Wandering Eyes

Flat jockey Fran Berry has retired from the saddle with immediate effect. The 38-year-old suffered spinal injuries in a fall at Wolverhampton on Jan. 29–and, after consultation with his surgeon, he has been advised to quit race-riding. “For the past 23 years, I have got to live out my childhood dream of being a jockey,” Berry told www.sportinglife.com, for who he will continue to write his regular blog. “But following recent scans and discussions with my medical team headed by my surgeon Dr. Mike Foy, as well as Dr. Jerry Hill, I have to accept that the dream is now over and that due to the injuries sustained in Wolverhampton on Jan. 29, I will not be able to make a return to race-riding. “While this news is heartbreaking on one level, I am fully aware how lucky I am. Riding has been a fantastic adventure for me, and I am very grateful for the way it allowed my family and me to experience the world and gain many friends over that time.” Berry will also pursue other ventures–including media work, and is poised to join the Racing TV team of pundits, that media outlet reported on Monday. All told, Berry booted home 1,387 winners, including four in the National Hunt sphere, with the remainder on the Flat primarily in Ireland. He rode a winner during the Cheltenham Festival at the age of only 18-the Christy Roche-trained Khayrawani (Ire) (Caerleon) in the Coral Cup for JP McManus. Berry’s father Frank is McManus’s racing manager. The understudy to Mick Kinane in the John Oxx yard following a switch to the Flat, Berry won the 2010 G1 National S. with Pathfork (Distorted Humor) for Jessica Harrington and also rode in Japan. Beginning in 2016, Berry moved his tack and family to Britain to ride for Ralph Beckett and later on went freelance. In 2018 the Irishman teamed up with David Menuisier’s Thundering Blue (Exchange Rate) and the duo won both the G2 York S. and G3 Stockholm Cup International and was runner-up in the GI Pattison Canadian International S. and third in the G1 Juddmonte International S. View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost.Is Almond Eye better than Winx and Enable? – @RacingTVWinning at home is one thing, but there is no doubt that tasting success overseas enhances the reputation of any racehorse.Not only did Almond Eye’s victory in the Group One Dubai Turf (1,800m) legitimise her standing as one of the best horses in the world, it also removed any lingering doubt about her quality… View the full article

Star trainer Frankie Lor Fu-chuen has won almost every major race in Hong Kong this term but there is a new title he can add to his resume – he is Sha Tin’s king of dirt racing.The second-season sensation has had more winners on the all-weather surface than any other trainer since he started and boasts a strike rate nearly double that of his overall record.Me Tsui Yu-sak, who travelled his top-rated Fight Hero to Dubai to race on dirt, was once considered the man to beat on the Sha Tin all… View the full article

The first stakes win for Law Abidin Citizen was marred when two horses fell in the March 31 $100,000 San Simeon Stakes (G3T), run at about 6 1/2 furlongs over Santa Anita Park's downhill turf course. View the full article

The first stakes win for Law Abidin Citizen was marred when two horses fell in the March 31 $100,000 San Simeon Stakes (G3T), run at about 6 1/2 furlongs over Santa Anita Park's downhill turf course. View the full article

Live Oak Plantation's homebred half brothers March to the Arch and Global Access impressed March 31 at Tampa Bay Downs, when the pair took a brace of stakes on the 17th annual Florida Cup Day card. View the full article

Updates on stewards' follow-ups to Friday meeting View the full article

Horse's test result April 1 View the full article

9th-Oaklawn, $90,000, Msw, 3-31, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.17, ft. LANDESKOG (g, 3, Munnings–Minewander {GSP, $224,591}, by Mineshaft), who was just shy of a bullet half-mile when he worked in :47 flat (2/103) at Oaklawn Park Mar. 23, was sent off at 5-1 for this unveiling. One of the smoothest away, the chestnut battled with Tut’s Revenge (Eskendereya) on his outside through an opening quarter in :22.21, while maintaining a head advantage. The duo reached the half in :45.83, but Landeskog switched to another gear, cut the corner, and strolled away to win by 5 3/4 good-looking lengths. Tut’s Revenge held for second, 1 3/4 lengths in front of 3-5 chalk Golden Notion (Goldencents), who rated just behind the two pacesetters in third while well off the fence and put in a belated rally. The third winner from three runners for his dam, who placed in the GIII Arlington-Washington Lassie S. as a juvenile, the gelding is followed by juvenile filly Sense of Place (Blame). Minewander, who is a half-sister to GIII My Charmer H. heroine and GI Garden City Breeders’ Cup H. third Wander Mom (Maria’s Mom), produced a dead foal by Vancouver (Aus) last spring. Third dam and GIII Golden Rod S. victress Vivid Imagination (Raise a Man) is a half-sister to champion and top producer Serena’s Song (Rahy). Sales history: $75,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $54,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O-ERJ Racing, LLC & John Fuller; B-CFP Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Doug F. O’Neill. View the full article

Linda Rice earned the leading trainer title at Aqueduct’s winter meet, which concluded Sunday. Rice captured 45 wins at the stand to claim her first New York Racing Association meet title since 2017. Manny Franco was the meet’s leading jockey with 98 wins and Michael Dubb led all owners. “It’s always nice to win a training title; Saratoga was my first, and I’ve finished second at the Aqueduct winter meet a few times, so it’s nice to get the win,” Rice said. Dubb, NYRA’s year-ending leading owner in seven of the last nine years, closed the meet with 15 wins. Drawing Away Stable was second with 10 wins. “It means a lot,” Dubb said. “Everybody who was involved worked hard and made good decisions and good choices and put the horses in the right spots. New York racing is what it’s all about. To be number one in New York is what it’s all about to me. The winter is kind of an under-the-radar meet, but I think it’s important to race in New York year-round and support New York racing in the winter, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.” The 12-day 2019 Aqueduct spring meet begins Apr. 5 and is highlighted by the Apr. 6 GII Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets. View the full article

Reigning Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz, Jr. claimed the riding title at Gulfstream Park’s Championship meet, which concluded Sunday, besting two-time defending titlist Luis Saez, 135-134. “It feels great,” Ortiz said of the title. “I got a lot of support from the owners and trainers and my agent, Jay Rushing, does a great job. I have no words for how I feel now.” Saez rode the winners of the third, fourth and ninth races Sunday to pull into a tie for the lead, but Ortiz came back to capture the 10th race to earn the riding title outright. Riding full time during the Championship Meet for the first time, Ortiz captured nine graded stakes race, including the inaugural $7-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational aboard Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway) Jan. 26. Trainer Jorge Navarro, who saddled X Y Jet (Kantharos) to victory in Saturday’s G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan, captured his first Championship Meet title with 53 victories, breaking Todd Pletcher’s string of 15 consecutive titles. Pletcher finished second. Navarro’s client Joseph Besecker was the leading owner with 19 visits to the winner’s circle. Live racing will return to Gulfstream for the start of the Spring Meet Thursday. First-race post time for an eight-race opening day card is set for 1:15 p.m. View the full article

Reigning Eclipse Award champion Irad Ortiz Jr. claimed the 2018-2019 Championship Meet riding title at Gulfstream Park March 31 prevailing over defending two-time titlist Luis Saez, 135-134. View the full article

Trainer Linda Rice won her first NYRA meet title since 2017, jockey Manny Franco paced all riders with 98 victories, and Michael Dubb led all owners with 15 wins for the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack that spanned Dec. 7, 2018 to March 31. View the full article

Though Haikal does not need another placing in a prep race to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, the Wood will offer a valuable lesson in his ability to handle the kind of challenge awaiting him at 1 ¼ miles in the May 4 opening leg of the Triple Crown. View the full article

Godolphin 4-year-old has won eight of 13 starts View the full article

Andrew Balding may choose next month’s G2 Bet365 Mile at Sandown for the return of Beat The Bank (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}). A winner of the G2 Summer Mile S. at Ascot and the G2 Celebration at Goodwood last year, the gelding’s campaign ended with an unplaced effort in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. “Beat The Bank might start off at Sandown in the Group 2 over a mile [on Apr. 26],” said Balding. “I’ve been very happy with him at home–he’s been going very well. He had a nice break after Hong Kong, and everything has gone very nicely.” View the full article

Jockey Trevor McCarthy and trainer Claudio Gonzalez earned titles at Laurel Park’s 46-day winter meeting, which concluded Sunday. The 24-year-old McCarthy won 53 races during the stand, including the GIII General George S. aboard Uncontested (Tiz Wonderful) Feb. 16. “I’m really fortunate to become the leading rider again this meet. It means a lot to me and to my family,” McCarthy said. “I want to thank my agent, Scotty Silver, and all the trainers and owners for riding me. Without the horses, we don’t have racing and we don’t have fun and we can’t get in positions that we are. I’m very fortunate and blessed.” Gonzalez led all trainers with 40 wins, including a stretch of seven consecutive victories over two racing days, Mar.17 and 22. Maryland’s leading trainer the past two years, Gonzalez has captured four straight meet titles at Laurel and six of the last seven dating back to the 2017 winter-spring stand. Overall, he owns nine meet championships. “All the time, I say you have to put the horses in the right spot. My owners know when you put the horses in the right spot, you have a big chance to win races,” Gonzalez said. “Everybody is happy. My team, they do all the hard work. Everybody sees my name and they see me, but behind the scenes everybody is working really hard.” Laurel’s 19-day spring meet kicks off Apr. 5 and runs through May 5. View the full article

Stakes-winning Arms Runner (Overdriven) suffered an injury during the running of Sunday’s GIII San Simeon S. at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old gelding fell as the field crossed over the dirt track in the down-the-hill stakes race, causing La Sardane (Fr) (Kingsalsa) to also fall. La Sardane was quickly back on her feet, according to Daily Racing Form’s Steve Andersen, who reported Arms Runner was tended to by track veterinarians before being vanned off. The incident comes on just the third day that racing returned to Santa Anita after a spate of fatal equine injuries this winter. Arms Runner, owned by Rockingham Ranch and trained by Peter Miller, most recently won an optional claimer down the hill Jan. 27. This story will be updated as additional information becomes available. View the full article

The Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby officially ended March 31, when undefeated 3-year-old Der Flug (JPN) took the Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse. View the full article

As so often happens when a subject is so controversial, contentious and so important, people take sides and then the rhetoric, and even nastiness, gets to the point that people are more concerned about slinging arrows than having sensible and meaningful debate. In the age of social media, it’s worse now than ever. That has been the case throughout the Santa Anita situation, and it reached a fever pitch when The Stronach Group called for many new regulations, including the banning of Lasix and the use of the whip. There are a lot of people you may want to tune out. But Walker Hancock is not one of them. Walker Hancock is the President of Claiborne Farm. He is smart, sensible, influential, picks his words carefully. He’s not angry. He is not a saber-rattler. Most importantly, he is a mere 29 years-old, a millennial in an industry where most leaders are considerably older and products of another era. So of all the things written last week on social media, perhaps none were more significant and worth paying attention to than a tweet Hancock wrote that read: “We can all debate whether we should validate and cave to PETA, but one thing every one needs to keep in mind is it only takes 600,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot to eliminate horse racing in California and PETA has over 700,000 members living in the state.” It would have been a lot easier for him to keep his mouth shut and stay out of the way, but he didn’t do so because he cares deeply about the industry and the legacy of Claiborne Farm. “I think we are at a critical point right now and I want what’s best for the industry and I want this industry to be around for another 50, 75, 100 years,” Hancock said. “And I think we are at a very critical time right now and our decisions are very important, carry a lot of weight and could be critical for the future of our industry.” Hancock’s age is a critical part of his story. There may be no other person with such influence in the industry that associates with people 30 and under, particularly younger people that are not part of the sport or what The Stronach Group’s Tim Ritvo has come to call “the bubble.” “With my friends who are not involved in racing or weren’t born into it, it is a challenge,” Hancock said. “They don’t understand things. They have a perception that horses are whipped and they use medication to help them run. It is not a healthy mind set for people to have on our sport. The perception is not favorable with the general public. For us to grow and sustain our industry, we need to listen to the general public. Right now, we are at a critical time, where they could turn their backs to us. It’s important that we are more open than maybe we once were or are.” Hancock said he received both favorable and unfavorable comments from people after he posted his tweet. He would like people to know that he was not coming out in support of PETA and, like most people in horse racing, is no fan of that particular animal rights group. “After my post, people thought I was taking the side of PETA,” he said. “I didn’t intend to at all. I don’t like PETA. But I know they can be a dangerous organization. It’s almost like they have mob power, whether that’s fair or not. I also understand that they can very easily get a campaign together and if they really wanted to, I feel they have enough power to eliminate horse racing. I wanted to bring people’s attention to the real possibility there is of them mounting a campaign to ban racing. Like it or not, you have to take them seriously. “This is certainly an emotional time for me. I’m fourth generation here and I want my children to have the opportunity to keep this going. I think it is very important that we take the steps to make sure this industry is around in the future.” And there you have it, a voice of reason. What Will Belinda Stronach Do Next? Belinda Stronach sure proved to be a worthy adversary for those who opposed her series of reforms. She also should have put an end to what has been rumored within the industry, that she wants to sell Santa Anita to property developers. With what she had to go through over the last month or so, the easiest way out would have been to say, “I don’t need this,” and put for-sale signs outside the track. The property is obviously worth a fortune, much more as housing or a shopping center than as a racetrack. She proved throughout this fight that she, like her father, Frank, is committed to the sport. We know how determined she is to correct what she sees as wrongs within racing and she knows that most of the same rules she fought to end in California remain at The Stronach Group’s (TSG) racetracks in Maryland, Florida and Oregon. She has also said those states are her next targets. Not that what she accomplished in California was easy, but it will likely be even harder in Florida and Maryland. The advantage TSG had in California is that racing there is on an island and horsemen have virtually no other options when it comes to places to race. The trainers have homes there, their kids may go to schools in local communities, they have established their reputations on the Southern California circuit and have local owners who employ them. They’re not going to pick up and move to Turf Paradise. The exact opposite is true in Maryland. If Laurel and Pimlico were to phase out Lasix and enact all the other restrictions on medications that were put in at Santa Anita and Golden Gate, the horsemen there would have a lot more leverage. They can just move down the road to Parx or Delaware or Monmouth without a huge disruption of their lives. If they were to try to go it alone in the Mid-Atlantic region without Lasix, it’s hard to imagine how they could fills cards at Laurel and Pimlico. Gulfstream wouldn’t be easy, either. The regulars who stay year-round may not go anywhere, but what about the big stables that come south for the championship meet? They, too, have choices. Aside from their grass horses, they could stay in New York for the winter. The Fair Grounds and Oaklawn are other options. Some might even chose Tampa Bay Downs. If the Stronach reforms are going to spread beyond California, it probably won’t happen unless at least one other major racing state or organization joins their cause. Keep an eye on NYRA. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is not a big fan of the sport and he was very involved when there was a rash of breakdowns years ago at Aqueduct. You can bet he’s been watching what has been happening in California and it wouldn’t be a shock if he were to ignite efforts for the same reforms in New York. The UAE Derby is a Dud Again Enough already. Churchill Downs has to downgrade the G2 UAE Derby’s status as a 100-point race. Everyone in U.S. racing wants to expand beyond our borders as the sport becomes more global. They key is that, involving other countries gives you the opportunity to get their bettors to bet on your races. Japan is the holy grail. If horses were coming out of the UAE Derby with regularity and performing well in the GI Kentucky Derby then the 100-point status would at least make some sense. But the horses that have come have performed dismally in the Derby. This year, the results left no doubt that this was far from a quality field, probably not even equal to a Grade III prep in the U.S. The winner was the American-based Plus Que Parfait (Point of Entry). When last seen he was 13th, beaten 20 lengths in the GII Risen Star S. Before that, he was fifth in the GIII Lecomte. Those efforts didn’t even begin to merit a spot in the Kentucky Derby, but now he is in. In fact, he is No. 1 on the points leaders list for the race. While Plus Que Parfait probably isn’t the next Justify (Scat Daddy), his trainer, Brendan Walsh, deserves some kind of award. He knew to go nowhere near the GI Florida Derby or the GII Louisiana Derby, races where he would have had no chance. So he shipped Plus Que Parfait halfway across the world and stole the winner’s share of a $2.5-million purse. That’s a great training job. View the full article

Mark Dwyer can’t really explain it, either: the fact that so many of those about to launch another crop of pinhooked yearlings into the European breeze-ups should have come into the game from jump racing. On the face of it, after all, they are now at the very opposite end of the spectrum. After years handling the big frames of slow-maturing steeplechasers, they are honing the sharpest of Flat blades. Several consignors in America made the same transition, not least the man who once taught the young Dwyer to ride in Eddie Woods. And in the European market, those to have done so include Norman Williamson, Roger Marley and now Katie Walsh. Above all there is the doyen of the trade himself, Willie Browne, who routinely partners with Dwyer not just in the breezers he assembles every year at Oaks Farm Stables, near Malton, but also in foals and jumping stores. The one theory Dwyer does put forward is itself a bit of a paradox, given the relative brevity of the pinhooking process. But it’s an instructive one, as a breeze-up business will only survive if the promise showcased in such young horses proves to be sustainable. “You could maybe relate it to the fact that you have to protect the jumping horse for the future,” Dwyer says. “That you have to mind them a bit. Because with these breeze horses, when you’re looking at them every day, the most important thing is just making sure you’re not overdoing them. Those horses I was associated with, jumping, were nurtured four, five, six years. Forgive ‘N Forget got to Cheltenham six years running, and was a single-figure price every time. And that becomes one of the things that stays with you: if you look after them, they look after you.” By the same token, he notes, many successful Flat trainers also graduated from jump racing. When he was stable jockey to Jimmy FitzGerald—the man who preserved that flame in Forgive ‘N Forget, one of two Cheltenham Gold Cup winners ridden by Dwyer before his career was ended by a fall at Kelso in 1996—the guvnor’s young assistants were named Richard Fahey and John Quinn. Ralph Beckett was cutting his teeth in the yard, too. “Fitzy was a hard man, he didn’t take prisoners, I don’t think anyone would dispute that,” Dwyer remembers. “But the horse came first. If he sent a horse all the way down to Newbury but then wasn’t happy with the ground, he wouldn’t run. And it is true that unless you look after them, you won’t get the return.” In those days, of course, a sideline of some kind with young horses was often simply a pragmatic use of the long summer break. Jockeys might have a small livery yard at home, and one thing would sometimes lead to another. Dwyer, moreover, had only transferred to jumping because of increasing weight, having served his apprenticeship at the famous academy of Liam Browne. It is the latter’s namesake, however, who has proved a still greater influence. Dwyer often rode for Willie Browne before coming over from Ireland to join FitzGerald, in 1982, establishing a rapport that only strengthened as the scope of their joint endeavours broadened. “Listen, he’s been a big help to us all the way through,” Dwyer says. “We’ve had our moments, but they’re brief, and you move on very quickly. Invariably, we’d like the same type. He’s taught me that you need a bit of size and scope, and they need to be athletic. They’ve got to be able to pull out there, and walk up and down and with a purpose. Correctness is a big thing as well—even if sometimes they can change, and usually for the worse. Because even though we’d probably argue more about a foal, a yearling’s more difficult. You wouldn’t think so, but they can come back and bite you. So that one you’re doubtful about, you tend to leave alone.” There are no hard-and-fast rules as to how the pair divide their interests. A Doncaster yearling will tend to go up the road to Dwyer, rather than ship to Co Tipperary, but their American pinhooks, say, will just be divided according to the scale of their respective facilities. Dwyer’s is a more intimate outfit, this time round hosting around 10 foal pinhooks and 15 breezers; Mocklershill operates on a more industrial scale, and as such will have plenty of other projects besides those shared with Dwyer. “Willie buys plenty of horses I wouldn’t, and invariably he’s right and I’m the one licking my wounds at the end of it,” Dwyer says. “But we all have to make choices and you wish them all well.” With the European breeze-up circus about to resume, starting at Ascot this week, Dwyer has been putting the finishing touches to his quest for the next Sir Gerry (Carson City), the subsequent G2 Gimcrack S. winner he sold at the Craven Breeze-Up in 2007. “He was a good horse at home and a good horse at the sale,” he recalls. “There were no surprises there. He was a sound horse who went on and did what he was supposed to do.” Dwyer feels his consignments for this spring are well up to scratch, not least after installing an equine spa last year. While they still have to do it on the day, he likes an Equiano (Fr) at Doncaster, for instance, that he couldn’t sell last autumn; and also three that followed the Sir Gerry route from Keeneland: colts by Lemon Drop Kid and Flatter at the Craven Sale, and a Candy Ride (Arg) at Doncaster. Pinhooks that fell through the September gaps in Lexington have yielded some spectacular dividends in Europe over recent seasons, and none of these cost much relative to the talent they have evidently been showing. But Dwyer reckons that European yearlings, while typically lacking the physical precocity of American stock, usually catch up over the winter. “If it’s good, it’s very good,” he says of Keeneland gambles. “If it’s bad, it’s very bad. You can take a bit of chance: the Americans’ veterinary [screening] is quite tough to get through. We use our vet, you get your pros and cons and you make a judgment. And you can get great value on that basis.” Like Browne, however, Dwyer is less keen on another American import to the European scene: the timing laser. Nowadays he sees an almost robotic link between the fastest times and the biggest prices. “We like to buy a long-term horse, a nice, scopey horse that’s bred to go a mile and a quarter,” Dwyer says. “Some people are better than others at making them to go quick, and I don’t fit in that category, for sure. And I wouldn’t want to. I have no interest in pushing them to the limit. “We work against a hill on the grass and I’d never want to see them flat out here because they’re doing enough doing for this stage of their lives. I’d never gallop them five furlongs. When they’re ready, they’ll do two six-furlong canters. You build them up. You get them upsides; then they go three, three and a half furlongs; then you get them to breeze along for two; and then eventually you get them to train on their own. But of course some you’ve got to back off, others will need a bit more.” That’s where the old school horsemanship comes in. Reading a horse by looking at his manger, not your stopwatch. Dwyer has a living to make, naturally, and accepts the need to meet the market halfway. But he feels saddened by an automatic collapse in the value of horses that “fail” to make the top 10 or 15% on the clock. “If everything vets right, and they’re happy with the physical, invariably the top times will make the most money nowadays,” he says. “Are they the best racehorses? I’m not sure. But there’s a certain faction out there that are just completely blinded by the speed figures. It’s the visual that’s important to me, though I suppose that would probably make me a poor man if I was buying breeze-up horses. And I can see that if you were an agent, and your client’s in Hong Kong, and you’re sending him a list of times, and you want to buy number 100 on the list, it’s going to be a lot harder to make your case. Even though it will only be a few tenths behind.” Happily, as with all bloodstock markets, there is a daily corrective in the winning post. If the same consignors annually produce explosive breezers that promptly implode once asked to gallop more than two furlongs, then the market should—in principle, anyway—figure things out. “This business is about credibility,” Dwyer says. “You might be wrong about things, but if you’re speaking honestly, and people can believe you, that’s as good as you can get it, really.” And really that takes us back where we started—to that horsemanship you get in a jump jockey. Dwyer knows there’s more to a young horse than :20-odd seconds of frenzied galloping. As a rider, he was always methodical in thinking through a race: playing his hand according to the strengths and weaknesses both of his own mount, and of his rivals. And he tries to see his business in the round, too: wearing the losses, not getting carried away by the odd home run. “Nothing grieves me more than bringing a horse home from a sale,” he says. “If there’s a live punter there, just take the loss, move on, and hope there’s enough on the other side to make up for it. I’ve a horse out here we gave 130 grand for, as a foal. And he’s now three. But so long as you can keep the corners covered, you just think a bit better about the whole thing. If you’re stretched, and your back’s to the wall, it’s a different place to be. I’ve been there. And I’m not saying I won’t be there again.” A few consignors will have learned as much last year, in bringing unwanted yearlings back to market after seeing the headline gains of the previous cycle. Dwyer cautions that if ever the game appears easy, you aren’t seeing the whole picture. That would apply as much to those enslaved by the clock, as to those responsible for a glut of mediocre horses last year. “The volume was just over the top,” Dwyer says. “I’d say 800 to 900 in the system is loads, never mind 1,100 to 1,200. The market can’t cope with that. The people aren’t there for it. Remember some people out there just don’t like the breeze-ups, even though it’s been such a great source of winners, year on year. And top-class winners too. But those horses aren’t always going to be the fastest in the breeze. And some guys out can find them just by seeing them come up there. They won’t mind the time so long as it’s reasonable. They’ll use a little bit more imagination than just the black and white numbers. Because no matter what we’re doing, none of it’s simple.” View the full article

Wesley Ward and Cipriano Contreras each had 13 wins and tied for leading trainer at the Turfway Park winter/spring meet. The meet concluded Saturday, four races earlier than intended, after weather conditions forced cancellation of the last half of the card. The winter/spring training title was the first at Turfway for Contreras and the third straight for Ward, who won the 2018 winter/spring title outright and shared the 2018 holiday title with Mike Maker. With eight winners from 25 starters, leading owner honors went to the partnership of David Neiman’s Willowbrook Stables and Jerry Carden. Luan Machado, who moved his tack from Brazil to the United States in November, pulled away to win the leading jockey title with 35 wins from 188 mounts. Machado rode the winners of five races on the Feb. 14 card. View the full article

Tsuru Nishimori’s Der Flug (Jpn) (Behkabad {Fr}) preserved his perfect record with a 1 1/2-length victory in the Fukuryu S. over 1800 meters at Nakayama on Sunday. A winner over track and trip on debut Dec. 2 and in the Kurochiku Sho on Jan. 13, the bay was sent off heavily favored at 3-5 and trailed the field from the bell. A touch eager entering the first corner, he improved a spot on the backstretch and made steady progress a quarter mile from home. Five deep entering the lane, he kept finding down the stretch to win comfortably, while Master Fencer (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}), who had kept him company at the rear of the field for most of the race, surged late for second-place honors. The Pyro filly Rhein Carina (Jpn) was another three lengths back in third. Following that victory, Der Flug earned 40 points on the Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby and sits atop the leaderboard, with Master Fencer (+16) bringing his total to 19 points-fourth overall-and Rhein Carina is eighth with eight points. However, the highest-ranked horse currently nominated to the Triple Crown on the leaderboard is Master Fencer. A late Triple Crown nomination payment of $6,000 is due on Monday, before the Japanese standings are finalized. Pai Guniang (Jpn) (French Deputy), out of the SP Paian (Jpn) (Cozzene), has a juvenile colt by Espoir City (Jpn) as her last recorded produce. Paian herself is a half-sister to MGSW and G1 Sprinters S. third Kanoya Zakura (Jpn) (Sakura Bakushin O {Jpn}). FUKURYU S., ¥34,460,000 (US$310,793/£238,317/€276,939), Nakayama, 3-31, 3yo, 1800m, 1:53.20, ft. 1–DER FLUG (JPN), 123, c, 3, Behkabad (Fr) 1st Dam: Pai Guniang (Jpn), by French Deputy 2nd Dam: Paian (Jpn), by Cozzene 3rd Dam: Woodmans Chic, by Woodman O-Tsuru Nishimori; B-Takae Bokujo (Jpn); T-Nobuhiro Suzuki; J-Akihide Tsumura. ¥18,182,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, ¥35,553,000. 2–Master Fencer (Jpn), 123, c, 3, Just a Way (Jpn)–Sexy Zamurai, by Deputy Minister. O/B-Katsumi Yoshizawa (Jpn); T-Koichi Tsunoda. ¥7,252,000. 3–Rhein Carina (Jpn), 119, f, 3, Pyro–Faire Coucou (Jpn), by Alamshar (Ire). O-Shigemasa Osawa; B-Nisshin Farm (Jpn); T-Yoshinori Muto. ¥4,526,000. Margins: 1HF, 3, 4. Odds: 0.60, 10.90, 29.40. Also Ran: Black Warrior (Jpn), Nova Lenda (Jpn), Nanyo Izayoi (Jpn), Gold Lagoon (Jpn), Cameron (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart or JRA video. View the full article

Gary and Mary West’s Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) exited his victory in Saturday’s GI Xpressbet.com Florida Derby in fine shape, according to trainer Jason Servis. Servis gave jockey Luis Saez plenty of credit for Maximum Security’s front-running victory. “Luis walked the dog,” Servis said. “He backed them up. I have to give him credit. I think it had a lot to do with it. I’m not downgrading the horse, but Luis did a great job.” Servis plans to continue to campaign his stable at Gulfstream through April while preparing Maximum Security at Palm Meadows for a possible start in the May 4 GI Kentucky Derby. Maximum Security began his career with a 9 3/4-length romp in a $16,000 maiden claiming race at Gulfstream Dec. 20 before capturing back-to-back starter optional claiming allowance races by a combined 24 3/4 lengths “Candidly, if you read between the lines, there had to be a reason why I ran him for $16,000. Am I glad I didn’t lose him? Hell, yeah,” Servis said. “Is he training good and sound? Yes. But there was a reason why I ran him for $16,000.” Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}), who raced well off the slow pace during the early going of the Florida Derby before closing to finish third, also came out of the race well, said trainer Shug McGaughey. “I thought he ran fine,” McGaughey said. “That’s not the type of race he needs, with one horse on the lead and everybody taking back. We were kind of in between horses. He had half a racetrack on him. I thought it was pretty game what he did considering the circumstances.” Plans for Code of Honor are still pending, but trainer Mark Hennig is hopeful Florida Derby fourth-place finisher Bourbon War (Tapit) has accrued enough points to get to the big dance in Louisville. “He’s doing great,” Hennig said of Bourbon War, who trailed all but two horses through a half-mile while racing wide and passed horses late to wind up beaten 7 1/2 lengths, three-quarters of a length behind Code of Honor in third. “I don’t think there’s any doubt [the pace] had a large impact on us at least not being third, for sure. I’m not saying we were going to win the race or anything, but I’d like to think with a little pace we could have been a little closer. And a little better trip, too, [instead of] having to go around the whole way. If you look at his trip versus Code of Honor’s, I think that made a big difference.” Looking ahead, Hennig added, “We’d love to be able to get into the Kentucky Derby on points. If we [have enough] points, we’d be confident going forward because he’s a horse you’d like to think leaving here would be good for him to get off a track where it’s hard to close. Right now we don’t know what that status is. It doesn’t look great, but we’re just going to stand pat and watch how the races run next weekend in the GI Santa Anita Derby, GII Blue Grass and GII Wood Memorial and see where the points stand after that. I think it’ll help indicate to us a little more about where we are.” Bourbon War currently sits 15th on the Derby points board with 31 points. View the full article

2017 Japanese 2000 Guineas hero Al Ain (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since his Classic score, narrowly holding off G1 Kikuka Sho victor Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) by a neck in the G1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin on Sunday. 2018 G1 Tokyo Yushun scorer Wagnerian (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) was the same distance back in third in a blanket finish. With his victory in the 2000-metre feature, Al Ain booked a ticket to the G1 Irish Champion S. during Irish Champions Weekend in September, while pilot Yuichi Kitamura was landing his first Group 1 title. Part of the early scramble for ideal position when the gates flew, the 21-1 longshot secured an ideal position in a tracking third while saving ground, as Epoca d’Oro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) sped the first 600 metres in :36.40 with Kiseki keeping a close eye from second. Relegated to fourth by Stiffelio (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) shortly thereafter, the blinkered bay still traveled very relaxed with a noticeably low head carriage a half-mile from the winning post. Shaken up on the far turn, Al Ain forged to the lead 200 metres out as Epoca d’Oro folded, but was quickly challenged by the stalking Kiseki and the rallying Wagnerian up the fence. The Sunday Racing colourbearer proved gamest, however, and would not be denied. Makahiki (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) made up ground from the tail of the field to take fourth, 3/4 of a length behind. Favoured at 2-1, Blast Onepiece (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) stayed near the rear of the field until the final corner when he began to improve, but he had too much real estate to cover and finished sixth. “We had a good draw and everything worked to our advantage,” said Kitamura. “He was able to focus using the blinkers for the second time and he responded well, so I just concentrated on keeping him comfortable.” Undefeated in two juvenile starts, Al Ain scored in the G3 Mainichi Hai locally in March of 2017 and made it back-to-back wins, taking Nakayama’s G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) that April. Although he was winless in 10 more starts prior to his Osaka Hai victory, several runs possessed merit, as he was runner-up in the G2 Asahi Hai St Lite Kinen that September and also the G2 Kyoto Kinen last January. Third in this race a year ago to Saturday’s G1 Dubai Sheema Classic third Suave Richard (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}), he returned two starts later with another second-place performance, this time to 2017 G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Rey de Oro (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in the G2 Sankei Sho All Comers last September. Fourth to that rival in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) a month later, he was third to the reopposing Stelvio (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the Nov. 18 G1 Mile Championship at Kyoto and was a last out fifth in the G2 Kinko Sho going 2000 metres at Chukyo on Mar. 10. Pedigree Notes One of 39 Group 1 winners for his Shadai Stallion Station-based sire, Al Ain is one of three winners from three to race for his GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint-scoring dam Dubai Majesty. Later named the 2010 Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinter, she was knocked down to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.1 million at that year’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale. The 14-year-old foaled the winning Danon Majesty (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) the year after Al Ain, but she aborted her 2016 produce. Bred back to Deep Impact, a juvenile filly of 2017 was the result. Sunday, Hanshin, Japan OSAKA HAI-G1, ¥232,260,000 (US$2,094,942/£1,606,333/€1,867,118), Hanshin, 3-31, 4yo/up, 2000mT, 2:01.00, fm. 1–AL AIN (JPN), 126, h, 5, Deep Impact (Jpn) 1st Dam: Dubai Majesty (Ch. Female Sprinter-US, GISW-US, $1,509,243), by Essence of Dubai 2nd Dam: Great Majesty, by Great Above 3rd Dam: Mistic Majesty, by His Majesty O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Yasutoshi Ikee; J-Yuichi Kitamura. ¥122,982,000. Lifetime Record: 16-5-3-2, ¥500,110,900. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+. 2–Kiseki (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Rulership (Jpn)–Blitz Finale (Jpn), by Deep Impact(Jpn). O-Tatsue Ishikawa; B-Shimokobe Farm (Jpn); ¥48,852,000. 3–Wagnerian (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Miss Encore (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Makoto Kaneko Holdings; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥30,426,000. Margins: NK, NK, 3/4. Odds: 21.20, 3.10, 7.20. Also Ran: Makahiki (Jpn), Air Windsor (Jpn), Blast Onepiece (Jpn), Stiffelio (Jpn), Muito Obrigado (Jpn), Danburite (Jpn), Epoca d’Oro (Jpn), Persian Knight (Jpn), Sungrazer (Jpn), Stay Foolish (Jpn), Stelvio (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart or video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. View the full article