Wandering Eyes

Rehaizat in survival mode at riding comeback View the full article

Early scratchings August 3 View the full article

Triple Trio beats traffic snarl to double score View the full article

Cadet brings up double century for Juglall View the full article

Le Grange pulls out three Aces View the full article

Sun Ares gets new Sun-Freedman association off to a flier View the full article

Wild Illusion, who only failed to give Godolphin an Investec Oaks/Derby double narrowly, made all to claim the Aug. 2 Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1) at Goodwood for trainer Charles Appleby. View the full article

Owner Ron Paolucci once again is pulling double duty in West Virginia and upstate New York on the first Saturday in August, but the West Virginia Derby (G3) at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort isn't the focal point. View the full article

Strategies for improving Thoroughbred racing will be the theme when The Jockey Club hosts its 66th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing Aug. 12 at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. View the full article

The scramble that often is the distaff turf division in Southern California could present an opportunity for the speedy and consistent Fahan Mura in the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2T) Aug. 4. View the full article

The best horse longtime New York breeder Joanne Nielsen has produced to date is MGSW and MGISP Upstart (Flatter), who now stands at Airdrie Stud. The dark bay was a bit unlucky in that he was born the same year as 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and he faced the Horse of the Year on three separate occasions with his best finish being a third in the GI Haskell Invitational S. Nielsen figured if she couldn’t beat him, she might as well join him and bred two of her nine mares to the Ashford resident, including Upstart’s dam Party Silks (Touch Gold). The resulting colt will sell Monday as Hip 62 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale. “I had a colt, Upstart, that ran behind American Pharoah on a regular basis,” said Nielsen. “So, I thought why not take the mother of Upstart to American Pharoah. I am thrilled with it. We believe American Pharoah has the capacity and hopefully we will get some return on it.” Like Upstart and Hip 62, Party Silks–a half-sister to GSW Josh’s Madelyn (Quiet American)–was born and raised on Nielsen’s Sunnyfield Farm in Bedford, New York. In addition to Upstart, the mare also produced the stakes-placed 3-year-old New York Hero (Mineshaft), who was the third highest-priced yearling at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred Sale, selling to trainer Linda Rice, acting as agent for Sheila Rosenblum, for $335,000. “Upstart is the best I’ve had at this time,” Nielsen said. “New York Hero is just beginning, hopefully. Party Silks has been a very good mare. Her foals usually all run.” Party Silks did not disappoint her breeder with her latest yearling. “He is absolutely beautiful,” said Nielsen when reached by phone while at the sales grounds in Saratoga. “He just arrived about an hour ago. I am sitting near him right now. He is very athletic looking and perfectly healthy. I am very proud of him.” The native Floridian, who is on the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Board of Directors, added, “We hope he can run. We certainly have the right mother and the right father.” Nielsen will offer her other American Pharoah yearling, a filly out of Visions of Annette (Distorted Humor), a few days after the Party Silks colt as Hip 329 in Fasig-Tipton’s NY-Bred Sale Aug. 11. While there are 15 yearlings by American Pharoah catalogued to the Select Sale, Nielsen’s filly is the only member of the three-time Eclipse winner’s first crop on offer at the New York-Bred sale. Visions of Annette, who hails from the family of MGISW Evening Jewel (Northern Afleet), has two foals of racing age, but neither have made it to the track yet. “The American Pharoah filly is beautiful and by a very beautiful mother,” said Nielsen. “The dam is athletic, so we endorse her.” Nielsen and her husband Gerald, who was NYTB President up until the time of his passing in 2004, started Sunnyfield Farm with a group of friends in 1974. One of their early successes was Capades (Overskate), who won the GI Selima S. in 1988 and a pair of Grade IIs in 1990, earning over $1.05 million. “Our children all rode and competed,” Nielsen said when asked what got her into breeding. “We enjoyed it and we didn’t want to give up on horses. We loved what we were doing. We began breeding and had a good time. We were partnered with three other families and all went out and bought the farm together. As their children finished [with horses] and didn’t want to go on, we bought our partners out one at a time, so we just own it now, but it was a lot of fun having our friends there.” The Nielsens are widely respected in the New York breeding program and their boutique operation offers six other yearlings, in addition to Hip 329, at the upcoming NY-Bred sale: Hip 340, a Tiznow colt; Hip 389, a son of Paynter; Hip 423, a Union Rags filly; Hip 604, a colt by Into Mischief; Hip 622, a son of Flatter; and Hip 627, a daughter of Take Charge Indy. The Select Sale runs Monday, Aug. 6 and Tuesday, Aug. 7 with sessions beginning at 6:30 p.m., and the New York-Bred Sale will be held Saturday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 12 with sessions also starting at 6:30 p.m. View the full article

DREAM PAULINE (f, 3, Tapit–Dream Rush, by Wild Rush) romped by six lengths in her Dec. 3 unveiling at Aqueduct, an effort impressive enough to earn ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors. Favored at 9-5 to repeat while trying older horses here, the chestnut saved ground in a joint fourth through a :22.65 first quarter. Full of run, but with no where to go on the backstretch, the homebred was swung out three wide by Javier Castellano turning for home. Dream Pauline took control in the final furlong and sailed clear to win by 2 1/2 lengths over a determined Mizzen Max (Mizzen Mast), who dueled on the front end through the early stages. The winner is out of MGISW Dream Rush, who won this venue’s GI Test S. in 2007 and sold for $3.3 million a few months later at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Her top produce thus far is ‘TDN Rising Star’ and GI Frizette S. heroine Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), GISW, $874,500; and she is also responsible for young sire Atreides (Medaglia d’Oro), SW, $120,176. Dream Rush has an unraced juvenile filly by Curlin and a Medaglia d’Oro colt born Feb. 21 of this year. The 14-year-old mare visited Pioneerof the Nile this spring. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0. O/B-Stonestreet Stables (KY); T-Kiaran McLaughlin. View the full article

Every trainer wants to collect grade 1 wins, but Stall has more than the usual motivation for hoping Minit to Stardom proves best of the nine-horse field in the Longines Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Aug. 4 View the full article

Quechua (Arg) (Pure Prize–Queen Cabaret {Brz}, by Wild Event), a six-time stakes winner and three-time champion in Singapore following his import from Argentina, passed away last weekend in Malaysia following a bout of colic. He was three days shy of turning eight years old. A Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed in his native land, the bay was trained in Singapore by Patrick Shaw to victories in the 2014 Longines Singapore Gold Cup (video) and the 2015 Emirates Singapore Derby (video), the latter tally coming two starts on from a third to Dan Excel (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Singapore Airines International Cup. Also victorious in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Quechua was turned over to longtime Shaw assistant Ricardo Le Grange at the end of 2016 and flew the Singapore flag in Hong Kong (twice) and also represented the nation at this year’s Dubai World Cup Carnival. He was recently retired with nine wins from 33 career starts and earnings in excess of US$2.3 million. “It’s very sad Quechua has left us so early. He got colicky on Saturday and he died the next day in spite of all the efforts to save him,” Le Grange told the Singapore Turf Club’s Michael Lee. “He’s never had colic in his life before, and that’s why it came as a shock. It was just one of those freak accidents. He has given us so much and he owed us nothing.” Singapore’s champion stayer of 2014 and 2015, Quechua was also named champion older horse of 2016. View the full article

Friday’s card at Goodwood is lacking a Group 1 race but there’s still plenty group action to enjoy. The Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes for three-year-olds, looks like a gilt-edged opportunity for Mark Johnston’s Threading to add to her three previous victories. The Exceed And Excel filly was a distant runner-up to Alpha Centauri in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and this piece of form gives her leading claims. Ostillo is the progressive horse in the race, following a swift rise through the handicap ranks culminating in smooth Britannia Stakes victory most recently. Simon Crisford’s charge has earned a crack at this Group 3 and may just prove the biggest threat to Threading. Many punters will be rowing in behind Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore here as the partner up with Threeandfourpence, the three-year-old colt was fourth in the Irish 2000 Guineas and landed a mickey mouse event at Naas last week. I think he is plenty short enough in the betting but anything Aidan runs has a chance. Selection: Threading Seniority tops the market for the Golden Mile Handicap for that man again Ryan Moore. This time he teams up with William Haggas and The Queen. The son of Dubawi got in late to the Royal Hunt Cup and was subject of a mini gamble but had to settle for an eighth-place finish. That race came only seven days after a Chelmsford victory and may just have been too soon. David O’Meara sends out Escobar in a bid to continue an already fruitful 2018, he was a staying on second in the Coral Challenge at Sandown on his last start. He’s starting to creep towards a career-high mark so a little slice of luck will be needed to win this. Shady McCoy has been busy recently but of the outsiders, he’s the one I like. Ian Williams’s charge was runner-up to Burnt Sugar in the Bunbury Cup and again finished behind that rival in the International Stakes when drawn on the wrong side. If those recent excursions haven’t taken too much out of him he should be bang there. Others to note include South Seas, Master The World and Fire Brigade. Selection: Shady McCoy The feature race on Friday at Goodwood is the Group 2 King George Stakes which looks like a one-horse race and that horse is Battaash. Charlie Hills’s son of Dark Angel has by far the best form in the race including a runaway victory in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Chantilly at the end of last season. Blue Point was the only horse that proved too good for Battaash in the King’s Stand Stakes at the Royal meeting and it looks like his rivals are only playing for minor honours. The only two realistic dangers are Sioux Nation and Havana Grey. Sioux Nation has run in some top races down through his brief career and was a Group 1 winning two-year-old when beating Beckford in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. The son of Scat Daddy ran very well behind stablemate US Navy Flag in the July Cup and could just pick up the pieces if Battaash flops. Karl Burkes Havana Grey bounced back to form at the Curragh last time out when comprehensively beating some older rivals over the minimum. P J McDonald’s mount has around four lengths to find with Battaash on their running in the Temple Stakes in late May. Havana Grey needs to improve but he may just be on the upward curve. Others with outside chances include Mr Lupton, Heartache and Muthmir. Selection: Battaash LiminiThe €100,000 Guinness Handicap is the highlight of Friday’s card at Galway and it has attracted some quality horses, some of which have already run at the festival. Chief among these is Limini who was only thwarted by stablemate Uradel in the Connacht Hotel Qualified Riders race on Monday when returning from a break. This drop down in trip won’t inconvenience Willie Mullins’s star mare. Willie has a strong hand in this with top weight Gustavus Vassa, recent Ballinrobe winner Nessun Dorma, and Law Girl. Tony Martin has a fantastic record at the Galway festival and his Tudor City races off a featherweight eight stone twelve pound, which brings him into the reckoning. Selection: Tudor City The post Goodwood & Galway Preview – Friday appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Owner Ron Paolucci once again is pulling double duty in West Virginia and upstate New York on the first Saturday in August, but the West Virginia Derby (G3) at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort isn't the focal point. View the full article

Strategies for improving Thoroughbred racing will be the theme when The Jockey Club hosts its 66th Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing Aug. 12 at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. View the full article

Wild Illusion, who only failed to give Godolphin an Investec Oaks/Derby double narrowly, made all to claim the Aug. 2 Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1) at Goodwood for trainer Charles Appleby. View the full article

Statistics and raw data are one way to assess the success of a racing operation, but Bob Hutt of Uptowncharlybrown Stud LLC measures the upward trajectory of his venture a few different ways. Back home at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, the talk around the track tells some of the story. “The best thing I overhear at Parx is, ‘Not another [expletive] Uptowncharlybrown.’ I’ll stop and say to other trainers, ‘Thank you very much.'” Uptowncharlybrown Stud LLC–a partnership borne out of Hutt’s Fantasy Lane Stable, which was founded in 1999–has enjoyed a stellar run of success in recent months competing offspring of the Pennsylvania-based stallion Uptowncharlybrown. As ‘Charly’ has quickly stamped himself as a leading sire in the Keystone State while posting the highest earnings per starter among all third-crop stallions nationally, Hutt can only smile as he justifies a long-standing faith in the chestnut held by his late friend and trainer, Alan Seewald. “Alan was my best friend for 25 years. It wasn’t owner and trainer–we were best friends. We spoke three times a day,” Hutt said. “If Alan was alive, I’d [have him as my trainer] until the day I died. I always thought we were Davy Crockett and George Russell and we’d go down swinging empty rifles together.” While there is much comfort in running back home for generous Pennsylvania-bred incentives, the team’s recent streak of success has them seriously considering a trip to racing’s grandest stage at Saratoga. That northward venture could have easily come in Saturday’s GI Test S. with Dixie Serenade (Uptowncharlybrown), who was last seen turning heads with a stunning last-to-first 47-1 upset score in Belmont’s GIII Victory Ride S. July 8, but the team will opt to stay home and compete in Parx’s Jose Flores Memorial S. Why? Because the race honors the life of the recently fallen Parx-based jockey, whose widow, Joanne McDaid Flores, is a former exercise rider-turned-hotwalker for trainer Eddie Coletti, Jr. Any temptation to chase Grade I glory was put on the back burner when weighed against the opportunity to pay tribute to the life of a respected figure in the Parx community. Nevertheless, Hutt has a basic confidence that their day to return to the spotlight will come sooner rather than later–and it could come as soon as next Saturday, with promising first-out maiden winner Grandma Gertie (Uptowncharlybrown) under strong consideration for the GII Adirondack S. at Saratoga next Saturday in addition to being entered in the Colleen S. at Monmouth. The story of Uptowncharlybrown begins at the 2009 OBS April Sale, where the colt was purchased by Fantasy Lane for $57,000 and, upon the request of respected consignor Norman Casse, allowed to keep his unique name. After shipping “the big chestnut” north to New Jersey, it quickly became apparent that the colt had significant ability under the tutelage of Seewald. Hutt fondly recalled a time before Uptowncharlybrown’s debut when the horse matched strides with GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. runner-up Musket Man (Yonaguska) in a late-season workout at Monmouth Park. After Uptowncharlybrown captured his first two starts at Tampa Bay Downs by a combined 15 lengths, Seewald turned down an offer for $2.5 million, assuring Hutt and partners that the horse would eventually prove to be worth far more. Unfortunately, Seewald never had the opportunity to realize that potential–he passed away in his sleep on Apr. 12, 2010, leaving a giant void in the hearts of his friends. The Fantasy Lane team elected to push on in pursuit of Seewald’s goals of winning the GI Belmont S. and GI Haskell Invitational, and came within three lengths of crossing the wire first in the former in his lone start for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin despite a harrowing journey around Big Sandy after Rajiv Maragh’s eight-pound weight pad slipped mid-race. Uptowncharlybrown was disqualified and placed last for the incident, and emerged from the race with a bowed tendon–a setback he would never fully recover from. Hutt readily admits that it required a major leap of faith to try Uptowncharybrown as a stallion in 2013. In hindsight, it was a no brainer–their current operation at Glenn and Becky Brok’s Diamond B Farm is a well-oiled machine, with new arrivals from Uptowncharlybrown shuttled off to be broken and trained by Irene Coletti and Gabe Rispo before ultimately arriving in the barn of Coletti, Jr., who once served as an assistant to Seewald. “The reason I made him a stallion was in honor of Alan–what he couldn’t prove on the racetrack, I wanted to prove through his progeny,” Hutt explained. “All I wanted to do was show that Alan was right and show that he was the best horse of his generation…He’s won with 77% of his babies…He’s had five horses out of his first eight all earn over $100,000–two of which are over $200,000. Some people have called me up and told me that his Average Earnings Index is right up there with the top stallions in America, such as Tapit.” From the outset, Hutt said he sought to mold Uptowncharlybrown’s stallion career after the wildly successful model that Maryland’s Country Life Farm used to initially promote the great Malibu Moon–who is incidentally Dixie Serenade’s damsire. With a stud fee that started small and remained at $1,500 for 2018, Uptowncharlybrown saw his book rise from 27 mares in 2017 to 60 mares in 2018. “We’re finally going to raise that to $3,500 next year,” Hutt said with a laugh. The breed-to-race model has plenty of appeal as well, as Uptowncharlybrown Stud currently has attracted 500 partners, with shares available for as little as $825. Hutt said ‘UTBC’ Stud is a partnership “for the average John Doe and Jane Smith,” with many of the stable’s horses bearing names of various family members and loved ones of partners–such as Grandma Gertie. On the racetrack, Coletti Jr. said the Uptowncharlybrowns are honest, hard-trying horses. “They’re actually pretty good,” the trainer said. “They’re a little bit high strung like he was. But they give you everything they’ve got–they leave everything out of the field after they’re done…They just run hard.” Back in Saratoga Springs, Hutt and company were recently invited to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s “Racing Partnership and Syndicate Event,” where they passed out flyers showing a 41% win rate in 2018 and an average earnings per start that ranks up with leading partnerships such as West Point Thoroughbreds and Team Valor. “A couple of people were going from booth to booth and said, ‘You’re winning at 41%, your average earnings per start is $14,000 and you’re in the money 65%…and your minimum investment is only $825?'” Hutt recalled. “What we’ve done differently is that we have bred our own horses. And it seems like every Uptowncharlybrown is better than the next.” Commitment to the legacy of Alan Seewald. Commitment to Seewald’s faith in Charly. Commitment to honoring Jose Flores. Uptowncharlybrown Stud’s mission is far more than a coldly calculated, successful business model–it is laced with decades of comradery and a common passion for the game of racing. Wherever the chestnut stallion with the white blaze takes Hutt and the partners next–from a quiet Tuesday afternoon in Bensalem, Pennsylvania to rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in racing in New York–there is more to Uptowncharlybrown Stud than what transpires on the racetrack. “Out of all these different people, many friendships have bloomed,” Hutt said. “It’s been a long six years from 2012 until here, but there are no shortcuts in life if you put in hard work. Looking back at it, I had to be insane to every think Charly could be a stallion. But I believed in Alan so much that this was my way of keeping his memory alive.” View the full article

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program fielded a team of 31 horse-and-rider pairs at the United States Pony Clubs Championships East at the Tryon International Equestrian Center July 27-29. Adopted Thoroughbreds and their Pony Club counterparts competed in the Pony Club Challenge competition in four disciplines: Dressage, Western Dressage, Eventing and Show Jumping. The Pony Club Challenge was created to showcase the versatility of retired Thoroughbred racehorses as well as provide an educational experience to each Pony Club member. The program focused on adoption of horses that are often overlooked due to a past injury, stable vice or conformation, thus combating the many myths that surround each one. “The Pony Club Challenge did exactly what it was designed to do: Showcase how much racehorses have left to give once they retire from the track,” said Sarah Coleman, Director of Community and Public Relations for New Vocations. View the full article

Massachusetts lawmakers passed a bill in the House of Representatives and the State Senate Aug. 2 to restore the legality of live horse racing and simulcasting in the state. View the full article

Strategies for improving Thoroughbred racing will be the theme when The Jockey Club hosts its 66th Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing Sunday, Aug. 12, at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Jockey Club Chairman Stuart S. Janney III will preside over the conference, which will begin at 10 a.m. EDT. For the second year, the conference will be aired on TVG2 and tvg.com in addition to being live streamed at jockeyclub.com. Dan Singer and Mike Salvaris will discuss findings from their 2018 analysis of the racing industry. In 2011, McKinsey presented their seminal study, “Driving Sustainable Growth for Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding.” The Round Table will also include a presentation from Simon Bazalgette, the group chief executive of The Jockey Club (U.K.). Bazalgette will cover a brief history of the world’s oldest turf club, which was founded in 1750 and is today British horseracing’s largest commercial group. Singer leads McKinsey’s global Sports and Gaming practice, based in New York. He is a strategic advisor to seven of the 10 largest sports leagues in the world as well as numerous sports teams, conferences, and governing bodies. Salvaris is an expert in consumer insights and digital strategy. He joined McKinsey & Company in 2007 and now serves as an external advisor to the Sports and Gaming practice. James L. Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club, and Ian D. Highet, The Jockey Club’s secretary-treasurer, will preview McKinsey’s report with a situational analysis of the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industries. View the full article

Reclaiming lives and starring in the movies are all part of a program for off-track Thoroughbreds in Italy. At Ippodromo Roma Capannelle in Rome, Italy, Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds pass each other on the many horse paths that cross the sprawling 345-acre facility. In between the training tracks, on large grassy areas, you will see Thoroughbreds being trained for the pleasure riding, the show ring and the cinema. Relived Horses, a rescue and retraining program located in an older barn at the edge of the stable area, exists because of the efforts of former leading jockey and movie stunt woman, Jaqueline Freda and veteran show rider and horse trainer, Sabina Findlay. “Slow is fast. Fast is slow.” That is the mantra repeated by Sabina to describe the process of retraining a Thoroughbred racehorse. The philosophy that going too fast impedes the progress grows out of an appreciation for natural horsemanship, the work of Monty Roberts, and a belief that the relationship between horses and people is therapeutic and healing. Findlay learned about Roberts when he did a demonstration of his techniques in Rome and talked about his life’s journey with horses. Roberts’s story inspired Sabina, who credits horses for getting her through difficult times in her youth, to start teaching horsemanship to students in Rome. These are not just any students. The young people in her program have been tagged by the establishment as difficult and sent to the Giuseppe Garibaldi Agricultural Technical Institute rather than to a traditional academic high school. She approached the school to launch a program in which the students come to the Relived barn every day to learn all elements of horse care, stable management and training. “The boys are often troubled kids who are seeking a solution rather than trying to study Latin or Greek. With us, they have gained self respect and self esteem through their relationship and kinship with the horses,” said Findlay. “We train with only kindness and leadership skills that come with natural horsemanship. They never punish or use fear or intimidation with the horses–only love and understanding.” These tenets are particularly important when teaching the horses the skills that they may use on the movie sets. The lead trainer, Hassan Majdoul, was hired by Freda because of his way with both the horses and the young people. In this video, he and a young student, Filippo, demonstrate how the horse lies down on command. Trust is a key element in teaching a prey animal to do something unusual like this. The two bays, Forest Bear (unraced) and Stick at Nothing, are now veteran movie horses. Stick At Nothing, an Irish-bred by Tagula, showed promise when he just missed the board in a Group 3 stakes race, but he was injured in his last start and did not finish the race. He is now an important part of Freda’s theatre troupe. A key horse in the program is Dream Impact, a New York-bred by Royal Academy purchased for $26,000 at the 2002 OBS August yearling sale by bloodstock agent Paolo Romanelli. Sent to Europe, Dream Impact went on to win more than $540,000 in 51 starts, all in Europe, GB and the U.A.E. He went on to play Andrea Bocelli’s horse in a television series, La Musica del Silenzio. “Often the horses on the movie sets spend time standing or walking in regalia which is not very stressful, physically,” commented rider Daphne Hewitt who, when she lived in the U.S., re-trained Thoroughbreds for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Her current job with the United Nations has her stationed in Rome. She rides horses for the group at Capannelle on weekends. “With good natural horsemanship, the horses learn to handle the other unusual circumstances on the sets, making the movies a viable and productive second career for many horses.” We caught up with Hewitt on a hot sunny morning right before she rode a beautiful chestnut, Pistolino. He is a 5-year-old Italian-bred by Daggers Drawn who did not break his maiden before retiring after three tries. He is a precocious horse and has shown much talent which Hewitt said would be best directed in three-day eventing. “Generally, horses are donated to Relived by owners and trainers who know and trust the program,” explained Freda. “In Italy, when retirement for a Thoroughbred is not secured, the horse could easily end up in the slaughter pipeline or in an illegal racing ring.” Freda’s father, Riccardo, is a renowned Italian movie director, and she is especially diligent about the humane treatment of the horses on the movie sets. She follows the on-set protocols established in the U.S. by organizations such as the American Humane Association and is developing the equivalent standard for all movie makers in Italy. Determined to make an even larger impact on the population of Thoroughbreds needing new homes after racing in Italy, the group is working on a prison-based program similar to Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances program in America. Diana Pikulski is editor of the Thoroughbred Adoption Network and the former executive director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. View the full article

Wild Illusion, who narrowly failed to give the stable an Oaks/Derby double, made all to claim the Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1). View the full article

Speed demon Battaash, one of the world's top sprinters over the past 12 months, returns to the South Downs aiming to defend last year's hugely impressive Qatar King George Stakes (G2) victory in the highlight of day four at Glorious Goodwood Aug. 3. View the full article