Wandering Eyes

West Point Thoroughbreds' Ring Weekend, a grade 1 winner of more than $1.5 million, has been retired. The 7-year-old Tapit gelding is being retrained by Olympian Phillip Dutton. View the full article

There have been many good signs lately for Italian racing. Last month, a new government took over and the new Italian Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Gian Marco Centinaio, is a big fan of horse racing. He phoned jockey Luca Maniezzi to congratulate him on his 2,000th win last week, and is very keen to revamp the Italian racing and breeding industries. In January, the European Pattern Commission downgraded only two Italian listed races, and the 2-year-old Criterium di Varese, previously run as an allowance race, was upgraded to listed status. Italian form is doing well in America. The filly Plein Air (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), previously with Stefano Botti in Cenaia, Tuscany, won a stake at Santa Anita first time out for Bob Baffert, and La Force (Ger) (Power {GB}), previously in training in Pisa, Italy, with Marco Gasparini, was second in the GI Beholder Mile and had previously been third in the GII La Canada S. prior to winning an allowance race. More importantly than everything else, however, is that at the end of 2017 the previous Italian government approved a better tax law for Italian horse racing bettors which will be effective this fall and should dramatically increase the betting and consequently the purses. Purses are now being paid more regularly; however they are still behind because of the giant bureaucracy that the new government wants to reduce. Among all this good news, myself and my family have decided to revamp a historic set of silks that will hopefully stimulate other old and prestigious Italian stables to get back into the Sport of Kings. The red and blue silks belonged to Scuderia Tirrenia, owned in the 1950s to 70s by the distinguished Italian trainer Luigi Regoli Jr., my grandfather and one of the three sons of Luigi Regoli Sr. a trainer himself and best friend of Federico Tesio. Luigi Regoli Jr. grew up in Tesio’s stable and was an exercise rider for the Ribot and Nearco outfit when very young. He became a jockey and then, when he couldn’t make weight, a successful trainer. Regoli Jr. won four Italian Derbies, many Italian group races including both Guineas’ several times, the Gran Premio di Milano and even some prestigious steeplechase races. Among many other famous colours in his stable, like Nobile Giuseppe De Montel, Scuderia Aterno, Count Neni Da Zara and Centurini, were Regoli’s own blue and red silks of Scuderia Tirrenia, named after a cozy Tuscan fisherman village, halfway between Pisa and Leghorn. Scuderia Tirrenia had some good winners during the 1960s and 70s, but the colours were retired after Luigi Regoli Jr. died in 1975. The Italian Jockey Club relicensed the original silks with their red body and blue sleeves. But we have improved upon the original design by partnering with internationally renowed haute couture fashion designer Renato Balestra from Rome. Mr. Balestra offered to taylor the new Scuderia Tirrenia silks in his Rome autelier and to let us use his copyrighted blue color, known worldwide as the Blue Balestra. Scuderia Tirrenia now owns three horses in training at the Capannelle racetrack in Rome with the very skillful Sicilian trainer Agostino Affe. In 2017, Affe was ranked fourth among Italian trainers, with much fewer horses than the powerhouses Botti and Grizzetti. The Scuderia Tirrenia flagship horse is Crupi The Best (GB), a 4-year-old colt by Authorized (Ire) that has won three times. He is named after Italian-American, Ocala-based horseman Jimmy Crupi. Also set to race for Scuderia Tirrenia are two 2-year-olds bought as yearlings at OBS in Ocala. View the full article

A recent graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start, Madison Scott has joined the Lexington-based agency of Solis/Litt Bloodstock. Scott, a 24-year-old native of Austin, Texas, earned a dual degree from the University of Kentucky in Marketing and Equine Science and added work experience with industry leaders such as Fasig-Tipton, Tattersalls, Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott and Christophe Clement. “Alex and I are extremely excited to have Madison join our team,” said Jason Litt. “We believe she is the epitome of the new generation of the Thoroughbred agent, someone who is well-versed in all facets of the industry and is also interested in promoting and cultivating the sport both domestically and internationally.” Scott said, “After two years of Flying Start, it’s an honor and privilege to have been selected to join such a globally recognized bloodstock agency.” View the full article

At last week’s unmissable stallion parade at Dalham Hall Stud, mention was made of the comparative youth of the Darley stallion team, with the stallions on show featuring such as Brazen Beau, Buratino, Charming Thought, Golden Horn, Night of Thunder, Postponed, Profitable, Ribchester, Slade Power, Territories and The Last Lion. However, youth was not integral to the production of a spate of winners last week for Sheikh Mohammed’s breeding operation, now known as Godolphin. The second-oldest member of the Dalham Hall team, Dubawi enjoyed a group race double with the homebreds Crown Walk and Quorto and also sired the very promising ‘TDN Rising Star’ Rabbah-bred maiden winner Al Hilalee. Dubawi is 16, one year younger than Iffraaj. Another to sire a pair of Group/Graded winners was Medaglia d’Oro, the senior member of Darley’s American team, at 19. He supplied Group 2 winners on either side of the Atlantic thanks to Elate in the U.S. and to Gyllen in France. Godolphin also added another Group 3 success to its tally via the Darley-bred Inns of Court, whose sire, the 21-year-old Invincible Spirit, also sired Godolphin’s promising juvenile winner Lover’s Knot. And it wasn’t just the stallions who were past the first flush of youth. The ex-English Crown Walk, winner of the G3 Prix Chloe, was foaled when her dam Dunnes River was 17 and Dunnes River herself was foaled when her sire, the extraordinary Danzig, was 21. It’s a similar story with Gyllen. This conqueror of Crossed Baton in the G2 Prix Eugene Adam, was foaled when his dam Miss Halory was 16 and Miss Halory in turn was foaled four months before her sire, the equally extraordinary Mr. Prospector, died at the terrific age of 29. These family histories act as a joint reminder that top-class producers–both stallions and broodmares–often remain capable of coming up with the goods at a time when many breeders would consider them past their prime. Both Dunnes River and Miss Halory have produced previous Group/Graded winners. Miss Halory, a half-sister to no fewer than five graded winners out of Halory, including the Irish Group 2 winner Van Nistelrooy, is also the dam of the Grade III-winning Storm Cat colt Stormalory. Dunnes River had only a neck to spare when she won a mile maiden race as a 3-year-old at Goodwood on her only appearance, However, she has thoroughly deserved her retention for Sheikh Mohammed’s blue-blooded broodmare team. Indeed her record must have been especially pleasing to His Highness, who likes nothing better than putting Dubai in the spotlight. When Dunnes River produced her second foal, a colt by Halling, in 2004, the colt must have impressed the Darley team. In between covering Dunnes River in 2003 and the birth of the colt, the elegant Halling had been transferred from Dalham Hall to the Emirates Stud in Dubai. Although Halling will be best remembered as a dual winner of both the G1 Eclipse S. and the G1 Juddmonte International, he had also flourished on the sand track at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai, winning his first four races there. Unfortunately, he finished last in the inaugural running of the Dubai World Cup–just as he had done in the previous year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Dunnes River was duly sent to Dubai for further assignations with Halling in 2005 and 2006. This proved to be a shrewd move. Dunnes River’s English-sired Halling colt was Boscabel, who defeated the future St Leger winner Lucarno in the G2 King Edward VII S. for Mark Johnston. Cutlass Bay, Dunnes River’s second Halling colt, was even better. Cutlass Bay had looked set for great things when he defeated the future Grand Prix de Paris winner Cavalryman–another of Halling’s UAE produce–in the G2 Prix Grefulhe in May 2009. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to race again until April 2010, when he extended his unbeaten record to four in the G2 Prix d’Harcourt, and he showed further progress in landing the G1 Prix Ganay on his fifth. Crown Walk is therefore her third group winner. There was very nearly a fourth, as Dunnes River’s first foal, the Fantastic Light gelding Crested, had been beaten just a nose in a Grade III at Hawthorne in 2007. The mare’s record stands at nine winners from 11 starters and she also has a yearling colt by Dawn Approach. Crown Walk’s graduation as a group winner will have been all the more pleasing for Sheikh Mohammed because her second dam is Elizabeth Bay, a million-dollar purchase as a yearling in 1991, when the Sheikh was in the process of building his broodmare band. Along with the likes of Machiavellian, Kingmambo, Coup de Genie, Distant View, Miswaki and Lycius, Elizabeth Bay helped knock a hole in the theory that Mr. Prospector’s progeny were less effective on European turf than American dirt. She was unbeaten at two, when she won the G3 Prix Eclipse, and she later went within a neck of winning the G1 Coronation S. She also won a stakes race in the USA. Crown Walk’s third dam Life At The Top was also very talented–talented enough to record Grade I victories in the Mother Goose S. and the mile-and-a-quarter Ladies H., in addition to finishing second in the Kentucky Oaks and CCA Oaks. The next dam, See You At The Top, was a half-sister to the Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Bold Forbes and to Priceless Fame, the dam of Saratoga Six. In addition to her powerful female line, Dunnes River was bred to a highly successful pattern, with Danzig as her sire and a Mr. Prospector mare as her dam. This nick produced 16 black-type winners from 62 foals, which equates to a magnificent 26%. Others bred this way included the Group1 winners Dayjur, Pas de Reponse and Brahms. Crown Walk therefore has a suitably illustrious pedigree for a filly who became the 100th group winner sired by the truly excellent Dubawi. Like Galileo before him, Dubawi owes some of his impressive total to the years he shuttled to Australia. Dubawi shuttled for four years, compared to Galileo’s five, and it is fair to say that his progeny suited Australian conditions better than Galileo’s. Fourteen of his Australian-sired foals feature among his 100 group winners, including six which won at Group 1 level in Australasia or South Africa. That means that Crown Walk is the 86th group winner from Dubawi’s British crops, but Dubawi–still only 16 and with several very high-priced crops in the pipeline–is sure to sail past the magic 100 with these British crops alone. The promising Quorto has already become group winner number 87 and Al Hilalee shapes as though he will quickly join the club too. View the full article

West Point Thoroughbreds’ Grade I winner Ring Weekend (Tapit–Free the Magic, by Cryptoclearance) has been retired sound from racing and will be retrained for a second career with Olympian Phillip Dutton. Ring Weekend, who annexed the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. for trainer Graham Motion in 2015, retires with a record of 8-5-4 from 33 starts and total earnings of $1,571,576. “While Ring Weekend is still sound and competitive, it’s time to hang up his cleats and let him move onto new frontiers,” said West Point president Terry Finley. “The partners and West Point team are forever grateful for him showing up time and time again. He did it the right way for far longer than most of today’s horses. We’re incredibly grateful for Graham and his team for the job they’ve done with him over the past five years and for their role in his transition to a new career.” Ring Weekend won a total of six graded stakes throughout his career. Dutton was part of the partnership that campaigned the gelding on the racetrack. He recently welcomed Ring Weekend to his farm in West Grove, Pennsylvania. “It’s really cool that Phillip [Dutton] was able to be part of Ring’s racing career, and now has him for the next phase of his life,” said Motion. “He’s a special horse who knows he’s a good one, and we’ll miss having him in the barn.” Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway, Ring Weekend was acquired by West Point and Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias for $310,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. View the full article

The Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {GB}) may sadly be out for the season but there were plenty of consolation prizes for Sheikh Mohammed in the week that he celebrated his 69th birthday. Godolphin is currently the leading owner in both Britain and France, where the blue team’s tallies were extended further by four Group winners over the last seven days—two in each of the countries. Charlie Appleby currently sits behind only Aidan O’Brien and John Gosden on the table for leading trainers in Britain, but at 30% he boasts a higher winners-to-runners strike-rate than either of those rivals. Seven winners in the week, including the G2 Bet365 Superlative S. with Quorto (GB), who gave his sire Dubawi (Ire) his 101st Group winner, speaks to the excellent form of Appleby’s Moulton Paddocks team, but Saeed Bin Suroor has also been rallying his troops. Godolphin’s longest-standing trainer sent out five winners last week and had the rare Kodiac (GB) middle-distancer performer Best Solution (Ire) in tiptop shape to win the G2 Princess Of Wales’s Arqana Racing Club S. The 4-year-old, bred by Cecil and Martin McCracken, now looks likely to join stablemate Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) on the plane heading for Melbourne later this year. The French wing of the operation made sure the good run was upheld with consecutive victories at Maisons-Laffitte on Sunday for Gyllen (Medaglia d’Oro) in the G2 Prix Eugene Adam followed by Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G3 Prix Ris-Orangis, the racing completed in time for the football fans to watch France record their second victory in the World Cup, 20 years after the first. Darley’s annual stallion parade is a highlight of Newmarket’s July Week and breeders invited to this year’s event were able to take a closer look at Masar’s Derby trophy while his sire New Approach knocked stablemate Dubawi from his honoured position as the parade closer. The 16-year-old lynchpin of Dalham Hall Stud was the penultimate stallion to take his turn on the lawn, however, while his four-time Group 1-winning son Postponed (Ire) led the parade. Goddess In The Making The only thing that could have enhanced the week for Sheikh Mohammed would have been a win for Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 July Cup, which has been sponsored by his Darley operation for more than 20 years. The G1 King’s Stand S. winner could manage only seventh and instead the trophy went to Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor for US Navy Flag, by War Front, who also sired the third home, Fleet Review, with both colts being out of Galileo (Ire) mares. US Navy Flag’s victory over the admirable Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) was the first leg of a cross-Channel Group 1 double for Aidan O’Brien, who hopped on a plane from Newmarket to Paris along with jockey Ryan Moore to win France’s Bastille day feature, the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, with Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {GB}). Arguably one of the most exciting performances by a Ballydoyle runner last week—certainly the most visually stunning—was that posted by Goddess (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in Thursday’s Leopardstown juvenile maiden. Having found trouble in running on debut on June 29, Goddess was sent straight to the head of affairs by Seamie Heffernan this time around and there she stayed, opening up an ever-greater advantage as the race wore on to score by 10 lengths. The full-sister to the previous weekend’s GI Belmont Oaks victrix Athena (Ire) earned not just ‘TDN Rising Star’ status but also a quote of 16/1 for next year’s QIPCO 1000 Guineas. Daire’s Dream Night It wasn’t only Goddess who was impressive at Leopardstown on Thursday, which also proved to be a red-letter day for young apprentice Daire Davis. Having had just eight previous race rides, the 17-year-old rode his first winner aboard Signing Off (Ire) for his boss Jim Bolger in the second race on the card before leading up the winner of the feature race, Cimeara (Ire) in the G3 Stanerra S. The second success brought up a double on the night not just for Bolger but also for his 12-year-old stallion Vocalised (Vindication), who stands at the trainer-breeder’s Redmondstown Stud. The victory of Signing Off, who won at odds of 25/1, prompted Bolger to comment that it was the “coolest ride of the year”. High praise indeed from the man who has also had such famous names as Aidan O’Brien and Sir AP McCoy among his band of past apprentices. Champion SItting Pretty Silvestre de Sousa parted company with Godolphin back in 2014 but bounced back in typically determined fashion to become champion jockey in Britain the following year before regaining that title in 2017. The Brazilian hasn’t taken his foot off the gas this season either—or at least his driver hasn’t. By motoring all over the country, usually to two meetings a day, de Sousa is currently 20 wins ahead of his nearest pursuer Danny Tudhope in the Flat Jockeys’ Championship, which runs in tandem with the QIPCO Champions Series, from Guineas weekend to Champions Day. He appears to be happy to graft away at both major and minor tracks but it remains a woeful scenario that a jockey of his calibre is often not a first call-up for Group races. In the past week, de Sousa has ridden seven winners and has had his mounts in the first three on a further 11 occasions. It was pleasing to see that one of these triumphs was in the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. aboard the Michael Bell-trained Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who now shares top billing in the 1000 Guineas ante-post market with Goddess. Being in the vanguard certainly helped Bill and Tim Gredley’s homebred in that she wasn’t caught up in the melee that ensued behind her as Angel’s Hideaway (Ire) veered sharply across to the stands’ rail when coming under pressure two furlongs from home, hampering first Chicas Amigas (Ire) then Main Edition (Ire) and La Pelosa (Ire). Even without such a skirmish, Pretty Pollyanna would still surely have been an impressive winner. Angel’s Hideaway’s jockey Frankie Dettori was handed a 10-day suspension for careless riding, which will rule him out of the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. as well as Glorious Goodwood, meaning he will potentially miss rides on Stradivarius (Ire) in the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup and Without Parole (GB) in the G1 Qatar Sussex S. unless the appeal he lodged on Monday is successful. Should he remain stood down, owners and trainers could do worse than look to de Sousa as a replacement. Cup Breeders Recognised By VRC The Melbourne Cup, which is now sponsored by Lexus, was ‘on tour’ in Britain last week along with VRC Chairman Amanda Elliott and it touched down in Newmarket for Darley July Cup day on Saturday before heading to Overbury Stud in Gloucestershire on Sunday for a photo call with Sheikh Fahad Al Thani’s 2011 winner Dunaden (Fr). While at Newmarket’s July Course, Elliott made a special presentation to the breeders of the last two winners of the Melbourne Cup—Almandin (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) and Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}). Peter Stanley accepted the trophy on behalf of Almandin’s breeder, Germany’s oldest Thoroughbred stud, Gestut Schlenderhan, but the entire Pocock family had travelled from Somerset to receive the trophy for Rekindling, whom they bred from the now 20-year-old mare Sitara (GB) (Salse {GB}), a daughter of the Fittocks Stud matriarch Souk (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}). “The journey to the Melbourne Cup begins with the breeders and it is important for us to recognise that,” said Elliott as she handed over miniature replicas of the Cup. Young Esme Pocock, daughter of Nick and grand-daughter of Robert, who have made a successful transition from dairy cattle to Thoroughbreds at their family-run Stringston Farm, clutched the trophy on her first visit to the races while her father confirmed that Sitara foaled a three-parts brother to Rekindling this year, by Toronado (Ire). The Cup tour also stopped in at Ed Dunlop’s La Grange Stables and to the National Stud to visit Trip To Paris (Ire). Dunlop came agonisingly close to Cup glory with his five-time challenger Red Cadeaux (GB) and could be represented in this year’s race by another Ronnie Arculli-owned horse, the 5-year-old G2 Hardwicke S. runner-up Red Verdon (Lemon Drop Kid). Dunlop also trains Almandin’s 2-year-old half-brother by Tertullian for OTI Racing. From Dubai To Sweden Via Jamaica The Norwegian-trained and French-bred Nordic Defense landed Sunday’s Swedish Derby at Jagerso and was yet another good 3-year-old winner this season for breeder Ecurie des Monceaux and partners following the likes of Intellogent (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) and Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Niels Petersen had sent the son of Makfi (GB) to Dubai over the winter, where the trainer had previously enjoyed success with Beat Baby (Ire), a winner at the Carnival in 2015. Nordic Defense managed a runner-up finish in listed company at Meydan. Jagersro’s big day also featured the six-furlong G3 Zawawi Cup, in which I Kirk (Swe) routed his rivals by five lengths. The 4-year-old is a son Eishin Dunkirk (Mr Prospector), who stands at Ivan and Berit Sjoberg’s Ravdansens Stuteri, the subject of a recent TDN feature by Amie Karlsson. I Kirk—one leg of a treble on the day for trainer Susanne Berneklint and, more remarkably, one of six winners for jockey Carlos Lopez—wasn’t the only success story celebrated by the Sjobergs this week. On Thursday, Jamaica (Swe) became the first runner and first winner for their young stallion Barocci (JPN) (Deep Impact {JPN}). The Wildenstein-bred full-brother to G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Beauty Parlour (GB) was a listed winner and Group/Graded-placed in France and America, and he has fewer than 20 foals in his first crop. View the full article

Almond Lee’s training career in Hong Kong is officially over after his application for a licence was rejected on Monday. The 53-year-old had to front the Jockey Club’s Licensing Committee for a “show cause” hearing to state his case as to why he should get a licence after missing the performance criteria for the third time, falling one short of the 16-win benchmark. Lee faced an uphill battle to keep his licence – none of the previous six trainers who made... View the full article

Los Alamitos Race Course saw increased daily overall handle during its 2018 summer meet, which concluded July 15, and also saw minor gains from the new format of its Pick 4 wagers. View the full article

Trainer Blaine Wright had a standout day on a stakes-heavy card at Emerald Downs July 15, highlighted by a 10 1/2-length romp by John Maryanski, Janene Maryanski, and Riverband Farm's Baja Sur in the $50,000 King County Express Stakes. View the full article

Horses' test results July 14 & 16 View the full article

Rodd, CC Wong suspended View the full article

Trainer Chad Brown won his third consecutive Belmont Park spring/summer individual meet title, while Irad Ortiz Jr. captured the riding title for the first time since 2014 as the 54-day meet concluded July 15. View the full article

Ivan Dalos’s homebred Gamble’s Ghost (Ghostzapper) was tabbed a ‘TDN Rising Star’ nearly three years ago in an eye-catching debut win at Woodbine, and on Sunday she registered her fifth career graded stakes victory with a dramatic rallying score in the GIII Ontario Matron S. at the Toronto oval. It was the second consecutive win for the 5-year-old mare, who won the GIII Trillium S. over an identical local trip June 17. Settling off the pace towards the back of the pack behind measured fractions of :24.65 and :50.21, the dark bay angled four wide to commence her rally on the far turn and was left with all but one rival to pass at the head of the lane. She shifted out further to the center of the course in search of a clear path once straightened out for the drive and uncorked a strong, sustained rally to forge past Let It Ride Mom (Into Mischief) and claim the win. Gamble’s Ghost has now won graded stakes at Woodbine in four consecutive years–a streak that began with a third-out score in the GIII Mazarine S. In 2015. She followed with a win in the GIII Selene S. in May 2016 and found the winner’s circle in the GIII Maple Leaf S. traveling 10 furlongs last November. She returned from a winter layup with an even third-place effort in a May 21 no conditions allowance event and used that race as a successful springboard to her tally in the Trillium last month. Pedigree Notes: Dalos acquired Gamble’s Ghost’s dam Gambling Girl for $8,029 as a yearling at the 1994 Canadian Breeders Yearlings Sale and the mare went on to capture the 1996 La Prevoyante S. in his colors. In addition to MSP Purrfect Bluff (Lion Heart), she is also responsible for Forest Gamble (Forest Wildcat), herself the dam of last term’s Victoria S. winner Blueblood (City Zip). The winner’s second dam Dawn’s Deputy is a half-sister to Group 1 winner and successful dual-Hemisphere sire Bluebird (Storm Bird). Sunday, Woodbine ONTARIO MATRON S.-GIII, C$140,400, Woodbine, 7-15, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m (AWT), 1:44.88, ft. 1–GAMBLE’S GHOST, 124, m, 5, by Ghostzapper 1st Dam: Gambling Girl (SW, $209,073), by Secret Claim 2nd Dam: Dawn’s Deputy, by Deputy Minister 3rd Dam: Ivory Dawn, by Sir Ivor ‘TDN Rising Star‘ O-Ivan Dalos; B-Tall Oaks Farm (ON); T-Josie Carroll; J-Eurico Rosa Da Silva. C$90,000. Lifetime Record: 19-9-3-1, $721,560. *1/2 to Purrfect Bluff (Lion Heart), MSP, $368,944. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2—Let It Ride Mom, 119, f, 4, Into Mischief–Golden Marlin, by Marlin. ($77,000 Ylg ’15 KEESEP; $375,000 2yo ’16 OBSMAR). O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Tim Thornton, Robert Watt, Doug Glass & Greg Foley (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. C$25,000. 3–My Arch Enemy, 118, f, 4, Arch–City Fair, by Carson City. ($90,000 2yo ’16 OBSAPR). O-Gary Barber; B-Scott & Evan Dilworth (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. C$12,500. Margins: NK, 1, HD. Odds: 2.25, 3.30, 7.00. Also Ran: Malibu Bonnie, Sister Nation, Moonlit Promise, Just Be Kind, Daddy’s Great Bay, Grizzel (Ire). Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

With a four-wide rally in the stretch, Gamble's Ghost closed from next to last to win the $125,000 Ontario Matron Stakes (G3) on Woodbine's all-weather track. View the full article

As the racing circuit in Southern California moves to its southernmost point, overflow fields and quality turf racing will greet fans and gamblers during the first two days of Del Mar's summer meet. View the full article

Trainer Chad Brown won his third consecutive Belmont Park spring/summer training title, while Irad Ortiz, Jr. captured the riding title for the first time since 2014 as the 54-day meet concluded Sunday. Michael Dubb was the meet’s leading owner with 19 victories and earnings of more than $2.34 million. Brown, the New York Racing Association’s leading trainer for the last three years from 2015-17, saddled 34 winners from 156 starts for an impressive 21.79 winning percentage with earnings exceeding $4.53 million. Ortiz, Jr. registered 60 wins with earnings of more than $5.54 million, besting his brother, Jose Ortiz, and Manny Franco, who tied for second with 49 wins. View the full article

Albaugh Family Stables’s GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity winner Free Drop Billy (Union Rags) could be pointed to GI Secretariat S. on turf at Arlington Park Aug. 11, trainer Dale Romans said Sunday. Free Drop Billy’s dam is the Giant’s Causeway mare Trensa, making him a half-brother to dual turf Group 1 winner Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy). Free Drop Billy was last seen finishing seventh in the wake of Triple Crown-winning ‘TDN Rising Star’ Justify (Scat Daddy) in the June 9 GI Belmont S. “He’s got a chance of running there,” Romans said. “His half-brother is one of the best grass horses in the world and we’ve been wanting to try him on grass.” Romans previously captured the Secretariat in 2004 with Kitten’s Joy (El Prado {Ire}) and in 2010 with Paddy O’Prado (El Prado {Ire}). View the full article

MAIDEN BEAUTY (f, 2, Revolutionary–Alpha Charlie, by Eddington), bidding to become her first-crop sire’s first winner (by War Pass), became Revolutionary’s first stakes winner while she was at it with a 22-1 upset in Sunday’s featured Lynnbrook S. for New York-bred juvenile fillies at Belmont. Tugging her way up top midpack in between foes early, the bay was shuffled towards the back of the pack into the turn. She came on again to split foes into the lane, and was guided out into the clear by Joel Rosario as they straightened. She leveled off nicely in midstretch, and kicked away to a three-length success from much more fancied fellow firster Tossup (Pioneerof the Nile) under the line. A $15,000 FTNMIX weanling, Maiden Beauty was picked up for $40,000 at OBS April after a :10 3/5move. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Pines Stables, John J. Irwin, Paul Zysset & Sam Arci. B-Sandy Glenn Stables LLC (Ky). T-Gary C Contessa. View the full article

The 2017/18 Hong Kong racing season ended on Sunday with overall turnover of HK$124.2 billion, up 5.8% from the 2016/17 season. On the final day of the season which was attended by 31,903 people, Sunday’s turnover was HK$1.938 billion, the highest ever for an 11-race card, with commingling a new record at HK$335 million. Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said:,”We are delighted with another record season, one of our most exciting seasons both on and off the track. As well as great sport today, we also had record turnover for an 11-race meeting, despite receiving 35 millimetres of rain, and that shows the enthusiasm for our product. Our total gross margin of HK$5.48 billion is an increase of 6.3%. Our contribution as Hong Kong’s biggest taxpayer once again topped HK$13 billion for the second time, demonstrating the importance of racing to the Hong Kong community.” One of the biggest areas of growth was due to the HKJC’s position as a global commingling hub, which saw total wagering with commingling partners reach HK$16.5 billion, up 154.8% compared to last year’s figures. Simulcasting turnover also increased, with Hong Kong bettors wagering HK$3.94 billion on races from abroad, an increase of 12% on the previous season. “Commingling is quickly changing the global landscape and that is seen in the fact that it made up 13.3% of our season’s turnover this year compared to 5.5% last year,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “This trend comes at a time when our customers are showing a greater appreciation for international racing. The time is right for us to launch our World Pool concept, beginning with Royal Ascot next year, which will offer a strong value proposition to customers in the UK and Hong Kong, and further strengthen our position as the international hub of commingling.” View the full article

Charlie Appleby has come to terms with Masar's forced absence from the second half of the season and is looking forward to his return in 2019 for a campaign the trainer hopes will include the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). View the full article

On Saturday morning, while preparing to write this column (admittedly, “procrastinating” might be the more accurate descriptor), I fired up my online wagering account and took a glance at the schedule of tracks slated to race that day. Even though this past weekend represented a lull in terms of A-level competition while the nation awaits premier-meet Opening Days at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (Wednesday) and Saratoga Race Course (Friday), the menu of offerings was still quite robust. No fewer than 39 Thoroughbred tracks were on the July 14 docket, starting with Gulfstream Park at 12:45 p.m. and extending all the way through to the under-the-lights finale at Crooked River Roundup in Oregon, which in my Eastern time zone wrapped up just after 3:00 a.m. That’s a solid 14-hour block of betting product. But the part of the North American simulcast schedule that really jumped out at me was the section of the time grid that was blank: The morning hours–plus an additional three-quarters of an hour after noon. Let’s be realistic. It’s 2018. The competition for wagering dollars in the United States is at an unprecedented level of intensity. The tidal wave of legalized sports betting is just beginning to form, and no one knows if Thoroughbred wagering will get swept away or be buoyed by its wake. Even within our industry, the battle for betting bucks is hardly optimized: The Jockey Club commissioned a study last year that estimated the sport loses $400 million annually because of conflicting and overlapping post times. It’s been decades since the bulk of horse-race betting was driven by on-track attendees, and some tracks already schedule live racing in non-traditional late afternoon and early evening time slots to maximize simulcast exposure. Is the racing industry so beholden to “the way things have always been done” that not a single iconoclast track wants to carve out an only-game-in-town niche by filling that mid/late-morning gap where zero U.S. Thoroughbred betting product currently exists? The time slot is there for the taking. In real estate, the money-making mantra is “location, location, location.” The equivalent in simulcasting–if you’re not a top track on the totem pole–is “timing, timing, timing.” To be clear, I’m not talking about committing to morning racing every single day, nor am I advocating ridiculously early first posts. But what about an experiment that involves a concentrated, three-hour, simulcast-centric card starting at 10:00 a.m. leading into Saratoga when the nation’s showcase meet is in session? With the exception of the three Triple Crown race dates and the Breeders’ Cup, those seven Saratoga Saturdays in late July through early September represent the most lucrative mornings of the year when customers are likely to be dialed in for a day of simulcast betting, presumably with newly topped-off, start-of-the-day bankrolls. Surely, more than a few of them would appreciate the opportunity for some pre-Spa action–think of it as offering a betting appetizer to an audience that extends across the continent. Although recent history is dotted with occasional morning racing programs on holidays or for special events, no track has made a serious, concentrated effort to claim the mid/late-morning time slot and brand itself as a player-centric track. The most illustrative example I can come up with dates to Suffolk Downs in 1996 (I was a member of the track’s publicity staff at the time). On a Wednesday in March when no other U.S. racetrack was running, Suffolk beamed out a morning program that dovetailed with the running of the inaugural G1 Dubai World Cup. The result was a $2.35 million handle, then a track record. You can retrofit that strategy to reflect the looming legality of sports wagering. In eight weeks football season will be in full swing. As more and more brick-and-mortar sports books come online at existing racetracks, there will be a crush of customers showing up on Saturdays and Sundays to wager on games that start as early as noon Eastern. Under the existing national simulcast schedule, no track will be offering a Thoroughbred product until those games are well into their second quarters–another missed opportunity to offer a complementary option that could stand out simply because of its timing. What does some ambitious, out-of-the-box track management have to lose by trying a mid/late-morning first post on a “loaded” summer Saturday? Nothing more than the not-so-appealing distinction of being one of those 30-something tracks that comprise an indistinct, background betting blur when Saratoga and Del Mar are in session. Sophs Showcased A pair of derbies at Los Alamitos Race Course and Indiana Grand showcased 3-year-olds over the weekend, with each race won in come-from-behind fashion by a margin of a head. The GIII Los Alamitos Derby, won by ‘TDN Rising Star’ Once On Whiskey (Bodemeister), featured the shorter field (five horses). But it rated as a slightly more difficult spot on paper than the GIII Indiana Derby (nine entrants), which was captured by Axelrod (Warrior’s Reward). A common key race (the June 10 GIII Affirmed S. at Santa Anita Park) factored in both close finishes, underscoring that the quartet of one-two horses from both races might not be too far apart, talent-wise. Axelrod rebounded with a win at Indiana Grand after being the runner-up in the Affirmed, while Draft Pick (Candy Ride {Arg}), the Affirmed winner, was second at Los Alamitos. Once On Whiskey appeared disengaged from the action while four wide and last behind a moderate tempo in the early going of the Los Al Derby. Draft Pick, meanwhile, did the dirty work, pressuring odds-on pacemaker Ax Man (Misremembered) into submission before swatting away a long-shot challenge from King Cause (Creative Cause). “Whiskey” still looked like he wouldn’t be able to reel in Draft Pick until well into the final sixteenth though, but this is where the long Los Al stretch played to his advantage over nine furlongs, as a head-bobbing finish triggered a close photo for the victory. At Indiana Grand, Axelrod executed his winning rally by essentially making two moves. He settled willingly and dropped over the rail as entering the clubhouse bend of the 1 1/16 miles race, then contentedly tracked the action while next to last down the backstretch run (but only about seven lengths off the lead). He was cued to quicken three-eighths out, picked up decent momentum fanning four wide into the stretch, then seemed to settle into a one-paced bid behind the admirably overachieving frontrunner Trigger Warning (Candy Ride {Arg}). But when Florent Geroux again roused Axelrod for run just outside the furlong pole, the colt noticeably re-rallied and clicked into another gear, motoring home on the outside to gun down Trigger Warning. Third-place finisher Title Ready (More Than Ready), who forced the issue five wide on both turns yet was beaten by under two lengths, could be the horse to watch from the Indiana Derby. View the full article

After a thrilling end-of-season duel between jockeys Zac Purton and three-time Hong Kong champion jockey Joao ‘Magic Man’ Moreira, the former held a two-win advantage as the curtain fell on the final day of the Hong Kong season. Purton edged Moreira with 136 victories versus the Brazilian’s 134. Purton took the lead on June 10, and, although Moreira made up some late ground to narrow the deficit, Purton’s score with Rise High (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire})-formerly Landfall in his native land–in the Class 1 Sha Tin Mile Trophy H. over 1600 metres sealed his victory on Sunday, four years after his first jockeys’ championship. Moreira is on the move to Japan next season. “It’s been a long, damp day,” Purton told the HKJC’s Andrew Hawkins, as he returned to the jockeys’ room in the moments after claiming victory. “It’s good to finally put it to bed, it’s a relief. Joao’s a fierce competitor and we both gave it our absolute all. It’s what everyone expected, that it would come down to the last four races, and I feel like I can finally enjoy the rest of the day now that it’s over.” Trainer John Size was the leading trainer for the 10th time on Sunday, with 87 wins, 22 to the good of trainer Frankie Lor. Derek Leung was named the Tony Cruz Award winner for the second consecutive year, as the leading homegrown rider. Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) became the Most Admired Overseas Horse one year after her first title. Racing in Hong Kong will resume on Sunday, Sept. 2. View the full article

Godolphin’s G1 Investec Derby hero Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) will miss the remainder of the season due to injury, but will return to the races as a 4-year-old. The chestnut was ruled out of the G1 Coral-Eclipse S. on the eve of the race with a leg injury and investigations have been ongoing ever since. Veterinary advice is for the colt to have two months of rest and trainer Charlie Appleby feels it would be too much of a rush to bring him back for autumn targets. “We re-scanned him yesterday [Saturday] evening and after discussions with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed he was keen to see him stay in training, so we felt to give him the best chance next year we would give him the rest of this season off,” said Appleby. “He’s going to miss eight weeks now anyway and you can’t get a lead into championship race, i.e the Arc, by missing this much time so if we wanted him to run as a 4-year-old we felt he would have the best opportunity by giving him the rest of the season off. He’s a substantial colt anyway, there’s a chance there’s more to come and going into his 4-year-old season he takes the best mile-and-a-half form.” The 2017 G3 Solario S. hero, third in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in early May, also won the G3 Craven S. there in April. He went on, “After the [G1] Irish Derby, some were crabbing the Epsom form, but since the Eclipse and Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) winning the [G1] Grand Prix de Paris last night, it looks an awful lot better. The two races of interest are the Champion S. and the Arc, but it would be a push to get to those races and we’ve decided to do what is best for the horse and give him all the time he needs. The races we’ll be looking at next year are the Coronation Cup, the King George and the Arc.” View the full article

Clodagh Kavanagh collects islands. Of the 26 inhabited ones around the coast of Ireland, she has visited 25. It isn’t hard to see why she should savour the peace, the remoteness, the detachment from a lifestyle that has given her a chronic aversion to airports. But you recall what the poet said: no man is an island entire of itself; every man is part of the continent. And there are 165 young people out there who can testify that this infectiously dynamic woman is the embodiment, not of isolation, but of integration. As course manager at Godolphin Flying Start since its inception, 15 years ago, she has fostered the personal and professional development of a generation of leaders-in-waiting. But if the course serves to fill the empty strands of potential with a royal blue tide of opportunity, buoying trainees to one eye-opening new horizon after another, its success does not depend merely on personal attributes–whether their own, or those of their leader. There has to be ethos that transcends both. That the trainees have talent is a given; likewise, the honing of that talent into something that will profit the industry. Kavanagh’s priority, beyond all that, is to inculcate a deeper identity; a collective sense of what holds the whole programme together. “It is a bubble, this beautiful life for two years,” Kavanagh says. “But I try to keep the values and ethics of a commercial entity. I tell them: ‘You’re privileged, you’re ambitious, you’re going to aim for the stars. But keep your feet on the ground. You may have all these talents, and done all this travel, but without the work ethic to back it up you won’t progress and you won’t be fulfilled.'” With privilege comes responsibility. Those who have grafted their way through the industry without such a fabulous leg-up must never be given the excuse to resent any kind of “gilded youth” entitlement. “It’s like going out with a huge budget and buying the top 12 yearlings in the sale,” Kavanagh explains. “You buy them because they look good, they’ve great pedigrees, they walk well, and seem to have great temperaments. But what’s in here?” She taps her temple. “So we have a very thorough process for trying to determine the right people. We get 100 applications every year, and the CVs can look pretty much the same: they will have a good academic background, they will have worked for some good people, they’ll have all the stuff we look for. It’s character that’s important. That’s really what we are testing for, or observing, in those interviews; the character we feel can not only thrive on the programme, but also thrive and do well in the Thoroughbred business. So we’re not just looking for straight As.” Because, paradoxically, the strongest type of character is often disclosed by a willingness to expose some inner weakness or doubt. That is seldom easy, when you are constantly being told how fortunate you are; or when you feel the unremitting gaze of the sport’s global village on your eligibility. “I think there’s often a weight on their shoulders,” Kavanagh says. “This sense that you are the chosen ones. Those 12 people definitely feel they are in a bit of a fishbowl. And it can be very difficult to learn if you feel you have to be perfect the whole time. To learn, you have to be able to make mistakes.” “So I’d be a big proponent of saying to them: ‘Look, you are incredibly privileged-and not just because of Flying Start. Look at you: you’re healthy, you’ve had a good education, you’re bright, you have a passion in life. How many people at 23 or 24 can say they have all of that?’ But they also need to know that this is a safe place to express themselves, to make mistakes, to test out things.” “Because if you want to be a leader in the long term, which is what we’re looking for, you need to have that confidence to make a mistake; admit it, apologise, show your vulnerabilities. When you look at some of these CVs, there’s talent all through it. They’re not just good academically: they’ve been good sportspeople, they’re musicians, they’re good at anything they turn their hand to. And people like that can find it hardest to learn. Because everything’s been easy. They don’t actually want to admit something’s hard, don’t want to struggle. So I often find, the first three months of my regime, there’s a lot of home truths.” Kavanagh wants trainees to understand that it’s okay to get a ‘C’ in, say, lungeing a horse. Because it they stick at it, work up to a ‘B’, the confidence gained from overcoming unfamiliar adversity runs far deeper than any they can derive from slick use of innate gifts. “There is another school of thought that if you keep getting things right, keep being successful, you’ll get confident,” Kavanagh says. “And you will–outwardly. But inwardly there’ll always be that doubt: what if the brick wall comes along? I want someone who knows that they can get over it, if something happens.” In the end, after all, many of the challenges to be overcome are elementary, human ones, typical of any maturing personality exposed to a new environment. Kavanagh came to Flying Start after impressing in a similar role at RACE, the apprentice school on The Curragh. On the face of it, it was a huge change of culture. Previously resources had been so threadbare that decision-making tended to demand half toughness, half improvisation. Every victory was hard won, and her charges sometimes had to overcome extremely challenging social backgrounds. In her new role, Kavanagh was dealing with highfliers who might very well succeed even without this extra lift-off. “But after two or three years I sat back and thought about it and realised that the two were not that different really,” she says. “They’re coming to me here for the same mentor discussions, the same coaching or career direction, exactly the same doubts and concerns and worries.” There will, inevitably, be personal issues: family, relationships, mental or emotional health. Kavanagh is comfortable with all that, and hopes that any trainee would come to her with any problem. But there can sometimes be a different kind of temperament failure. In the history of the programme, there have been three dismissals. “It’s very clear there are negotiables and non-negotiables,” Kavanagh says. “That’s the toughest thing you have to do, because it’s going to be incredibly hard for them and their family and for the rest of the team that’s losing them. We choose people because we want them to be happy and fulfilled.” Some level of maturity is guaranteed by almost invariably insisting on some experience of living away from home, ideally in another country. Typically recruits will be in their mid-twenties. A grounding of that kind has other benefits, besides knocking off a few immature edges: with luck, graduates will not have to retreat all the way back to square one for their first jobs. Even so, they will inevitably have to wait for the kind of leadership opportunities they have been trained for. “I think that depends on the individual and what they want to end up doing,” Kavanagh says. “If you go and work for a trainer, for instance, there’ll be the trainer and a head lad and an assistant and everyone else; and you have to be ‘everyone else.’ I think they understand that. They want to progress quickly but won’t be afraid of hard work. I hope they all have the humility and work ethic and practical understanding to accept they may have to start at the bottom.” None will be left in any doubt as to their essential good fortune. Kavanagh herself belongs to a generation that had to improvise their own apprenticeships. She has loved horses since given a first pony at 10. (“We didn’t realise but it turned out he was a racing pony. I was always at the front of the hunt–and he wasn’t a great jumper!”) During an agricultural science degree at University College Dublin, she did a summer internship in Kentucky with the Eaton-Williams sales agency and helped to sell a Danzig yearling who became dual Group 1 winner Shaadi. After that Kavanagh continued to broaden her horizons, and rode Better Loosen Up (Aus)–winner of the Japan Cup the following year–every day when working for the Hayes family in Melbourne. She also worked on a variety of leading farms in Australasia and back in Ireland. “I did what you should do, I suppose,” she shrugs. “I surrounded myself with great people and listened to them. But it wasn’t strategic. It was just lucky. I tell my trainees to be strategic because you might not always be lucky. You might end up with the wrong people, learning the wrong things, and end up in the wrong place.” Somehow that doesn’t seem terribly likely, so long as they have Kavanagh to assist navigation. If ever she feels her race is run at Flying Start, of course, its success would qualify her as a walking nerve centre of global industry pacemakers for a generation to come. For now, however, she is enjoying the evolution of her role along with that of the course overall. “Flying Start is very well structured, I have a very good assistant and co-ordinators, there’s a lot of momentum really,” she says. “My role is more maintaining contact with industry people, seeing what’s needed, and making sure our people are coming out ready to fill the kind of gaps–be it in technology, creativity, whatever–we can expect in five or 10 years’ time.” Kavanagh stresses her gratitude to the trustees who put their shoulders to the Flying Start wheel; and is especially indebted to the guidance and support of Joe Osborne. But the benign presence behind them all is, of course, Sheikh Mohammed. In meeting high achievers from other walks of life–she is currently making time to pursue a Masters in leadership and business, back at UCD–Kavanagh has been struck by their astonishment on learning about the genesis and funding of Flying Start. “Without the support and resources of Sheikh Mohammed, this would never have happened or continue,” she emphasises. “It’s an amazing commitment. On my Masters programme nobody can believe that this man has been pumping money into Flying Start for 15 years and that hardly any of them work for him. ‘What’s he getting out of it?’ they ask.” “These people are at the top of their industries and it appears that no other industry has a leader doing something as significant as this. Yes, they may be doing charitable works. But I am amazed it hasn’t been replicated in other industries: a scholarship to find the best, train them and send them back out into those industries and really lead change. And a lot of people do say that this will be his greatest legacy.” View the full article

A career that shaped with such promise a little more than a year ago, but which had subsequently bottomed out was resurrected once and for all Sunday when Jupiter Gold (Aus) (Congrats) parlayed a perfect trip into a clear-cut success in the S$1.15-million Emirates Singapore Derby at Kranji Racecourse. The second favorite at just under 6-1, Jupiter Gold showed decent speed from the gate and landed in a good spot down on the inside and in the slipstream of Elite Invincible (Ire) (Archarcharch), who was looking to become the first to complete a sweep of the 4-year-old series. Olivier Placais allowed Jupiter Gold to get right on to the back of the favourite with a little less than a half-mile to race, but it was Elite Invincible who laid down the first marker, as he cruised up to lead at the top of the lane looking every bit a winner. At that stage, Jupiter Gold looked a bit one-paced and Lim’s Magic (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) tried to muscle his way between that pair, but Jupiter Gold dispelled any rumour that he wouldn’t see out the 1800 metres and stayed on best of all for the victory. Elite Invincible battled on gamely to hold off Lim’s Magic for second, while Only Win (Tribal Rule) hit the line hard in fourth. A 2-year-old of obvious talent, Jupiter Gold went on a four-race win skein last season, but despite some placings in the 3-year-old ‘Classics,’ fell on hard times. Cut back to 1200m for a Kranji A Stakes in June, the penny dropped yet again, and although he’d finished third to Elite Invincible in the June 24 Charity Bowl (1600m), he’d rediscovered his best form, good enough to give Hideyuki Takaoka a third win in the race (Jolie’s Shinju, 2009; Better Life, 2013). “I’m very happy Jupiter Gold won the Derby. He’s finally shown he was still the good horse we always believed he was,” the Japanese ex-pat said. “The owners and myself have been frustrated with his loss of form, but he’s come back in form this year and to cap it all off, he is now a Derby winner.” Pedigree Notes: Jupiter Gold’s dam is a daughter of MSW & G1SP Merry Shade and is a half-sister to Shady Stream (Aus) (Archregend), who was responsible for the legendary Takeover Target (Aus) (Celtic Swing {GB}) and his MGSW half-brother Predatory Pricer (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}). Contented, who was purchased for A$90,000 carrying Jupiter Gold at the Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale in 2012, was subsequently knocked down to Chris Phillips in foal to Casino Prince (Aus) for A$30,000 at the 2015 Inglis National Broodmare sale. She produced a colt that subsequently fetched NZ$180,000 at the 2017 NZB Select Yearling Sale. The mare’s current yearling, a colt by Sacred Falls (NZ), made A$140,000 from Bjorn Baker at the NZB Premier Sale this past January. Jupiter Gold is the 31st black-type winner for his sire, who resides at WinStar Farm in the US. Sunday’s Results: EMIRATES SINGAPORE DERBY, S$1,150,000 (£636,183/€720,465/A$1,133,856/US$841,936), Kranji, 7-15, 4yo, 1800mT, 1:46.34, gd. 1–JUPITER GOLD (AUS), 126, g, 4, by Congrats 1st Dam: Contented (Aus), by More Than Ready 2nd Dam: Merry Shade (Aus), by Spectacular Spy 3rd Dam: Parasol (Aus), by Sostenuto (Ity) *1ST STAKES WIN. (A$130,000 Ylg ’15 MMGCYS). O-Jupiter Gold Stable; B-Vinery Stud (Australia) Pty Ltd (NSW); T-Hideyuki Takaoka; J-Olivier Placais; S$684,250. Lifetime Record: 21-8-2-3, S$1,288,010. 2–Elite Invincible (Ire), 126, g, 4, Archarcharch–Dough On the Go, by Bernardini. (150,000gns HRA ’17 TATJUL). O-Elite Performance Stable; B-Mubarak al Naemi; T-Mark Walker; S$244,375. 3–Lim’s Magic (Aus), 126, g, 4, Manhattan Rain (Aus)–Prima Nova (Aus), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). (A$42,000 Ylg ’15 MMNAT). O-Lim’s Stable; B-G Harvey (NSW); T-Stephen Gray; S$123,625. Margins: 1 1/4, NO, HD. Odds: 5.80, 1.80, 20.00. Click for the Singapore Turf Club chart. VIDEO. View the full article