated horses, and get an 80-rated horse. Ahonoora was one of those.” So we’re back where we started, seeking another Ahonoora, another Acclamation. Of course, you need luck. Burns wistfully recalls his interest in Kodiac. Last year he went to see a horse in France and discovered he was the 10th studmaster to inspect him—that weekend. “When you consider the amount of stallions out there, it’s very, very hard to find that horse,” he says. “You’re hoping to find your one king and that the other lads do their thing well. Nobody knows where he might come from. But that’s what makes it interesting: it’s a bundle of genes, and your opinion, and you gamble on that. “That gamble is huge,” he says. “Not just financially—you also gamble your herd of mares. It’ll be five years before you find out if you’ve made a good investment or not. If he covers all your mares, and turns out a flop, it could break you. We’re lucky so far. And that’s the word, lucky, because you’re no smarter than the next fellow.” “You just get them born; you rear them; they go to their trainers. You watch them running, you give out about the jockey, but you’re totally engrossed, roaring at the television. You can spend a whole morning discussing how to beat the favourite that afternoon. And it’s only a seller. But for that day, it’s the Derby.” View the full article

Sunday’s G1 Henkel-Preis der Diana at Dusseldorf was straightforward for the handicappers, with Stall Ullmann’s June 10 G2 Diana Trial winner Well Timed (Ger) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) justifying 11-5 favouritism in this domestic Classic. Settled second early by Filip Minarik, the bay was joined by Night of England (GB) (Lord of England {Ger}) as she was committed at the top of the straight but quickly shook off that rival before asserting for a 1 3/4-length success, with Wonder of Lips (Ger) (Champs Elysees {GB}) 2 1/2 lengths behind in third. Sunday, Dusseldorf, Germany 160TH HENKEL-PREIS DER DIANA-G1, €500,000, Dusseldorf, 8-5, 3yo, f, 11fT, 2:12.63, gd. 1–WELL TIMED (GER), 128, f, 3, by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) 1st Dam: Wells Present (Ger) (SW & GSP-Ger), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB) 2nd Dam: Wells Whisper (Ire), by Sadler’s Wells 3rd Dam: Whakilyric, by Miswaki 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Stall Ullmann (GER); T-Jean-Pierre Carvalho; J-Filip Minarik; €300,000. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0, €357,300. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Night of England (GB), 128, f, 3, Lord of England (Ger)–Ninas Rainbow (GB), by Rainbow Quest. (12,000gns Wlg ’15 TATFOA). O-Stall Route 66; B-Windmill Farm Partnership Ltd (GB); T-Henk Grewe. €100,000. 3–Wonder of Lips (Ger), 128, f, 3, Champs Elysees (GB)–Wunderblume (Ger), by Lomitas (GB). (€18,000 Ylg ’16 BBAGS). O-Stall Lintec; B-Gestut Ravensberg (GER); T-Andreas Suborics. €50,000. Margins: 1 3/4, 2HF, HF. Odds: 2.20, 4.30, 21.00. Also Ran: Sword Peinture (Ger), Barista (Ger), Felora (Ger), Viva Gloria (Ger), Sand Zabeel (Ire), Come On City (Ger), Dina (Ger), Area (Ger). Scratched: Realeza (Ger). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. View the full article

Come Deauville August, Freddy Head always has his runners at a peak and the Wertheimers’ Polydream (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) stepped up to the mark to follow the G1 Prix Rothschild victory of the stable’s With You (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and continue the stable’s 100 percent record in the meeting’s premier races in Sunday’s G1 LARC Prix Maurice de Gheest. Prepping with a confidence-boosting success in the seven-furlong G3 Prix du Palais-Royal at ParisLongchamp June 2, the 6-1 shot who took last year’s G3 Prix du Calvados here and was second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Chantilly in October tracked the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. runner-up City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) up the centre where the majority of the field were racing. On the far side, the G2 Mill Reef S. and G3 Greenham S. winner James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) was cutting loose and with 300 metres to race Maxime Guyon had left himself with a lot of ground to make up on that British raider. Answering his call with relish, on Polydream chased him down in the final stride to score by a half length, with a healthy 2 1/2-length gap back to The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) as Europe’s sprinting division went some way to sorting itself out. Head’s six prior wins in this came with the pair of triple winners Marchand D’Or (Fr) (Marchand de Sable) and Moonlight Cloud (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and he was drawing a comparison with the latter afterwards. “She’s a smashing filly with a lot of speed and she reminds me of Moonlight Cloud–I don’t know do if she can win it three times but she’s very good,” he said. “She was lame after the Marcel Boussac and I think that cost us the race. We have to decide now whether to go back to a mile or not–I know the owner would love to go to America with her later on.” Sunday, Deauville, France LARC PRIX MAURICE DE GHEEST-G1, €380,000, Deauville, 8-5, 3yo/up, 6 1/2fT, 1:16, gd. 1–POLYDREAM (IRE), 121, f, 3, by Oasis Dream (GB) 1st Dam: Polygreen (Fr) (SW-Fr & GSP-US, $173,671), by Green Tune 2nd Dam: Yxenery (Ire), by Sillery 3rd Dam: Polyxena, by Lyphard 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Wertheimer & Frere (IRE); T-Freddy Head; J-Maxime Guyon. €217,132. Lifetime Record: 6-4-1-0, €379,212. *1/2 to Evaporation (Fr) (Red Ransom), MSW & MGSP-Fr, $366,599; and Ankle (Fr) (Shamardal), SP-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–James Garfield (Ire), 125, c, 3, Exceed and Excel (Aus)–Whazzat (GB) (SW-Eng), by Daylami (Ire). (£60,000 RNA Ylg ’16 GOUKPR). O-W J & T C O Gredley; B-Stetchworth & Middle Park Studs Ltd (IRE); T-George Scott. €86,868. 3–The Tin Man (GB), 129, g, 6, Equiano (Fr)–Persario (GB), by Bishop of Cashel (GB). (80,000gns Ylg ’13 TAOCT). O-Fred Archer Racing – Ormonde; B-Mrs Elizabeth Grundy (GB); T-James Fanshawe. €43,434. Margins: HF, 2HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 5.50, 42.00, 10.00. Also Ran: Librisa Breeze (GB), City Light (Fr), D’bai (Ire), Efaadah (Ire), Brando (GB), Actress (Ire), Unfortunately (Ire), Larchmont Lad (Ire), Schang (Ger), Coeur de Beaute (Fr), Fleet Review, Inns of Court (Ire), Sands of Mali (Fr), Intelligence Cross, Wootton (Fr), Bacchus (GB), Time’s Arrow (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton View the full article

Cambodia's affinity for the Del Mar course was on full display Aug. 4 when the daughter of War Front handily put away her rivals en route to winning the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2T) for a second straight season. View the full article

Shadybrook Farm's Cajun Firecracker upset heavily favored Fully Loaded in the Aug. 4 $100,000 Dr. Fager Division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park to become the first black-type winner for his sire, Cajun Breeze. View the full article

Cabo's Rumor wore down rivals in the final furlong in the $60,000 Louisiana Cup Juvenile Stakes at Louisiana Downs Aug. 4 to become the first winner and first black-type stakes winner for his sire, Amanecer de Oro. View the full article

SIGALERT (c, 2, Street Sense–Ouchy Night {MSP, $209,793}, by Cactus Ridge), his sire’s second-highest priced progeny to sell so far this year at $420,000 after breezing a furlong in :10 flat at OBS March, rallied from off the pace and held on late to graduate first out Saturday at Del Mar. Tipping his hand with a five-furlong work in 1:00 1/5 (4/76) here July 27, the bay was away cleanly as the 14-5 favorite before settling in sixth behind a hot :21.81 quarter. Saving ground on the turn, he tipped three deep after straightening for home, reeled in frontrunner Stubbins (Morning Line) close to home and held off the closing Extra Hope (Shanghai Bobby) by a half-length in 1:05.65. The winner is a half to Wild About Harry (Henrythenavigator), SP, $203,306. He has a yearling half-brother by Street Boss who sold for $120,000 at Keeneland November and a weanling Malibu Moon half-sister. Ouchy Night was bred to Candy Ride (Arg) this term. Sales History: $75,000 Ylg ’17 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $36,000. O-Hronis Racing LLC; B-Edition Farm (NY); T-John W. Sadler. View the full article

Horses' body weights August 5 View the full article