Wandering Eyes

Alamosa 4YO aiming to Conquer again View the full article

Updates on stewards' follow-ups to Friday and Sunday meetings View the full article

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale returns from a four-year hiatus Tuesday in Lexington with bidding beginning at 2 p.m. and a select offering of 40 juveniles took to the Lexington oval on a drizzly Monday for the auction’s under-tack preview. “Mother nature didn’t do us any favors with the rain, but the track looks like it is very fair and very safe and allows these horses to demonstrate the kind of exceptional talent many of them have,” Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales Bob Elliston said. “I’ve been very pleased and I’m tickled at the clients that are here looking at horses. All of the right kinds of buyers in the 2-year-old market are here and we just need a few of them to get on the same horses tomorrow.” A trio of juveniles shared the fastest furlong of the preview, each covering the distance in :10 flat, while a filly by Competitive Edge earned the quarter-mile bullet of :21 1/5. A colt by Bodemeister (hip 136) was the first horse of the breeze show Monday morning and promptly set the furlong standard of :10 flat. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, the bay colt is out of stakes placed Resident Alien (Bertrando), a full-sister to Grade I placed Shaggy Mane. The youngster was a $60,000 Keeneland September purchase. “He’s been a fast horse all year,” said Wavertree’s Ciaran Dunne. “He’s done everything right all year. We expected a big work from him and he delivered.” Wavertree was represented by another bullet worker when hip 126, a colt from the first crop of multiple Grade I winner Liam’s Map, worked in :10 flat during the day’s second set. A $190,000 Keeneland September yearling, the gray colt is out of graded stakes winner Jenny’s So Great (Greatness). Dunne pinpointed Liam’s Map as his first-season sire to watch earlier in the year and admitted Monday, “This colt is one of the reasons why. He is a beautiful horse. We put him a little later [in the day] just to get everybody’s nerves calmed down and he showed up like we thought he would. He’s a nice horse.” Wavertree sent out 10 juveniles to work Monday. “Everybody kind of breezed right in relation to everybody else right where we thought they’d be,” said Dunne. Of the soggy conditions, Dunne added, “We can make excuses for some of them, but for the most part they got through it and handled it. It was the same for everybody.” A filly by Tapit (hip 130) also shared the :10 flat bullet. Consigned by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, the bay filly is out of Grade I winner My Conquestadory (Artie Schiller) and is a full-sister to GII Fountain of Youth S. runner-up Bourbon War. She was a $775,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase. Hip 130 was one of three juveniles from Hartley/De Renzo to work Monday. The consignment also sent out a pair of fillies by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah: hip 142 worked in :10 1/5 and hip 155 matched that :10 1/5 time. Kip Elser’s Kirkwood Stables sent out Monday’s fastest quarter-mile breezer when Le Competition (Competitive Edge) worked in :21 1/5. The dark bay filly is out of the unraced Lefreakcestchic (Bellamy Road), a half-sister to multiple stakes placed He’s So Chic (Jump Start) and from the family of graded stakes winners Living Vicariously, With Distinction and Sightseeing. “We had as good and as safe a track as we could possibly have under the conditions,” said Elser, who sent out eight horses to work Monday. “They did a great job with the track. The horses went well and everybody came home well. I think some of them were more confident going over the mud than others, but those are today’s conditions.” Of Le Competition, Elser said, “She is one that really relished a wet track. I was in the chute, I didn’t see her frontside, but I know she galloped out past me tremendously.” Tuesday’s renewal will be the first time Keeneland has held an April sale since 2014. The last April Sale produced champions Lady Eli and Roy H. and graduates of the boutique auction include six Classic winners. “A lot of people would like to have additional opportunities to showcase their horses,” Elliston said of the sale’s reemergence. “And we are very pleased with the quality of the horses that are here and the buyers that are here. I hope we can build on it.” With the absence of the now-defunct Barretts Spring Sale, the Keeneland auction is even more important to major consignors like Wavertree. “From our perspective, it’s just replaced Barretts,” Dunne said of the Keeneland April sale. “We have quite a few to sell, so we need venues so we’re not competing against ourselves. This has always been a good spot to sell horses, horses have sold well and horses have done well off of here. So hopefully it works and we have a better turnout next year.” Elser agreed the 2019 renewal of the April sale will be one to grow on for all parties. “It’s hard to get something back on the calendar,” Elser said. “I think next year will be a really, really good sale. This year, we’ll have a good sale. But it needs to be used as a confidence builder on both sides, or maybe three if you count Keeneland themselves.” The Keeneland April sale will open with an offering of 94 catalogued horses of racing age. “I’m ecstatic about the horses of racing age part of the sale,” Elliston said. “I think they will be very much in demand because there is a lot of great racing getting ready to start around the country, at the rest of our meet, at the Churchill meet, and in New York. There are going to be tons of opportunities to run these horses back and get a return on your investment pretty quickly because they are already made horses and of high quality.” Elite Sales will offer a 14-head consignment of horses of racing age, including graded stakes placed Sweet Diane (Will Take Charge) (hip 90). Elite’s Brad Weisbord agreed the timing of the April sale is perfect. “There are a couple of times a year that these racehorses are selling,” Weisbord said. “January and November are generally when the season has been done. So April is the first sale where the season has started and the horses have current form. We only had July as an option–which obviously we’ll be selling at as well–but you have to wait six or seven months to get in and you’re right on top of the summer in that sale. So you’re now right getting started in the spring and then rolling into the summer. So by summertime, you’ll be in full gear with your new trainer.” Sweet Diane was third in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks and currently sits 19th on the points board for the GI Kentucky Oaks. “After [divisional leader] Bellafina, I think you can throw a parachute over the next group of fillies,” Weisbord said. “I think they are all running in that 75-84 Beyer range. Sweet Diane has speed figures to compete with those horses. She has Kentucky Oaks points–she’s on the border right now, but there are races like the GII Black-Eyed Susan on Preakness weekend and the GIII Delaware Oaks. It’s extremely hard to buy dirt, long 3-year-old fillies, in form, good looking and she is a gorgeous physical.” At the crossover from horses of racing age and 2-year-olds in training, a pair of juveniles who already have race form were late supplements to the April sale. Mean Sophia (Smarty Jones), who broke her maiden by 10 1/2 lengths at Keeneland on opening day last Thursday, will sell as hip 95. Competitive Queen (Competitive Edge), second in a maiden special weight at Keeneland Sunday will be offered as hip 96. Both fillies are owned by Savannah Goebel and trained by Cirilo Gorostieta. Of the pair’s late entry into the sale, Elliston said, “I was in the winner’s circle [Thursday] and I went straight up and I introduced myself to Cirilo. I said, ‘That was very impressive. You know we have a sale next Tuesday.’ He said, ‘Everything is for sale.’ Kyle Wilson and Mark Maronde are running this sale and they got him right in. And then he put another one in–the horse that ran second yesterday. So he has a couple in there and we’re excited for him and hope he does well.” View the full article

TAX (g, Arch-Toll, by Giant’s Causeway) O-R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Lynch, Hugh and Corms Racing Stable. B-Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider (KY). T-Danny Gargan. Lifetime Record: GSW, 5-2-2-1, $326,300. Last Start: 2nd, GII Wood Memorial S., AQU, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 52. Tax is shaping up as one of those horses who goes off north of 40-1 in the Derby and does not resonate as a clear win threat, but he has a stamina-centric pedigree and has demonstrated enough fight that you can envision him flying home dangerously if he gets the right trip. In the Wood Memorial, this Arch gelding (out of a Giant’s Causeway mare) bulled his way to a contending position from the one hole despite chaos to his outside that resulted in a disqualification, and he settled into a rhythmic stride down the backstretch while leading the second flight behind daylight-margin duelers. Tax got first run on the caving pacemakers, then held his position decently enough on the inside while racing in close quarters with the intimidating Tacitus. Tax was second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, but galloped out on even terms with the favored winner. “He got a little tired and got pushed down on the rail late, which was a little dead,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “His last three races, he’s improved tremendously. He learned a lot in the [GII] Remsen and then he moved forward in the [GIII] Withers. We gave him almost nine weeks between those races, and [Saturday] he showed up.” VIDEO PPS FINISH RACE 2nd GII Wood Memorial S. 1st GIII Withers S. 3rd GII Remsen S. 1st Maiden Claimer 2nd Maiden Claimer View the full article

WIN WIN WIN (c, Hat Trick {Jpn}-Miss Smarty Pants, by Smarty Jones) O-Live Oak Plantation. B-Live Oak Stud (FL). T-Michael Trombetta. Lifetime Record: SW & MGSP, 6-3-2-1, $367,300. Last Start: 2nd, GI Blue Grass S., KEE, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 50. Of all the horses who hit the board but did not win in Saturday’s trio of graded preps, this Hat Trick (Jpn)-sired homebred ran the most sneaky-good race, and with a pair of Derby-winning grandsires in his pedigree (Sunday Silence and Smarty Jones), this colt could emerge as the “wise guy” horse in Louisville. Win Win Win was bumped mildly at the break, showed a high level of confidence while rating at the back of a 14-horse field, advanced patiently through the pack, then steadied briefly while winding up for his run approaching the five-sixteenths pole. He commenced a bid five-wide off the turn, shifted out wider while trying to avoid running up on the heels of a tiring rival, then locked into a determined drive that earned him the place photo by a nose over a track that was not at all conducive to closers. “I don’t think we necessarily have to talk about distance being a limitation for him anymore,” said trainer Michael Trombetta. “This was only his second start around two turns and he’s really starting to figure it out.” VIDEO PPS FINISH RACE 2nd GII Toyota Blue Grass S. 3rd GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby 1st Pasco S. 2nd Heft S. 1st Allowance 1st Maiden View the full article

The new $2 Kentucky Lottery game called Win Place Show surpassed first-week sales goals by a whopping 247%, bolstering chances that the quick-pick draw based on the results of daily Thoroughbred races will gain wider implementation beyond its current 90-day trial period in Lexington, Louisville, and northern Kentucky. “Everyone is extremely happy with those numbers–the Kentucky Lottery and ourselves,” Brad Cummings, the founder and chief executive of the game’s parent firm, EquiLottery, said via phone on Monday. “We have exceeded expectations by a large measure.” Cummings said Win Place Show, which launched Mar. 31, is the first-ever daily lottery game to feature winning numbers based on the results of a live sporting event. A lottery player who buys a ticket receives a randomly generated set of numbers corresponding to three horses for the day’s selected race at one of 21 partner tracks across the country. Players win cash prizes if the race results match three in a row, three in any order, or any two exactly, with hitting the trifecta cold resulting in the biggest jackpots. In a story last week about the launch of the game (read it here), Cummings told TDN that a successful trial period means the game could eventually go live in 3,000 stores in Kentucky alone, and that “in five years the potential is there for Win Place Show to be in 15 to 20 states” via hundreds of thousands of retail points of sale. “We know one week is not enough to [demonstrate] a full trend, but we are certainly communicating those numbers to our future lottery partners,” said Cummings. “We know that we are getting repeat players,” Cummings said. “And we’re following exact lottery trends in that Sundays/Mondays are kind of the slowest days, and that we sort of peak on a Friday. I think the different thing here is that there’s some really nice racing on Saturdays, so we get a little bit more of a [sales boost] on Saturdays than most lottery games.” Partner racetracks are paid a broadcast rights fee if their races are chosen for the daily Win Place Show drawing. This past Saturday, Cummings noted, the GII Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Race Course was the featured race. Even though the winning result featured the 1-2-3 pari-mutuel favorites in exact order in the 14-horse field, the game’s numbers get assigned by random draw, so no one had a winning ticket, resulting in a double carryover to Sunday that was hit for $2,154. Despite the promising early start, Cummings repeated a call for continued sales support from people in the racing industry. “We don’t want to be lulled by this early success,” Cummings said. “We want to go from 247% to 500% [above the sales goals] to make it so incredibly unavoidable that the game flies not just here in Kentucky, but that we start to spread this thing across the country quicker than we ever imagined.” View the full article

Speedway Stable's Roadster has taken over the top position in this week's National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top 3-Year-Old Poll. View the full article

A loaded field of graded stakes winners have lined up for the $300,000 Maker's 46 Mile (G1T) April 12 at Keeneland. Seven older horses will take on Heart to Heart, who will attempt to defend his title and score his first victory in a year. View the full article

Woodbine Entertainment and the Horsemen's Benevolent Protective Association Of Ontario jointly announced April 8 that both parties have ratified a four-year agreement that was agreed to in principle in December 2018. View the full article

Now that the big “power weekend” of nine-furlong preps is behind us, what’s changed since the Top 12 rankings debuted on Dec. 28? The No. 1 kingpin remains the same (even though the juvenile champ lost that spot for a brief bit this winter). The season-starting No. 2 horse has been shuffled back to No. 10, and the horse who opened at No. 3 remains right there (but could leapfrog the field as the likely favorite for this Saturday’s lone remaining Grade I prep). Please note the rankings below are independent from the “Road to the Derby” points leaderboard Churchill Downs uses to determine starting berths. That list can be accessed here. 1) GAME WINNER (c, Candy Ride {Arg}—Indyan Giving, by A.P. Indy) ‘TDN Rising Star’. O-Gary & Mary West. B-Summer Wind Equine (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $110,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 6-4-2-0, $1,846,000. Last Start: 2nd, GI Santa Anita Derby, SA, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 85. Trainer Bob Baffert saddled the one-two finishers in Saturday’s GI Santa Anita Derby, and although ‘TDN Rising Star’ Game Winner came up a half-length short, his entire six-race body of work gives the juvenile champ an overall consistency edge, especially in Grade I races (3-1-0 from four starts). This $110,000 KEESEP Candy Ride (Arg) bay retains the top spot in the rankings, but he’s not yet a lock to start as the Derby favorite. Jockey Joel Rosario tracked a moderate tempo while giving up four paths of real estate around both turns on Saturday, and Game Winner led between calls at the sixteenth pole before getting collared by ‘TDN Rising Star’ Roadster (Quality Road). After the wire, Game Winner’s gallop-out looked stronger than his stablemate’s. “I think Game Winner’s next race will be better. I’ve been bringing him along really easy,” Baffert said post-race. “Game Winner was out there by himself [when he hit the lead] and when he gets by himself, he needs company. It was a good, hard race for both of them, and coming in, that’s what you want to see. This track is deep and slow, but it’s safe, and that’s what we wanted.” Added Rosario: “I moved a little bit soon because they weren’t putting much pressure on [the leader], but they weren’t going too fast up front so I was comfortable with my position. He got a little bit tired the last part, that’s why Roadster got by me.” 2) WAR OF WILL (c, War Front—Visions of Clarity {Ire}, by Sadler’s Wells) O-Gary Barber. B-Flaxman Holdings Limited (KY). T-Mark Casse. Sales History: $175,000 RNA Ylg ’17 KEESEP; €250,000 2yo ’18 ARQMAY. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 8-3-1-1, $501,569. Last Start: 9th, GII Louisiana Derby, Mar. 23 Next Start: Possible for GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. Caulfield on War of Will. KY Derby Points: 60. As we edge toward the three-week mark to the Derby, the story lines for the race are starting to crystallize, and War of Will can plan on being pegged as the “wild card” in pre-Derby analysis. Which version of this $298,550 ARQMAY War Front colt will show up on the first Saturday in May? The one who parlayed a five-length Churchill Downs MSW score last November into a three-race win streak that included two graded stakes wins in authoritative, athletic fashion, or the War of Will who looked utterly cast adrift as the beaten 4-5 fave in the GII Louisiana Derby after slipping and losing his footing at the start? I’m willing to bank on a rebound at inflated odds in the Derby, because even though War of Will might appear to be a question mark based on that one clunker of a race, he certainly looked the part of an exclamation point when roughing up decent competition (with plenty of torque left in reserve) in his two Fair Grounds stakes victories. Last Saturday War of Will notched a published workout for the first time since shipping to Keeneland for pre-Derby training, covering a half mile in :48.80 (33/106) under regular rider Tyler Gaffalione, who dubbed the move “a nice maintenance work.” 3) IMPROBABLE (c, City Zip—Rare Event, by A.P. Indy) ‘TDN Rising Star’. O-WinStar Farm LLC, China Horse Club International Ltd. & Starlight Racing. B-St. George Farm LLC & G. Watts Humphrey Jr. (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $110,000 Wlg ’16 KEENOV; $200,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GISW, 4-3-1-0, $419,520. Last Start: 2nd, GII Rebel S., OP, Mar. 16 Next Start: GI Arkansas Derby, OP, Apr. 13 Equineline PPs. Caulfield on Improbable. KY Derby Points: 25. ‘TDN Rising Star’ Improbable fired his second consecutive bullet workout on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s GI Arkansas Derby, his only two published morning moves since running second, beaten a neck, in the fractionally slower (.07 seconds) division of the GII Rebel S. The main track at Santa Anita is deeper/slower because of attempts to make it safer, so the 1:14 six-furlong move (1/8) might be better than it looks on paper from a fitness perspective. The conditioning setup was different from Improbable’s previous bullet over the same distance, as this time trainer Bob Baffert had Improbable on the rail starting ahead of a workmate (instead of running down the partner from outside like last time). This $200,000 KEESEP City Zip chestnut left his mate well behind at the quarter pole for a solo run through the lane, but just like in his previous work (and in several races) Improbable again cocked his head to the grandstand instead of focusing straight ahead. Baffert has indicated a desire for Improbable to evolve into a more of an early pace presence straight from the gate (the colt has essentially been a stalker in four lifetime races), and Improbable will partner for the first time with jockey Jose Ortiz at Oaklawn. 4) OMAHA BEACH (c, War Front—Charming, by Seeking the Gold) O-Fox Hill Farms, Inc. B-Charming Syndicate (KY). T-Richard Mandella. Sales History: $625,000 RNA Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 6-2-3-1, $521,800. Last Start: 1st, GII Rebel S., OP, Mar. 16 Next Start: GI Arkansas Derby, OP, Apr. 13 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 37.5. The highly anticipated Improbable-Omaha Beach showdown in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby looms as the key plot point of Saturday’s final Grade I prep, and judging by workouts at Santa Anita since their last Oaklawn starts, these two SoCal shippers appear primed to put on a show. Both colts have fired two bullet workouts over the past two weeks, and while Improbable’s move was aimed at producing sharper early speed, Omaha Beach’s Saturday 1:00.60 five-eighths work (1/45) was a lesson in coming through at the rail after spotting an older starter-allowance winner seven lengths on the turn. This War Front colt finished up with good energy nearly four lengths in front, and Omaha Beach’s recent races and workouts give the impression he’s done a lot of physical and mental maturing since exiting the maiden ranks just nine weeks ago. So how does the Arkansas Derby historically shape up as a stepping stone to Louisville? The only horses to pull off the Arkansas/Kentucky Derby double since 1980 have been American Pharoah (2015), Smarty Jones (2004) and Sunny’s Halo (1983). But keep an eye on whoever finishes second on Saturday: Horses who have been the runner-up in the Arkansas Derby during that same time frame have also won three Kentucky Derbies—Super Saver (2010), Grindstone (1996) and Lil E. Tee (1992). 5) ROADSTER (c, Quality Road—Ghost Dancing, by Silver Ghost) ‘TDN Rising Star’. O-Speedway Stable LLC. B-Stone Farm (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $525,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GISW, 4-3-0-1, $706,200. Last Start: 1st, GI Santa Anita Derby, SA, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 100. Although trainer Bob Baffert said he left the exact in-race strategy up to jockey Mike Smith, his pre-race commentaries about ‘TDN Rising Star’ Roadster had suggested that this $525,000 KEESEP Quality Road gray would be closer to the pace while breaking from the rail in the Santa Anita Derby. Instead, Roadster was rated toward the rear in the early stages of the race, and even though he was only about four lengths off the lead for the backstretch run, this colt alarmingly lost touch between the half-mile and three-eighths poles, spotting the leaders a good nine lengths while nearly dropping back to last. Roadster then uncorked a three-furlong, loop-the-group drive that he sustained into deep stretch with grinding determination, putting away stablemate Game Winner with only a mild fight from the juvenile champ. “The first time he ran for me he showed he had all the gears,” jockey Mike Smith said of Roadster’s Del Mar debut last summer. “The second time he had the problem with his wind [since corrected by throat surgery]. We fixed that and he’s doing all the right things. We got a good break and then we dropped back. He took a breather, while the others were going out there quick. When I asked him again, he was gone.” 6) TACITUS (c, Tapit—Close Hatches, by First Defence) O/B-Juddmonte Farms, Inc. (KY). T-Bill Mott. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 4-3-0-0, $653,000. Last Start: GII Wood Memorial S., AQU, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 150. Tacitus’s aggressive win in the GII Wood Memorial S. asserts him as the only horse ranked within the Top 12 who has clearly demonstrated he can fight for position through traffic/adversity and still have enough left stamina-wise to win a prolonged stretch battle. This homebred Tapit gray didn’t give an inch when engaging in shoulder-to-shoulder roughhousing through the first turn, and beyond his apparent relishing of nine furlongs, an intimidating presence helped Tacitus put away a determined rival in deep stretch. So why isn’t Tacitus ranked higher on this list? For starters, his winning Wood run was aided by being able to get a clear shot at laboring pacemakers after a pair of 51-1 and 41-1 long shots opened up an ambitious seven lengths on the backstretch. Secondly, Tacitus is a colt who doesn’t truly uncoil until after a mile and then requires vigorous handling to stay engaged, and those types of horses often have trouble negotiating 20-horse fields in the Derby. Another concern is that Tacitus is still relatively inexperienced (just four races), and in neither the GII Tampa Bay Derby nor the Wood did he beat any other horse who is currently considered an elite-level Derby prospect. 7) LONG RANGE TODDY (c, Take Charge Indy–Pleasant Song, by Unbridled’s Song) O/B-Willis Horton Racing, LLC (KY). T-Steve Asmussen. Lifetime Record: GSW, 7-4-1-1, $851,125. Last Start: 1st, GII Rebel S., OP, Mar. 16 Next Start: GI Arkansas Derby, OP, Apr. 13 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 53.5. Long Range Toddy is about as under-the-radar as you can get for a Derby Top 12 horse, and that’s probably fine with trainer Steve Asmussen, who will head to the Arkansas Derby with a no-pressure horse who has subtle edges in consistency (four wins, never lost by more than two lengths) and stamina (Saturday’s Oaklawn race will be his sixth at a mile or longer) This Take Charge Indy-sired homebred is a good breaker from the gate and an adept stalker who doesn’t need the pace of the race to go a certain way, and he has shown a high level of comfort both when pinned down on the rail and when carving out his own path through deep-stretch traffic. The question marks for Long Range Toddy largely center on his company lines. With the exception of Improbable (who he beat by a neck to win the Rebel S.), Long Range Toddy has not faced any serious A-level sophomore competition, and the Arkansas Derby will be his first-ever attempt at a Grade I affair. 8) VEKOMA (c, Candy Ride {Arg}—Mona de Momma, by Speightstown) O-R. A. Hill Stable & Gatsas Stables. B-Alpha Delta Stables, LLC (KY). T-George Weaver. Sales History: $135,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: GSW, 3-2-0-1, $188,850. Last Start: 1st, GI Blue Grass S., KEE, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 10. Vekoma continues to overachieve. He’s a light-framed May 22 foal, and this $135,000 KEESEP Candy Ride (Arg) chestnut is emerging as a capable stalker who can secure a prime pace position, quicken when cued, and–at least over nine furlongs–get a distance of ground. He took an astounding amount of late money on Saturday at Keeneland (pounded to 7-5 odds as the race was going off), claimed a trouble-free spot a length off the flank of a 9-1 pacemaker, then opened up at will despite once again (he’s done it in all four career races) shifting and drifting through the stretch. When evaluating him as a Derby threat, his GII Blue Grass S. victory has to be viewed in the context of how speed-favoring Keeneland’s dirt surface was on Apr. 6: Of eight dirt-track races that day, seven were won by horses who were first or second at the second chart call, and the second- and third-place finishers behind Vekoma both gave the impression that they were up against the grain of the surface despite finishing well. “I like the way he broke out of the gate,” said winning jockey Javier Castellano. “I didn’t want to be too aggressive early. Every time I asked him, he kicked on a little bit.” 9) WIN WIN WIN (c, Hat Trick {Jpn}-Miss Smarty Pants, by Smarty Jones) O-Live Oak Plantation. B-Live Oak Stud (FL). T-Michael Trombetta. Lifetime Record: SW & MGSP, 6-3-2-1, $367,300. Last Start: 2nd, GI Blue Grass S., KEE, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 50. Of all the horses who hit the board but did not win in Saturday’s trio of graded preps, this Hat Trick (Jpn)-sired homebred ran the most sneaky-good race, and with a pair of Derby-winning grandsires in his pedigree (Sunday Silence and Smarty Jones), this colt could emerge as the “wise guy” horse in Louisville. Win Win Win was bumped mildly at the break, showed a high level of confidence while rating at the back of a 14-horse field, advanced patiently through the pack, then steadied briefly while winding up for his run approaching the five-sixteenths pole. He commenced a bid five-wide off the turn, shifted out wider while trying to avoid running up on the heels of a tiring rival, then locked into a determined drive that earned him the place photo by a nose over a track that was not at all conducive to closers. “I don’t think we necessarily have to talk about distance being a limitation for him anymore,” said trainer Michael Trombetta. “This was only his second start around two turns and he’s really starting to figure it out.” 10) SIGNALMAN (c, General Quarters–Trip South, by Trippi) O-Tommie M. Lewis, David A. Bernsen, LLC & Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek). B-Monticule (KY). T-Kenneth G McPeek. Sales History: $32,000 Ylg ’17 FTKOCT. Lifetime Record: GSW & MGISP, 7-2-2-2, $552,990. Last Start: 3rd, GII Blue Grass S., KEE, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 38. Signalman improved several notches when third in Saturday’s Blue Grass S., but it wasn’t enough to keep him ranked with the top Derby contenders. He broke alertly and secured an inside stalking spot, then maintained it for most of the backstretch run. Approaching the far turn, this $32,000 FTKOCT General Quarters colt lost momentum for a beat or two behind the pacemakers before re-engaging 3 ½ furlongs out when guided to the outside of eventual winner Vekoma. Signalman closed like he knew what his job was, but like many horses who tried to uncork stretch rallies at Keeneland on Saturday, he gave the impression of spinning his wheels before galloping out past Vekoma after the wire. “The racetrack has been playing speedy all day, and horses that have been close have been holding on,” jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said. “So we had to use our horse a little more than he may like, but he still held on for a good third.” 11) PLUS QUE PARFAIT (r, 3, Point of Entry–Belvedera, by Awesome Again) O-Imperial Racing LLC. B-Calloway Racing LLC (KY). T-Brendan Walsh. Sales History: $24,000 RNA wlg KEENOV ’16; $135,000 ylg KEESEP ’17. Lifetime Record: GSW, 7-2-1-2, $1,590,400. Last Start: 1st, G2 UAE Derby, MEY, Mar. 30 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 104. It should have been a tipoff that Plus Que Parfait was about to turn the corner when trainer Brendan Walsh even considered shipping him to Dubai for the G2 UAE Derby. Walsh previously worked for Godolphin Racing in Dubai, and it’s unlikely he’d want to make the trek to Meydan if he didn’t have an inkling that this $135,000 KEESEP Point of Entry ridgling was much better than his previous two off-the-board starts in 2019 indicated. Plus Que Parfait cemented a sweet homecoming for his trainer with a well-timed, 2 1/2-furlong, sustained late kick that earned him a three-quarter length victory over 1 3/16 miles, the closest anyone on the prep trail will get to the 10-furlong distance prior to the Kentucky Derby itself. Jose Ortiz rode him to victory in Dubai, but that in-demand jock also was the winning rider on Tacitus in the Wood Memorial, and is also named on Improbable, the likely fave for Saturday’s Arkansas Derby. 12) TAX (g, Arch-Toll, by Giant’s Causeway) O-R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Lynch, Hugh and Corms Racing Stable. B-Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider (KY). T-Danny Gargan. Lifetime Record: GSW, 5-2-2-1, $326,300. Last Start: 2nd, GII Wood Memorial S., AQU, Apr. 6 Next Start: GI Kentucky Derby, CD, May 4 Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 52. Tax is shaping up as one of those horses who goes off north of 40-1 in the Derby and does not resonate as a clear win threat, but he has a stamina-centric pedigree and has demonstrated enough fight that you can envision him flying home dangerously if he gets the right trip. In the Wood Memorial, this Arch gelding (out of a Giant’s Causeway mare) bulled his way to a contending position from the one hole despite chaos to his outside that resulted in a disqualification, and he settled into a rhythmic stride down the backstretch while leading the second flight behind daylight-margin duelers. Tax got first run on the caving pacemakers, then held his position decently enough on the inside while racing in close quarters with the intimidating Tacitus. Tax was second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, but galloped out on even terms with the favored winner. “He got a little tired and got pushed down on the rail late, which was a little dead,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “His last three races, he’s improved tremendously. He learned a lot in the [GII] Remsen and then he moved forward in the [GIII] Withers. We gave him almost nine weeks between those races, and [Saturday] he showed up.” Rounding out the starting gate… 13) Code of Honor (NobleMission {GB}): Nimble, adept closing threat has more than enough points to enter the Derby, but connections mulling whether he merits a shot after so-so third in GI Florida Derby. 14) Maximum Security (New Year’s Day): Former $16,000 maiden-claimer riding undefeated win streak into Louisville off “stolen” Florida Derby. His presence in Derby gate would contribute to a robust pace. 15) Country House (Lookin At Lucky): Flashed talent while green behind War of Will in New Orleans; if he’s entered at Oaklawn, would need commanding performance to earn a Kentucky Derby turnaround. 16) By My Standards (Goldencents): Ranked fifth in qualifying points based on 22-1 Louisiana Derby upset. Would be legitimately ranked as a Louisville long shot based on only one win beyond maiden ranks, and that victory is difficult to read because of no-show favorite who failed to threaten. 17) Cutting Humor (First Samurai): Blitzed to track-record win in GIII Sunland Derby despite four/three-wide journey around both turns. 18) Bourbon War (Tapit): Currently parked in 20th on the points list and will likely need defections to get into the Derby. His best stakes try was a game second in GII Fountain of Youth, when he received an ideal speed setup to enhance his closing kick. 19) Spinoff (Hard Spun): He’s never been off the board from four starts, and this year owns a gaudy 11-length allowance romp and an overachieving second in the Louisiana Derby. Real deal or not? Tough to tell. Currently 16th in qualifying points 20) Anothertwistafate (Scat Daddy): Won three Golden Gate races by combined 16 lengths, then was firing home fast with better momentum than the winner in track-record Sunland Derby. But he’s on the outside looking in points-wise (23rd), so he’ll go in Saturday’s GIII Lexington S. to try and close the gap. View the full article

Hot blood. What, if anything, does it mean? Not in the sense that divides different breeds, as with German “Warmbloods” and so on, but within the Thoroughbred itself. Can a racehorse inherit a fiery or neurotic temperament, or indeed a mild and calm one, with the genes of its parents? Or must the spectrum of behavior, for better or worse, also reflect environmental influences on the upbringing of a foal? Many experienced and respected horsemen are adamant that temperament can be traced through a family tree. Tony Lacy of Four Stars Sales is one. In man and beast alike, he feels, “the personality of the offspring is generally a result of their parents, and others in the genetic line.” As with all attempts to reduce developments in science to some kind of silver bullet, however, most traits still have to be traced along a spectrum between heritability and environment. And so long as an elusive equilibrium must be sought between pedigree and preparation, then horsemen will still have to rely on their own wit and wisdom. To many of us, that is just as well. If we ever reach the stage where the full range of a horse’s potential can be predicted from a single hair, then every Kentucky Derby will be won by a sales-topper. The fulfilment of that potential, of course, would remain contingent on skilled horsemanship and other environmental factors. But without the dream of beating the odds, how sustainable would the rest of the business become? Human nature being what it is, plenty of people have proved eager to conflate the rudiments of an evolving science with the possibility of immediate commercial advantage. But since the first sequencing of the equine genome-now over a decade ago, through a Thoroughbred mare owned by Cornell University and aptly named Twilight-most attention has been focused on such physical capacities as might be predicted from a horse’s genetic inheritance. (Or might not: genetic prediction is seldom clear-cut, varying with the heritability of a given trait.) According to Dr. Brandon Velie, lecturer in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney, far less research has been conducted into the heritability (or otherwise) of behavioural traits in Thoroughbreds. “Generally speaking, relatively little has been done compared to the typical-and much easier to measure-‘performance’ traits,” he says. “Some work has been done, and is currently being done, on stereotypies [i.e. ‘vices’], but I believe this has been very limited in size and scope thus far.” That is hardly surprising, when “temperament” is such a loose concept, covering a multitude of sins. It’s difficult for scientists even to agree what they should be measuring, never mind how to measure it. And that makes it hard to distinguish possible genetic patterns, in behaviour, from environmental influences, such as the way a horse has been handled in infancy. To take the example of ongoing research mentioned by Dr. Velie, nobody can yet say whether Thoroughbreds might be more prone than other breeds to “cribbing” and similar stable vices solely because they have inherited the propensity; or whether they develop it in response to a training regime typically in claustrophobic contrast with the roaming of other breeds? “While temperament in a horse, to many, may be easily recognizable even in a foal-for instance, ‘bold’ versus ‘cautious’-where things get complicated is when you ask how this can be objectively measured, paired with genomic data, and subsequently analysed,” Dr. Velie explains. “Thoroughbreds and other ‘hot’ breeds may exhibit vices more often, and there is almost certainly a genetic component. However, the question often asked is whether or not the vice is a side-effect of having a high-performing animal cooped up for long periods of time, or if they would have the same vice if given the ability to run, graze freely and so on, in pastures and fields. “Personally, I think it is a little of both. High-performing breeds need high levels of energy to perform their jobs. The likes of racehorses or dressage horses do jobs that take a lot of both physical and mental effort. When they are deprived of this outlet, or challenge, I think many of them struggle to cope and thus develop vices.” Dr. Velie suspects that a parallel can be drawn from our own experience. “I imagine something similar would be seen in humans who are very active, but then are sidelined due to injury,” he says. “They often struggle as they no longer are receiving the positive feedback, both mental and physical, from everyday exercise. “But I’m not aware of many genomic studies that have objectively looked at this, in Thoroughbreds; and those that have tend to be limited in size. Because these traits are generally considered complex, large sample sizes are needed to look at them thoroughly-and this can often be difficult, given the aversion of some industries to genomic profiling.” As such, the traditional association of fiery or excitable tendencies with a particular sire-line would seem rather too crude to be sustained by the available science. Of course, it is a besetting vice of the bloodstock industry to give disproportionate credit to sires in particular, and to sire-lines in general, purely because they benefit from a much greater statistical sample. In these days of huge commercial books, a successful sire can accumulate foals by the thousand; whereas even those mares with the most desirable genetic assets are confined to a single foal per annum. Sires duly tend to be identified with all heritable characteristics, never mind those on the margins of heritability. Lacy resists that trap, actually crediting a stronger influence on temperament to mares. (As we’ll see in a moment, the actual process of maternity and nursing does give the dam behavioural influence unavailable to the sire.) “The ‘legacy’ mares seem to have a dominant influence for generations, making them the force they are,” argues Lacy. “To produce a great racehorse, you need a mentally tough and genuine nature, along with a will to win. In my opinion, an extremely talented horse who is mentally weak is rarely a success on the track. “Although the Thoroughbred is innately a high-spirited animal, I believe it is important to be aware of the temperament of your mare and what she may or may not need in a stallion. It is a piece in the puzzle that can often be overlooked. You are not trying to dull the spirit that often makes a good racehorse, you are however, attempting to channel it in the right direction. You need a balance. “There are a number of sires/sire-lines that could be considered to have a hot or difficult nature. I think you want to avoid amplifying any negative aspects of their character in the potential foal.” Coat color is one instance of a simple, agreed genetic inheritance. But how far can we attribute the broader brushstrokes of a horse’s genetic potential to the diminishing strands of what becomes, within four generations, just 1/16th of the genetic mix? (All genetic prediction is scaled proportionately to the expected contribution of each ancestor.) “Simple traits, i.e. those attributed to a single gene, like many coat colours, typically can be easily traced down sire-/dam-lines,” explains Dr. Velie. “However complex traits, attributed to multiple genes, are typically more complicated and often require in-depth analyses.” That very basic principle should perhaps be enough to get breeders to spend a little less time trying to imitate specific patterns through an endless genetic maze, and a little more thinking about the fundamental balance of matings: first and foremost to complement physical types, but also to redress other imbalances established in one or other parent during their own careers. That will most obviously apply to performance, as when you send a fast mare to Galileo; but it may conceivably extend to some aspects of behavior. It would certainly do so, notes Dr. Velie, if you knew the extent to which a particular trait is inherited. But he stresses the importance of remembering the environmental element, too. “In Thoroughbreds, generally speaking, a ‘difficult’ mare will pass on half her genetic material to a foal that she will then raise,” he reasons. “The foal, like most foals, will have some of the same characteristics as the mare due to its genetic make-up, but will also learn certain behaviors and so on from the mare. We refer to this as a maternal effect.” Ascription of heritable character to stallions notorious for their own fiery tempers, meanwhile, must plainly make allowance for the raised testosterone levels in those who graduate from racetrack to the covering shed. So while a lot of stallions have become notorious for their “savagery”, no automatic inference should necessarily be drawn regarding the co-operation likely in their stock in a normal training environment. “If a stallion is more savage due to higher levels of testosterone, the trait could potentially be passed on to his progeny if those higher levels of testosterone are driven by a genetic anomaly,” Dr. Velie says. “But as Thoroughbred stallions don’t interact with their foals like mares do, there would be no paternal environment effect. So any influence the sire has on his foals must come from whatever genes he passed on to his foals.” Once again, in other words, progress in scientific understanding leads to better questions, rather than to glib answers. In this specific instance, the question becomes whether an abnormal level of testosterone in a stallion itself reflects a genetic difference. Alleged and his son Law Society evidently had a fearsome reputation among handlers, for instance, but apparently not so Alleged’s sire and grandsire Hoist The Flag and Tom Rolfe. In the case of windsucking and other vices, equally, there is evidence that grain levels in diet may be a non-genetic contributing factor: British ponies hardly ever windsuck, for instance, but nor do they tend to be fed concentrates. There is an established variation of fear and reactivity between breeds: Thoroughbreds and Arabians are considered flightier than Quarterhorses or Warmbloods, but within each breed there will be a spectrum of docility. Moreover one man’s “temperament” will be another’s “responsiveness”, consistent with the tasks we have in mind when we breed horses selectively for sport. We might not want them too easily spooked, but we don’t want them too sluggish either. Definition and measurement of temperament vary so much that even cursory exposure to the research introduces you to speculation that heritability, as opposed to environmental factors, accounts for as little as one percent of variation among horses in demeanour-or as much as 60 percent! The fact is that the research in this field, while ongoing, is still in its infancy so far as Thoroughbreds are concerned. So perhaps we just need to avoid getting ahead of ourselves. Genomics will doubtless bring many benefits, but we shouldn’t expect or even ask science to reduce the mystique of breeding racehorses to simple formulae. It’s been a temptation forever: perhaps nothing will take us further than a tradition, tracing to primitive tribes, that you can signpost a highly-strung nature from the position of the whorl (or whorls) on a horse’s head. Behavior, remember, is itself subject to change-for instance, according to empathy of handling, say, or traumatic experience. And environmental factors can mask or exaggerate heritable traits is. So the bottom line is that it is going to take more time and research for geneticists to unravel the complexities of temperament and highlight areas of risk. Dr. Velie concludes with a resonant example. “A colt with a fiery temperament that is very trainable has a much greater chance of going on to win races if he is trained by a ‘good trainer,” he remarks. “After all, if his fiery disposition can be focused on its job as a racehorse, it may prove advantageous. “However, if that same colt is given to a ‘bad’ trainer, he may become quite dangerous to handle. Trainability and temperament cut both ways as the horses is likely to learn good and bad behaviors equally quickly. In both scenarios the colt has the same genetic makeup, but the outcome differs based on the environment he is put in.” Lacy can identify with that. He especially recalls working with a couple of Nijinsky fillies who daily challenged the skills of trainer and rider. “If they were with lesser horsemen, they would have been far less successful than they were,” he says. But whatever the science eventually shows, he is a convinced spokesman for the anecdotal consensus among many horsemen. “In my experience working not only with Thoroughbreds (both Flat and steeplechasers) in different parts of the world, but also with Arabians, I found that certain sire-lines had strong personality traits that could work in a positive, or negative, manner,” he insists. “As an assistant trainer and rider, you had a good idea of what it would be like to manage a particular individual, based on what they were by. For example, I have always been an admirer of the Hail To Reason sire-line, through Roberto and Stop The Music. There is a consistently genuine and tough aspect that he has been pass on through the generations. They have in turn become a very effective in dam-sire lines.” Interestingly, that focus on toughness takes us to a margin between mental and physical commitment, between the will to dominate and physiological capacity. It is always fascinating, for instance, to hear Aidan O’Brien talk about the patterns he observes in the stock of Galileo: how you nearly have to restrain his progeny from being reckless with their effort. The offspring of Montjeu, in contrast, often operated along another margin, between nerves and brilliance. “Galileo is a classic example of a sire that has had an extremely positive effect on the gene pool,” agrees Lacy. “His classy and self-assured nature is passed down and improved many of the quality mares he was bred to. From what I have seen so far, I believe American Pharoah has passed to his offspring a calm and confident temperament that has impressed many. This could very well be an extremely important aspect to his potential success as a sire.” And, given the role of the marketplace, perception can be more than half the battle. People reach their own conclusions in the sales ring without waiting for science to become a more helpful tool. And horses whose stock don’t hold up on the track, in terms of temperament, soon lose commercial viability. As Lacy says: “The selection process of the racing and sales industry often weeds out the weaker-natured stock.” But even if science can one day distinguish between the weaker-natured and the weaker-nurtured, it seems that it will always observe a combination of both. View the full article

The Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, led by a $25,000 donation from the New York THA, will contribute a total of $50,000 to fund research to develop an inexpensive test for the detection of potential blood doping agents such as erythropoietin (EPO). The two-year study, an initiative of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, will be conducted by Dr. Heather Knych at the K. L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at UC-Davis. According to RMTC, the goal is to identify more EPO substances at much lower concentrations. In addition, the New York THA will donate $120,000 to acquire new equipment for the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Program at Morrisville State College. “The integrity of our sport and the welfare of our horses is of paramount importance,” said THA and NYTHA President Joe Appelbaum. “If these blood-doping and alkalinizing agents are being used in horse racing, we need to dedicate our resources to their detection and eradication. Our horsemen, our bettors and our fans need to know that we have a safe and level playing field.” View the full article

Oaklawn Park has contributed $100,000 in support of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Grayson announced Wednesday. “Oaklawn Park and the Cella family believe in the importance of promoting the health of our equine athletes, and we are proud to support Grayson’s efforts to improve the wellness of horses of all breeds,” said Louis A. Cella, president of Oaklawn Jockey Club. “We are elated that Oaklawn is supporting our work at Grayson,” added Dell Hancock, chairman of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. “We appreciate the Cella family’s generosity on behalf of horses.” View the full article

The Association of Racing Commissioner International said in a statement Wednesday that it is considering a policy that would disallow entries from horses below age four who are treated with bisphosphonates. This comes on the heels of America’s three major sales companies announcing a ban on the controversial drugs. “The ARCI is considering and accepting input from the industry on adoption and implementation of a Regulatory Policy that would disallow any horse from being entered in a race that has been treated with bisphosphonates prior to age four or for reasons not specifically cited by the US Food and Drug Administration as appropriate use,” the statement read. Comments on this issue may be submitted to ARCI at rules@arci.com. View the full article

With all but a dozen of the capacity 200 horses in training at Ballydoyle being 2- and 3-year-olds, there is plenty to look forward to at Aidan O’Brien’s stable. The trainer’s Classic crop is headlined by the likes of Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) and G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy S. winner Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), and O’Brien said that better weather conditions than last year has allowed his team a smoother start to 2019. “Last year the horses weren’t able to acclimatise as there was snow early in the year and it became very warm during the summer,” he explained. “Not once were the horses galloped on grass last year from January to December, whereas this year we have done a lot of grass work already. “The first weekend in May is usually the first time we hope to have them in good order and other than that, the idea is to start and see where we are.” The G1 Middle Park S. winner Ten Sovereigns will head straight to the G1 2000 Guineas on May 4. “Ten Sovereigns physically has done well and is a very relaxed horse. Nothing would suggest he wouldn’t get a mile,” said O’Brien. “We will skip the Greenham S. at Newbury as there is no point taking on Too Darn Hot when he isn’t fully ready and he will go straight to the 2000 Guineas.” O’Brien is still looking at an opportunity to tick the GI Kentucky Derby off his list of accomplishments, and on Thursday he will send Antilles (War Front) and U S S Michigan (War Front) to Chelmsford for a conditions race that offers 30 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner. “Antilles and U S S Michigan will both run at Chelmsford. If we were to have a horse for the Kentucky Derby, U S S Michigan would be the only one,” the trainer said. “I’m not yet sure if a win at Chelmsford would be enough to get him in to Kentucky, but he is a big, long-striding cruiser and we always thought he would get a mile and further.” O’Brien last year sent out the fancied Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) in the Run to the Roses, and he reflected on that experience-where the horse endured a rough run over a sloppy track and checked in last–on Monday. “Last year was a good experience to witness it and see it–it was totally ruthless,” said O’Brien. “We learned a lot and the fierceness of the whole thing surprised us. It was a good experience and there are things we need to improve on.” O’Brien, as always, has plenty to choose from in his arsenal for the G1 Investec Derby, and he remarked of a few of them, “I’m very happy with Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and Mount Everest (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})–a beautiful-moving horse who has done extremely well physically. I was very pleased with Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) winning at Leopardstown the other day and Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is another Derby horse and will run in a trial first. Old Glory (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Norway (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) are other horses who will run in Derby trials.” Of his Classic fillies, O’Brien added, “Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will go straight to the Guineas and along with So Perfect (Scat Daddy) both have physically done very well. Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}) and Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) will also go straight to the Guineas and I’m very happy with both. ‘TDN Rising Star’ Goddess (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) is likely to wait for summer targets. “Goddess is just coming back into full work,” O’Brien said. “She was a bit sick last year and didn’t get back to run. I don’t think she will be back ready to run in the Classics and if you asked us now, I’d say not. She will probably be looking at Royal Ascot and have a run before it.” O’Brien’s small but select team of older horses includes the last two winners of the G1 St Leger winner, Capri (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). “The Ascot Gold Cup is the big one for us mid-season and Capri will step up in trip and go the staying route,” O’Brien said. “Kew Gardens will go the mile-and-a-half route first before running in the Coronation Cup and then the King George.” It is unlikely anyone in the business would question O’Brien’s dedication, and the trainer indicated his commitment and passion is as strong as ever. “I look forward to coming out to the horses every single morning and every morning is different and new,” he said. “I don’t have any other interest–not another thing. This is my golf and everything rolled into one. “The only time I’m not here is when I’m at the races for a few hours–you need every minute of the day to get it all together and you need to stay as fresh as you can the whole time. I work through the day first and would take time in the evenings to relax, but you have to keep yourself fresh and clear to get the information straight away to make a decision about something.” View the full article

With many of his stable stars from 2018 returning for another bite of the cherry, together with a host of potential Classic contenders, there is every chance another stellar season awaits trainer Charlie Appleby. Having claimed a first Derby victory with Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), before Line Of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) added another Breeders’ Cup success to his CV, the Newmarket handler capped the year off by becoming the first British trainer to win the G1 Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). Though both Masar and unbeaten Group 1 winner Quorto (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will be out of action through injury for the first part of the campaign, the 43-year-old hopes Line Of Duty can give him another taste of Classic glory when returning in the May 4 G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. “The plan is to start off in the 2000 Guineas,” said Appleby of Line Of Duty. “He is a horse I am hoping we are working back from a potential Derby route with. He is an individual where I think the track will suit at Epsom. I think he will run very well in the Guineas. If we are happy with the Guineas and we think stepping him up in trip will be his forte, we will freshen him up and have a crack at the Derby.” With Cross Counter demonstrating stamina is not an issue in the Melbourne Cup and then on his return in the G2 Dubai Gold Cup, he looks set to be a force to be reckoned with in the staying division back home. Appleby said, “We knew he was a class 3-year-old going down there and the way he won the Melbourne Cup, hopefully he was better than average, and he backed that up in the Dubai Gold Cup. I think on the evidence of what we saw on Dubai World Cup night we are pretty confident we are going to go down the G1 Gold Cup route and head to Royal Ascot. Hopefully he has cemented himself as being one of the serious stayers this season.” Although Masar is unlikely to be sighted until Royal Ascot at the earliest, Appleby has his eyes on making sure his Epsom hero is fit and ready to take aim at his main target-G1 the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October. He said, “I mentioned the [G2] Hardwicke [S. on June 22] at Ascot as a potential comeback as that is the most obvious race for him and at the moment timing-wise it looks potentially achievable. If we missed Royal Ascot it wouldn’t be the be all and end all, as the Arc is my aim and that is what we are working back from.” Injury may have cost Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) the chance of pursuing Classic glory last year, but after making an impressive return to action in the G2 Prix d’Harcourt on Sunday at ParisLongchamp, he appears to be a horse heading right to the top. “I was delighted with his performance on Sunday and hopefully it is a stepping stone to further big-race success,” said Appleby. “He is a strong traveller, he shows that in the morning, and we were not really taken by surprise, but it is nice to see him do it on the racetrack. He is in the [G1] Tattersalls Gold Cup [on May 26], but the most logical target is the [G1] Prix Ganay [on Apr. 28] and that is his first main aim.” Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) and Old Persian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) helped form part of a Group 1 treble for Appleby on Dubai World Cup night, with victories in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint and G1 Sheema Classic, respectively, and both will be campaigned to add to those victories at the top table back in Europe. “Blue Point is five now and, as I’ve said all year, I think he is the finished article and I think he will improve on his three starts in Dubai,” Appleby said of ‘TDN Rising Star’ Blue Point. “More importantly from our point of view we are just dealing with a different horse at home, mentally and physically. The plan will be to give him a nice little break now and then work back from the [G1] King’s Stand S. [at Royal Ascot], as that stiff five at Ascot is probably his best trip.” On Old Persian, he added, “We saw something we hadn’t seen before on his first start in Dubai, in that we saw a serious gear change there, as they crawled that night and it turned into a sprint. They went a good, solid gallop in the Sheema and they quickened up off that pace. Hopefully that was the sign of a serious horse going into the European season. I think we might potentially drop him back to a mile and a quarter, which won’t be a problem, and look at the [G1] Prince of Wales’s at Royal Ascot and work back from a [G1] King George S. [at Ascot on July 27], which is the key race we are going to aim for.” After enjoying a number of fruitful trips to Australia, Appleby feels that in Ghostwatch (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) he could have a horse capable of doing the unthinkable in bringing the G1 Melbourne Cup to England for the second year running. “He has wintered well, but I’ve not set a target yet,” said Appleby. “I’m hoping he might be a Melbourne Cup horse and we will work back from that. He won the Melrose and that gives him an automatic entry into the Ebor and that is a race to be taking into consideration. I just think his profile is going the right way where he can be competitive in a Melbourne Cup.” Other Appleby runners to note in the coming season are: the undefeated Listed hero Al Hilalee (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}); Loxley (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who won the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville last August and ran fifth in the Mar. 9 G1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan; the aforementioned G1SW Quorto; and the debut winner and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). “He has wintered in Dubai and is two from two,” said Appleby on Al Hilalee. “He will hopefully come back and run in the [Listed] Newmarket S. over a mile and a quarter on Guineas weekend, a race we won last year with Key Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). He is already a listed winner, now he has got to jump through the next hoop and see how far we progress there before we see whether he is a Derby horse or not.” Added Appleby on Loxley, “I wasn’t disappointed by his start in Dubai. He was fresh and will come forward for the run. He is coming back and we will look at the [G2] Jockey Club S. [on May 4]. He is a horse that will be competitive over a mile and a half and a mile and quarter.” “He had a great season last year winning the Group 1 in Ireland, but unfortunately he met with a setback earlier this year,” he said regarding Quorto. “It is four weeks since it was announced he would miss the Guineas and we re-scanned the injury the other day and we are pleased with it. Come the end of this month we will be able to say if we are going to hit a summer target or have an autumn campaign.” “He won a back-end maiden nicely at Nottingham,” noted Appleby. “He will run back in a novice at the Craven meeting. I think he is a 10-furlong horse and he will get a mile and a half in time. He has hopefully got a page where stepping him up to those trips will be his game.” The MG1SW and GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & mare Turf bridesmaid Wild Illusion (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has also returned to add to her laurels as a 4-year-old, but will not return Stateside at the end of the year. “There are races in France there for her and potentially we have another crack at the [G1] Nassau [S. at Goodwood]. She hasn’t got any early options, she will be a July filly. I don’t think I will go back to America with her. If we can put another Group 1 under her belt before she goes to the breeding sheds, that would be great. I think a mile and a quarter is her trip, so why take her out of her comfort zone.” View the full article

Trainer Ed Walker has been knocking on the door of a Group 1 win a few times in the past, and his yard appears to have a great chance as the Flat season starts to hit its stride in the coming weeks. After celebrating his first Royal Ascot winner with Agrotera (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the Sandringham S., the Lambourn handler hopes he can break further new ground this season with a 3-year-old team he believes is the strongest he has ever had. That list of potential stars is headed by listed winner Royal Intervention (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who will be aimed at the G1 Commonwealth Cup at the Royal meeting, having made a full recovery from a fractured knee sustained at the Berkshire track in the G3 Princess Margaret S. in June. He said, “Royal Intervention is very exciting. We might go for the new six-furlong listed race at Chelmsford to get her started. I don’t think she will stay a mile, so we are going to work backwards from the Commonwealth Cup–she is very fast. I’ve never been so confident watching a group race–I thought she was going to quicken away from them, but she didn’t and she lugged right away from her injury. We’ve given her time and she is back training and really well. The dream would be to justify some confidence going to Royal Ascot.” Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) may have come up short on her first Pattern-race appearance in the G3 Oh So Sharp S. at Newmarket, but Walker feels she is more than capable of operating at that level throughout the season. Walker added, “Sunday Star was third in the Oh So Sharp and Gerald [Mosse] felt he pressed ‘go’ on her a little bit soon and she just got tired up the hill. We feel she will be better over further. She is likely to start off in the G3 Nell Gwyn [on Apr. 16] as she handles Newmarket well and she is quite a neat filly. She is training great. She is in all the various different Guineas, from Newmarket to Germany.” Two-for-three at two, Cap Francais (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will try to make it to the G1 Investec Derby–a path Walker also hopes to send stablemate Ginistrelli (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) down. “Cap Francais has not got a Derby entry, but we are going to run him in the [Listed] Blue Riband [Trial S.] at Epsom [on Apr. 24] and it is a free entry if we win that. He is a nice horse, but he surprised us last year as the family is not a 2-year-old family. He ran three times, was second on debut and then won his next two. He is exciting and will stay well. “Ginistrelli is a very nice son of Frankel that won at Newmarket on his second start and he will probably go for a novice race. If that goes well we will put him in a Derby trial.” Things may not have fallen into place for Agrotera after her triumph at the Royal meeting, but with the daughter of Mastercraftsman (Ire) having the size and scope to continue her progression at four, Walker retains plenty of faith in her. Walker said, “Agrotera is well and the plan is to start her in the [Listed] Snowdrop at Kempton on Saturday week. She is in good form, but she was probably a bit disappointing after Royal Ascot, as she got beat at odds-on, then she was touched off in a listed race in France and then Newmarket was a disaster. I’ve got no question as to how good she is. She has filled her frame and this could be her year. She takes a bit of managing, but she is talented.” Stable stalwart Stormy Antarctic (GB) (Stormy Atlantic) will bid to show he can still operate at a good level, with Walker keeping his options open for the 6-year-old, having the G2 bet365 Mile at Sandown on Apr. 26 in mind as a potential starting point. Walker said, “Stormy Antarctic is a legend. You can either look at him that he is not quite good enough for a Group 1 in Britain, therefore you could go farm those Group 2 and 3 races abroad, and try your arm in a couple of Group 1 international races later in the year. Or you could chance your arm in all the big races here and hope he has an Accidental Agent (GB) (Delegator {GB}) or Lightning Spear (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) moment and on his 10th run in a Group 1 he pops up. He is in great form and we could go back to Sandown for the bet365 mile where he was second last year, and he will be in the G1 Lockinge [S. at Newbury on May 18] as if it comes up a bog we would have a crack at it.” View the full article

Slated for May 3, the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up and Horses-in-Training Sale catalogue is now available online. There are a total of 172 juveniles and 132 horses-in-training scheduled to go under the hammer at Park Paddocks. All of the breezes at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile will be showing live on Racing TV starting at 9:30 a.m. local time on May 2. Recent graduates to shine include Global Spectrum (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), who is undefeated and won Doha’s Al Biddah Mile, a local Group 2. The Gay Kelleway-trained colt possesses an entry for the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas on May 4. Since 2016, the sale has generated over 30 group/listed performers and 39 sires with 2-year-olds catalogued have already sired Classic or Group 1 winners, among them Acclamation (GB), Dark Angel (Ire), Holy Roman Emperor (Ire), Iffraaj (GB), Invincible Spirit (Ire), Kodiac (GB), Lope de Vega (Ire), Mastercraftsman (Ire), Nathaniel (Ire), No Nay Never, Showcasing (GB) and Zoffany (Ire). American-based stallions Candy Ride (Arg), Congrats, Kitten’s Joy, Lemon Drop Kid and Union Rags are also represented. There are 19 first-crop sires with juveniles entered this year, including US Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (1), and Group 1 winners Brazen Beau (Aus) (3), Free Eagle (Ire) (1), Hallowed Crown (Aus) (3), Kingston Hill (GB) (1), Make Believe (GB) (2), Muhaarar (GB) (2), Night of Thunder (3), Outstrip (GB) (8), and Wicked Strong (1), while Anjaal (GB) (5) and Cable Bay (Ire) (3), as well as Wicked Strong have already sired winners. In addition, 61 juveniles are eligible for the Plus 10 Bonus Scheme, seven qualify for French Premiums and two are entered in the £150,000 Tattersalls October Auction S. For the horses-in-training portion of the sale, three lots are group or listed performers, with 18 lots rated 80 or higher. The 97-rated Executive Force (GB) (Sepoy {Aus}) (lot 72), the MGSP Tangled (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire})) (lot 94), and the 99-rated Primero (Fr) (Cape Cross {Ire}) (lot 132) are all lots of interest. The 2018 edition grossed 5,241,000gns with 204 sold of 266 offered, with an average of 25,691gns and a median of 15,000gns. Topping proceedings was a juvenile daughter of Tamayuz (GB) out of Ziria (Ire), who went to SackvilleDonald from Lynn Lodge Stud for 200,000gns. “The quality of Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up horses continues to attract buyers from throughout Europe and further afield and exciting Classic prospect Global Spectrum is the latest to fly the flag for the sale,” said Tattersalls Chariman Edmond Mahony. “We have made a conscious decision to reduce the number of breeze-up lots on offer and this year’s catalogue looks to have something to appeal to buyers with a range of budgets. The Horses-in-Training section of the sale also consistently attracts global interest and this section of the catalogue is larger than ever.” View the full article

With one final Road to the Kentucky Derby weekend remaining, it's a safe bet that 2019 will set a new standard in terms of points required to qualify for one of the 20 starting spots in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). View the full article

4th-Chantilly, €30,000, Mdn, 4-8, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:37.94, gd. MATEMATICA (GER) (f, 3, Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}–Mathematicienne {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), a nose second going one mile at ParisLongchamp in her Sept. 2 unveiling before filling the same spot over that course and distance in the Oct. 7 G1 Prix Marcel Boussac last time, was well away to assert for the lead after the initial strides of this sophomore return. Nudged along on the front approaching the quarter-mile marker, the 3-5 chalk was never in danger and kept on relentlessly under whipless rousting in the latter stages to easily account for Morning Dew (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) by three lengths. She is one of three stakes performers and the third scorer from as many foals produced by a winning daughter of Listed Prix Occitanie victress Never Green (Ire) (Halling), herself kin to six black-type performers headed by G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Solemia (Ire) (Poliglote {GB}). The homebred bay is a half-sister to G3 Prix d’Aumale-winning G1 Prix Saint-Alary third Soustraction (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), dual stakes placegetter Guerriere (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), the 2-year-old filly Euclidia (Fr) (Maxios {GB}) and the yearling filly Calculatrice (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}). Lifetime Record: 3-1-2-0, €111,840. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O/B-Wertheimer & Frere (GER); T-Carlos Laffon-Parias. View the full article

The under-tack preview for the Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds in Training sale begins at 11 a.m. Monday morning. There will be two sets of main-track workers followed by a group of turf workouts. To view the set list, click here. The sale, which begins with an offering of horses of racing age, will be held Tuesday. Bidding begins at 2 p.m. View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost.Who’s that Martin Harley guy? He just gave a horrific ride on a horse who wanted to run. Somehow managed to make Silver Fig get third when it should have been an easy win – @ElBronconatorIt was a tough day at the office for the two new expat jockeys on short-term contracts in Harley and Regan Bayliss.As is generally the case, the criticism on social media –… View the full article

For a horse yet to win in Hong Kong, Seven Heavens has been involved in his fair share of controversy and the unlucky five-year-old will look to make amends on Wednesday night at Happy Valley.The English import lines up in the Class Three Dongcheng District Handicap (1,200m) after landing consecutive placings while racing over the 1,000m trip up the Sha Tin straight.Seven Heavens looked set to break his maiden last start before he was denied a winning chance when jockey Silvestre de Sousa… View the full article

Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards is pleased with the way both Probabeel (Gr.1 Sires’, 1400m) and In A Twinkling (Gr.1 Australian Derby, 2400m) have come through their respective runs for fifth in Sydney on Saturday and consideration will be given to whether the former presses on this campaign. “They ran very well and seemed to have pulled up fine and ate well Saturday night and again on Sunday night,” Richards said. “It’s so competitive over here and I thought they ran as wel... View the full article

Trainer Peter McKay talks about the win of The Mitigator at Te Aroha on Saturday... View the full article