Wandering Eyes

Eight sophomores will race to establish themselves at the top of the 3-year-old turf division in the $100,000 American Derby Stakes (G3T) at Arlington International Racecourse July 7. View the full article

Retired jockey and popular racing analyst Richard Migliore has been named as the recipient of the 2018 ThoroFan Award. “The combination of his riding career and his media presence makes Rich a true ambassador for all racing fans,” said Michael Amo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ThoroFan. Previous recipients of the ThoroFan Award, created to recognize individuals who have contributed to the expansion of the fan base, include Louis and Patrice Wolfson (2013), Cot Campbell (2014), Michael Blowen (2015), Tom Durkin (2016) and Bob Giordano (2017). The Award will be presented to Migliore at the Saratoga Chamber’s “Call to the Post” signature event to be held at the Embassy Suites Diamond Club July 19. View the full article

Coolmore’s Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) seeks redemption in Belmont’s GIII Dwyer S. Saturday after finishing last in the GI Kentucky Derby May 5. Victorious in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last term, the $3 million KEESEP topper captured the Patton S. on the Dundalk synthetic Mar. 9 and made a mockery of the G2 UAE Derby, romping by 18 1/2 lengths in his first try on dirt Mar. 31 to stamp his ticket to Louisville. The Aidan O’Brien pupil failed to fire on the First Saturday in May, but his conditioner is confident he can return to his Meydan form and is pointing the half-brother to fourt-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) to the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic back beneath the Twin Spires in November. O’Brien also saddles Group 2 winner Seahenge (Scat Daddy), last seen finishing seventh in the GIII Pat Day Mile on the Derby undercard. Rugbyman (Tapit) earned the ‘TDN Rising Star’ moniker after his 14-length tour de force in a track-and-trip maiden special weight May 13. The gray missed by a neck last time in the Easy Goer S. here June 9 and adds blinkers for this step up to graded company. “It’s not changing too much and I think it makes sense to keep him there and run him back at a similar distance around one turn,” trainer Graham Motion told the NYRA notes team. “I worry about it a little because he’s taken on a lot quickly, but we obviously like him a lot.” Fellow ‘TDN Rising Star’ Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy) should appreciate this cut back in trip after finishing last of 10 in the GI Belmont S. June 9. A two-time winner at Gulfstream this winter, he was third in the GII Risen Star S. Feb. 17 and scored a gritty victory in the GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 24 prior to finishing 17th in the Run for the Roses. Another runner should relish the cut back to a one-turn mile is Firenze Fire (Posiedon’s Warrior), winner of the track-and-trip GI Champagne S. last year and the one-mile Jerome S. in January. Runner-up in the GIII Withers S. in February, the bay was fourth in both the GIII Gotham S. Mar. 10 and the GII Wood Memorial S. Apr. 7. He was last seen fading to 11th in the Kentucky Derby. View the full article

An impressive group that includes seven graded stakes winners will vie for an upper hand in the division when the 40th running of the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) helps anchor a card that will feature five graded stakes. View the full article

‘TDN Rising Star’ Oscar Performance (Kitten’s Joy–Devine Actress, by Theatrical {Ire}), the three-time Grade I winner who recently kicked off his 4-year-old campaign with a course-record setting performance in Belmont’s GIII Poker S., will retire at the end of the year to stand at Mill Ridge Farm in 2019. The Amerman homebred’s resume includes wins in the 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and 2017 GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. and GI Secretariat S. The full-brother to millionaire Oscar Nominated boasts a record of 12-7-0-1 and earnings of $1,967,632. “Oscar Performance identified himself early that he was a stand out individual and validated that with authority in his two, three and 4-year-old campaigns,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “He is a trainer’s dream, Lasix free, speed, stamina and soundness. Certainly one of the best.” Mill Ridge Farm managing partner Headley Bell added, “We at Mill Ridge are so appreciative to Jerry and John Amerman for the opportunity to stand a stallion with the potential to contribute to the breed like Oscar Performance. Since Diesis and Gone West, we have been waiting for the special horse to carry on from their legacies and believe Oscar Performance has all the qualities to do so. We commend Brian Lynch and his team for managing his career and look forward to him competing the remainder of the year and returning to his birth place, Mill Ridge, to stand stud in 2019.” View the full article

With record high temperatures expected throughout Southern California July 6, Los Alamitos and the California Horse Racing Board are preparing to deal with the potential impact on racing. View the full article

Ellis Park canceled six of its eight scheduled races July 5 because of concern for the safety of horses and riders in the extreme heat and humidity. The call to cancel the rest of the racing program was made after the second race Thursday. View the full article

2.25 Sandown, Cond, £10,000, 2yo, 7fT LINE OF DUTY (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) is the first auction purchase by the sire to race for Godolphin in some time, with 400,000gns being paid for the son of Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) at Tattersalls October. Charlie Appleby saddles the chestnut, whose dam was controversially disqualified from first place in the 2010 G1 1000 Guineas, and he meets another valuable newcomer in King Power Racing’s Fox Tal (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), an Andrew Balding-trained 475,000gns TATOCT half-brother to the MGSW Laaheb (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}). 3.00 Sandown, Cond, £10,000, 2yo, 7fT KING OF COMEDY (IRE) (Kingman {GB}) debuts for owner-breeder Lady Bamford and John Gosden, who combined to capture the 2015 G1 Prix de Diane with his half-sister Star of Seville (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}). Also in the line-up for this second division of a maiden to note is another high-profile King Power purchase Fox Premier (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a 700,000gns TATOCT relative of the Hollywood Turf H.-winning sire Storm Trooper (Diesis {GB}) also representing the Andrew Balding stable. View the full article

After each delivered solid efforts in different graded stakes on the June 9 Belmont Stakes Day card, Limousine Liberal and Whitmore will stay at Belmont Park July 7 to try the $350,000 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (G2). View the full article

Noah From Goa (SAf) (Tiger Ridge), winner of the 2015 G1 Cape Guineas in the colors of Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift (Pty) Ltd., has been relocated to Singapore and is set to make his local debut in a S$125,000 Kranji Stakes ‘A’ over 1200 metres Friday evening. Previously trained by Mike de Kock, the 5-year-old gelding followed his Guineas success with a strong third-place effort behind South African Horses of the Year Legal Eagle (SAf) (Greys Inn) and Legislate (SAf) (Dynasty {SAf}) in the 2016 G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate. Multiple Group 2-placed in Dubai in 2017 when part-owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa, the chestnut returned to this year’s World Cup Carnival and exits a latest third in the G2 Zabeel Mile Feb. 22 (see below). Noah From Goa, who adds blinkers Friday, will race in Singapore for Mary Slack and is now being conditioned by Ricardo Le Grange, who admits that it is a belated start for the chestnut. WATCH: Noah From Goa finishing third in this year’s G2 Zabeel Mile “He was meant to run in the [May 26] Kranji Mile, but the race came too soon and he wasn’t ready for the race,” said Le Grange. “An 1200m race is a bit sharp for him, but it’s also a nice race to start with. I noticed in his trackwork he likes looking at everything, and that’s why we are trying blinkers on him. He had a trial with them [June 26] and he did really well (video), but usually he doesn’t show much in his work. That is not to say I will leave the blinkers on all the time. It’s a learning curve for all of us.” An Rxx graduate of the 2014 Emperor’s Palace National 2-Year-Old Sale, Noah From Goa has won five of his 12 career starts for earnings of US$205,730. Nooresh Juglall has the call from gate four in the sixth of Friday’s eight races at Kranji. View the full article

Now that the Supremes have decided you can basically bet on anything, we thought we’d approach what may be the most contentious bunch of young stallions we have seen in quite some time as a handicapping event. We are talking, of course, of the freshmen sires of 2018 whose first offspring have just completed their midterms with the conclusion of the OBS June Sale June 15. Our task is to lay the odds on how the sires of these youngsters are likely to compete over the long term. We have eschewed the pedigree-only approach, but rather have granted that each of these stallions qualify in some respects on that score. Instead, we have brought to bear some biomechanical and digital data to assist us in our prognostications–and then have split them into three “races” with what we would deem an unbiased Future Book. There are three criteria we used for this bunch: 1) There are 17 stallions in this bunch, 14 of which stand in Kentucky and three in Florida. The Florida sires were included because they scored as well or better than most of the stallions from the Bluegrass. All 17 had a minimum of 15 offspring which breezed (not just entered) in the six major 2-year-old sales: Fasig-Tipton in Florida and Maryland, OBS March, April, and June, and Barretts April. 2) The major data set used detailed how their offspring compared as individuals to all the other 2-year-olds which breezed. The components of this data are included in DataTrack’s BreezeFigs service which is based on breeze time, stride length, and efficiency of angulation. Since 2006, this product has been utilized at sales by buyers and sellers, as well as being offered every day as a handicapping tool at Daily Racing Form‘s website. 3) We also took into consideration the results of our stallion projection tests, which were compiled in 2015 when these horses went to stud. These profiles are based on biomechanical measurements and the probabilities of these stallions siring race efficient foals from books of biomechanically balanced mares. We also took into consideration the biomechanical profiles of more than 150 of their offspring taken at the 2018 sales and the 2017 yearling sales. The 17 stallions are separated into three groups, two based on current stud fees in Kentucky ($10,000 is the dividing line), and the third for the Florida stallions. They are listed below in Future Book order with a comment or two along the way. Group 1 (Stud fee = $10,000 and above, Kentucky) 5-to-2 Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile) 5-to-2 Strong Mandate (Tiznow) 6-to-1 Will Take Charge (Unbridled’s Song) 6-to-1 Verrazano (More Than Ready) 8-to-1 Fed Biz (Giant’s Causeway) 10-to-1 Goldencents (Into Mischief) 10-to-1 Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) 10-to-1 Noble Mission (GB) (Galileo-Ire) Comment: Cairo Prince and Strong Mandate are virtually tied in all biomechanical data sets, and their offspring were strong on breeze and stride data. Neither is likely to get a lot of precocity, but by autumn they should have strong and versatile records. Verrazano and Will Take Charge are also virtually tied on breeze and stride length data, but Verrazano may be able to come closer to his sire’s versatility than Will Take Charge versus his sire. Fed Biz’s offspring are likely to come out early, emulate his record as a miler–and they resembled him more closely than those by all other sires in this crop–a good thing. Goldencents may get a lot of early runners, Mucho Macho Man’s not likely to hit stride until late autumn, and the Noble Mission bunch are probably going to need the turf to show their best. Group 2 (Stud fee = below $10,000, Kentucky) 9-to-5 Flashback (Tapit) 4-to-1 Shakin It Up (Midnight Lute) 6-to-1 Cross Traffic (Unbridled’s Song) 10-to-1 Can the Man (Into Mischief) 10-to-1 Itsmyluckyday (Lawyer Ron) 12-to-1 Revolutionary (War Pass) Comment: Flashback’s sire profile is strong-however, they didn’t excite as yearlings. They woke up this year with breeze and stride data that would have placed him tied at the top of Group I. Shakin It Up was another who came out of the woodwork with consistent performers and most looked like him, which is good. Can the Man and Itsmyluckyday have strong sire profiles, and their 2-year-olds were basically even across the board but may need some time. Revolutionary had only 15 that breezed at the sales and they did fairly well, but they may take some time to come around. Group 3 (Florida) 6-to-5 Handsome Mike (Scat Daddy) 5-to-2 He’s Had Enough (Tapit) 6-to-1 Drill (Lawyer Ron) Comment: Handsome Mike has a very good sire profile and his 2-year-olds were fast and had solid breeze and stride stats-he isn’t his sire, but he looks mighty tempting. He’s Had Enough impressed enough to give this sire a chance for a couple of decent performers at two. Drill was a major surprise and, as one of two sons of Lawyer Ron in our computations, could continue the startling success of his sire in the Sunshine State, and perhaps beyond. Place your bets! Bob Fierro is a partner with Jay Kilgore and Frank Mitchell in DataTrack International, biomechanical consultants and developers of BreezeFigs. He can be reached at bbfq@earthlink.net. View the full article

‘TDN Rising Star’ Analyze It (Point of Entry) looks to return to winning ways in Saturday’s $1,000,000 Belmont Derby after losing his perfect record by a neck to Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) last time in Belmont’s GIII Pennine Ridge S. June 2. A dazzling debut winner in Elmont in October, Analyze It followed suit with decisive victories in the GIII Cecil B. Demille S. at Del Mar Nov. 26 and the GIII Translyvania S. at Keeneland Apr. 6. Stalking Catholic Boy throughout the early stages of the Pennine Ridge, the bay overtook his rival in the stretch and attempted to shake loose, but Catholic Boy determinedly re-rallied to post a narrow upset. “I thought he ran into a really good horse in Catholic Boy in the Pennine Ridge,” Chad Brown told the NYRA notes team. “He ran very well. Our horse had no excuse. He might’ve had a little time between races where I could’ve had him a little better. It’s not an excuse, he had every chance to win, but I believe this horse can move forward now that he has some recent fitness in him.” Winner of the grassy GIII With Anticipation S. last term, Catholic Boy spent the first half of his sophomore season on the dirt after closing out 2017 with a dominant score in the GII Remsen S. on the Aqueduct main track in December. Runner-up in the GIII Sam F. Davis S., the Jonathan Thomas pupil finished a lackluster fourth in the GI Florida Derby Mar. 31, after which he was successfully switched back to the turf in the Pennine Ridge. “We were really proud of his effort,” said Thomas. “Javier [Castellano] was able to execute a plan we had put together in the paddock at the last minute, and we were thrilled with the result. Analyze It is a nice horse. Obviously, it was an oddly run race, and the verdict is still out on where [Catholic Boy] will be positioned [in the Belmont Derby]. He’s a mentally relaxed horse and everything we see from him in the mornings and afternoons makes me think he’ll appreciate the distance.” Hawkish (Artie Schiller) was tabbed a ‘TDN Rising Star’ after making an eye-catching late run to graduate in his career bow at Gulfstream Jan. 6. Fourth next out to the re-oppposing Maraud (Blame) in the GIII Palm Beach S. Mar. 3, the gelding returned to winning ways in an Apr. 15 Aqueduct optional claimer and charged home a three-length victor in last time in the June 2 GII Penn Mile, which has produced three Grade I winners in its six years in existence, including Belmont Derby hero Force the Pass (Speightstown) and GI Belmont Oaks heroine Catch a Glimpse (City Zip). “We know he’s a top miler and that’s the unknown factor here, if he can get the mile and a quarter, but we’ll find out,” trainer Jimmy Toner said. “He gallops a mile and a half every day. I think the key is being rateable. If he isn’t too aggressive early and settles in, I think you’re okay. So far, he’s shown that he’s okay with everything.” International superstar Aidan O’Brien saddles a strong contender in Hunting Horn (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). Third in both the G3 Classic Trial Apr. 27 and the G3 Vase S. May 9, the Coolmore colorbearer checked in sixth in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club June 3 and returned to winning ways with a 4 1/2-length success in the G3 Hampton Court S. at Royal Ascot June 21. The Pia Brandt-trained Kingstar (Fr) (Evasive {GB}) also makes his Stateside debut in this test. A first-out winner at Chantilly in September, the chestnut was second in the G3 Prix de Conde S. there Oct. 7 and won a Longchamp test last time June 2. Another runner of interest is GIII Southwest S. and GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. winner My Boy Jack (Creative Cause), who gets back on turf for the first time since finishing seventh in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The dark bay broke his maiden on the lawn last year and won the grassy Zuma Beach S. at Santa Anita in October. View the full article

Two-time graded winner Eye of the Tiger (American Chance-Dial a Trick, by Phone Trick) has been pensioned to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, Ky. The 2003 GI Kentucky Derby fifth-place finisher was retired from racing in 2006 with five wins from 19 starts and earnings of $535,679 for breeder/owner John D. Gunther. He was pensioned from stud duty at the Gunther’s Glennwood Farm in 2016. The now 18-year-old arrived at Old Friends on June 27. “Eye of the Tiger he has been a long-time member of our horse family,” said Glennwood’s Tanya Gunther. “He deserves the serenity that this home will provide him, which was a challenge to do at our small farm with the constant hustle and bustle of mares, foals, and yearlings. “To know he will join the company of Classic horses such as War Emblem, Silver Charm, and Touch Gold makes me very pleased. Imagine the stories they will share? A big thank you to Old Friends, and we look forward to visiting him very soon.” View the full article

The Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has donated $50,000 to support the New Vocations Program’s aftercare efforts at their Ohio facilities. In 2017, New Vocations took in over 450 retired racehorses, 64 of which came directly from an Ohio racetrack or farm. “It is important to the Ohio HBPA that our retired Thoroughbreds be given a chance to thrive in a second career,” said Dave Basler, Ohio HBPA executive director. “We are proud to continue our partnership with New Vocations, an organization that began 26 years ago right here in Ohio to give our horses that chance New Vocations’ adoption process is very thorough–it ensures that the horses will go to good homes. We know from the training they received that the horses leave the program well-prepared to begin their second careers.” View the full article

Donnacha O'Brien will be reunited with Saxon Warrior, on whom he won the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1), in Saturday's Coral-Eclipse (G1) at Sandown, when the Ballydoyle colt will clash with Epsom hero Masar for the third time. View the full article

A group of 10 talented sophomore fillies are scheduled to line up Saturday for a salty renewal of the $1,000,000 GI Belmont Oaks. La Signare (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), Significant Form (Creative Cause) and Mighty Scarlett (Scat Daddy) finished one-two-three in the GIII Wonder Again S. June 7, which is considered the local prep for this event. Breaking her maiden in France, La Signare was privately purchased and transferred to Brian Lynch, finishing second to the reopposing Toinette (Scat Daddy) in her debut for that barn at Keeneland Apr. 11 prior to her front-running upset score in the Wonder Again. “We’ll see what the pace scenario is,” Lynch said. “If there’s no pace, I don’t think we’ll try and get too creative. We’ll let her do her thing again. I don’t know if they’ll let her get away with pedestrian fractions like she got away with in the first half [in the Wonder Again]. But if there’s a bit more pace, I wouldn’t be surprised if she can sit off of them a little bit anyway.” Victress of last term’s GIII Ms Grillo S., Significant Form captured the Memories of Silver S. Apr. 22 and was second every step of the way as the favorite in the Wonder Again. Stablemate Mighty Scarlett broke her maiden at second asking at Keeneland Apr. 27 prior to her third-place effort last out. Both fillies are conditioned by two-time Eclipse winner Chad Brown, who won three of the last four renewals of this event since the name was changed from the Garden City to the Belmont Oaks in 2014. He also won the last two editions of this test under its previous name in 2012 and 2013. “They both ran well [in the Wonder Again],” Brown said. “It was a bit disappointing for Significant Form as the favorite. She had every chance to win turning for home and it just wasn’t her day. I’m confident given the way she’s training that she can rebound off that effort.” Winner of three of her four races, the Neil Drysdale-trained Toinette came flying late to take down Brown’s previously undefeated GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) last time in Churchill Downs’ GIII Edgewood S. May 4. The always dangerous Aidan O-Brien ships in Athena (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) for a shot at Grade I glory. Breaking her maiden two back at Fairyhouse May 31, the Coolmore runner was fourth in the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot June 21 and returned on short rest to complete the trifecta in the Curragh’s G1 Pretty Polly S. just six days ago. Fellow European invader Caple Temptress (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) already has a top-level win in North American on her resume, having captured the GI Natalma S. at Woodbine Sept. 17. Seventh to Rushing Fall in the Breeders’ Cup, the Marco Botti pupil was fourth last time in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches May 13. Thewayiam (Fr) (Thewayyouare) has been quite successful since coming to America last year, winning the Ginger Brew S. Jan. 6, GIII Sweetest Chant S. Feb. 3 and GIII Herecomesthebride S. Mar. 3. Runner-up to Rushing Fall in the GII Appalachian S. at Keeneland Apr. 8, the Graham Motion trainee missed by a neck last time in the Penn Oaks June 2. “She’s a filly who gives you confidence because it always seems like she runs her race,” Motion said. “Her form has been pretty good. I think she’ll lay a little closer going a mile and a quarter. She’s going to put herself in the race.” Also entered are GII Honeymoon S. winner Paved (Quality Road), GIII Providencia S. upsetter Fatale Bere (Fr) (Pedro the Great) and Chipolata (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), a two-time winner in France who is making her Stateside debut here for Christophe Clement. View the full article

Alter Moon (Alternation-Sahara Moon, by Malibu Moon), a runaway winner of last weekend’s Azalea S. at Gulfstream, has been added to the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale July 9, Taylor Made Sales Agency announced. The 3-year-old filly, owned by JAL Racing and trained by Jose Velez, previously captured an optional claimer by 14 3/4 lengths in Hallandale June 3. The $55,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling and $22,000 OBS June Juvenile sports a record of 7-3-2-0 and earnings of $128,255. “Her upward trajectory is possibly unmatched in the catalog, having won her most recent two starts by a combined 19 1/2 lengths and posting impressive speed figures,” Mark Taylor said. “With any sort of progression from Alter Moon, she could be in with a real shot down the road at this year’s Breeders’ Cup.” Alter Moon will be consigned by Taylor Made as Hip 574. View the full article

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Chukyo and Hakodate Racecourses: Saturday, July 7, 2018 5th-CKO, ¥13,400,000 ($121k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT DURABLE (JPN) (f, 2, Curlin–Hurricane Flag, by Storm Cat) is the first Japanese produce for her dam, a half-sister to GSW Animal Spirits (Arch) and to the dam of GSW ‘TDN Rising Star’ Ocho Ocho Ocho (Street Sense), who was bought for $530K carrying this foal in utero at KEENOV in 2015. Second dam Pennant Champion (Mr. Prospector) was a daughter of undefeated Eclipse Award winner Personal Ensign (Private Account), whose distinguished progeny and grand-progeny include champions My Flag (Easy Goer) and her daughter Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat); GISWs Miner’s Mark (Mr. Prospector), Traditionally (Mr. Prospector) and Mr Speaker (Pulpit); and GSW Fire Away (War Front). B-K I Farm 6th-CKO, ¥13,400,000 ($121k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400m MEINER ABE (c, 2, Into Mischief–Spring, by Stravinsky), a half-brother to MSW & MGSP Spring Included (Include) and to GISP Pulsion (Include), cost $85K as a KEENOV weanling in 2016 and fetched double that price when offered at last year’s KEESEP sale. A May foal, Meiner Abe is bred on the same cross responsible for the recently retired MGSW & MGISP Vyjack. The deeper female family includes dual-hemisphere star Gentlemen (Arg) (Robin des Bois). B-Robert B Trussell Jr (KY) 12th-CKO, ¥14,250,000 ($129k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1200m PERPETUO (f, 3, Pioneerof the Nile–Ribbon Taffy, by Hard Spun) broke her maiden at second asking over this course and distance in January (gate 15) and most recently returned from a four-month breather to finish a competitive fifth from a high draw at Hanshin June 17. A$160K in utero purchase at KEENOV in 2014, the bay was a $170K FTSAUG acquisition turned $540K FTFMAR breezer. B-Woodford Thoroughbreds (KY) Sunday, July 8, 2018 2nd-HAK, ¥9,550,000 ($86k), Maiden, 3yo, 1000m RAMP FEVER (f, 3, Ghostzapper–Gold Vault, by Arch) failed to handle turf on debut in April, but improved by leaps and bounds to miss narrowly when tried over track and trip June 24 (gate 8). An $800K OBSMAR juvenile, the dark bay is the full-sister to MGISW Contested, a $2.3-million FTKNOV grad whose son Gibeon (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) was runner-up in this year’s G1 NHK Mile Cup. Gold Vault, a half-sister to MGISW Pomeroy (Boundary), is also the dam of young sire Mosler (War Front) and the latter’s GSP full-brother Air Vice Marshal. B-Cherry Valley Farm LLC (KY) View the full article

The Delaware Lottery Commission is reporting that $7 million was wagered on sports at the state’s three racetracks from June 5 through June 24 and that the total revenue from the sports wagering was $1,000,247. June 5 is the day sports betting began and June 24 is the final day of the fiscal month. Sports betting is available at three Delaware tracks, Delaware Park and the harness tracks Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway. Delaware was the first state to offer sports betting after the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Delaware bettors either had a particularly unlucky month or aren’t particularly savvy sports handicappers. They lost 14% of all money wagered. Traditionally, sports bettors in Nevada lose about 5 to 6% of their total handle. After the state and the companies operating the sports books took their share, $352,256 was left over. Delaware Park, which easily outhandled both harness tracks, took in $263,924 in revenue and $62,715 was added to the purse account. There were 50,934 individual wagers made during the 20-day period at Delaware. “Any time we can add any money to our purse account we are happy,” said Bessie Gruwell, the executive director of the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “I’m glad that this started when it did, at a time when there aren’t a lot of sports to bet on, because they have some kinks to work out. They shut down at 11 p.m., so they had to, on one occasion, turn everyone away in the middle of one of the NBA finals game. There’s also been long lines. But, hopefully, they should have everything working much better by the time the NFL and college football games start. If they do, and with the popularity of those sports, I would imagine that $62,000 figure would grow quite a bit.” Delaware is the only state that has legalized sports betting where the tracks are required to contribute a portion of the profits to purses. Prior to the Supreme Court decision, Delaware already had legal parlay style bets on NFL games, and the “win” on those bets is typically around 30%. Some worried that single game wagering would cut into the parlay bets and might actually cause the tracks to lose revenue. But the total revenue on the parlay bets in 2017 was $4.8 million. Based on the June results, the annual revenue for more traditional sports bets will be far greater than what the tracks were bringing in on the parlay wagers. Monmouth Park launched sports betting June 14. So far no handle figures have been made available by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Though the sample size is a small one, there is evidence that some sports bettors may also be playing the horses. Since sports betting began, there have been seven cards at Monmouth when racing was held on the same day the prior year. During those seven days, total on-track handle has been $3,742,569. In 2017, the number for the same seven days was $3,097,837. That’s an 11.3% increase. The next track to open a sports book will be the Meadowlands, which is set to launch July 14. The North Jersey track moved up the opening date by a day. The Meadowlands decided on July 14 because it is the night of the Meadowlands Pace, one of the track’s signature races. View the full article

Claiborne Farm will take a shot at selling racehorses with a strong group of 11 making up the operation’s first consignment at the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale Monday. The prestigious farm will offer one of their own horses, six Phipps Stable homebreds, two horses from Waterford Stable and two owned by Bass Stables. “Daisy [Phipps] came to us earlier in the spring and said she needed to sell some horses,” Claiborne President Walker Hancock said. “That is how it started and we began going through [her stock]. Daisy, Shug [McGaughey], Bernie [Sams], my dad and I went through and figured out which ones would be good candidates to sell, in order to cut down the number of racehorses she has. Steve Young gave us four more to sell [for Waterford Stable and Ramona Bass] and we are adding one of our own, so that rounds out the consignment.” The Phipps portion of the consignment boasts six males with big pedigrees, a few of which are stakes quality runners. Out of a daughter of Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, Fire Away (War Front) (hip 443), who is a 6-year-old half-brother to GISW Mr Speaker (Pulpit), won a rained-off renewal of the GIII Dixie S. at Pimlico in May, in addition to a pair of listed stakes at Aqueduct. His 4-year-old half-brother Snap Decision (Hard Spun) (hip 522) and 5-year-old Revved Up (Candy Ride {Arg}) (hip 504), a son of champion Storm Flag Flying, are both Grade III-placed. The other three Phipps horses to be offered Monday are Bokeelia Island (Medaglia d’Oro) (hip 413), a 6-year-old half-brother to MGISWs Point of Entry (Dynaformer) and Pine Island (Arch); Lead Astray (Malibu Moon ) (hip 468), a 4-year-old son of champion Smuggler (Unbridled); and Myakka River (Giant’s Causeway) (hip 483), a 4-year-old out of MGSW and MGISP Boca Granda (A.P. Indy). “The Phipps horses have huge pedigrees and I think that alone will attract buyers to come see them,” Hancock said. “I think we have a really strong group. Fire Away is a graded stakes winner and Revved Up and Snap Decision are both graded stakes placed. We have a couple coming out of big wins in their last efforts. We are selling Seize (War Front), who ran really big at Churchill a couple of weeks ago. We have a couple other horses coming off big efforts as well. I think we have a pretty strong consignment from top to bottom and a lot of horses are primed to run big next time out.” Out of a full-sister to champion Blame (Arch), Claiborne and Adele Dilschneider homebred Seize (hip 515) won a Churchill Downs allowance by 3 1/4 lengths June 23. Okinawa (The Factor) (hip 556) and Texican (Bernardini) (hip 557) both carried the colors of owner/breeder Ramona Bass’s Bass Stables. A $420,000 OBSAPR buy, the 4-year-old Okinawa has won two of her six starts and was most recently second in a Belmont optional claimer June 3. The 4-year-old gelding Texican is still a maiden, but is a son of MSW and GSP Bag Lady Jane (Devil’s Bag) and a half-brother to GSW Mamma Kimbo (Discreet Cat). Representing Waterford Stable is 4-year-old Clear N Convincing (Giant’s Causeway) (hip 554), a $370,000 EASMAY purchase who broke his maiden last time at Belmont June 16; and Sum Overture (The Factor) (hip 555), a 3-year-old debut winner at Monmouth in his lone start June 17. “The sale is well-positioned, right before Del Mar and Saratoga,” Hancock said. “These horses are ready to run and a lot of people may be looking to add another star to their stable. Last year, the sale was strong. It is a great place to buy a horse and to sell one. People can take advantage of selling a horse that may be coming off a big effort.” He continued, “You have all the right people coming to town to hopefully move these horses along and have some success with them later on in the summer. There is no other sale like it around. It is the only place to sell a horse like this at this time of year. I think that is why it is gaining popularity. When asked if the horses of racing age consignment would be an annual tradition, Hancock said, “We will have to see. You never know how it will be year to year or what the clients would like to do. It could go into the future.” View the full article

According to Chinese proverb, “a single conversation with a wise man is better than 10 years of study.” But that conversation is going to prove still more instructive if the wise man has himself just had a decade like that dividing John Oxx from the emergence of his greatest champion. It is a study that perhaps teaches us more about people than horses. Ten years ago next Friday, Oxx saddled a 2-year-old colt by Cape Cross (Ire) for his first start at The Curragh, just over the road from a stable that counted Derby and Arc winner Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) among a litany of international stars since Ridgewood Pearl (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) had won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1995: from stayers like Enzeli (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) to sprinters like Namid (GB) (Indian Ridge {GB}). As it happens, Sea The Stars (Ire) finished only fourth that day. But he was never beaten again, proving himself one of the most accomplished Thoroughbreds of the modern era in racking up six Group 1 wins the following year. In the process, the horse’s competitive ego appeared to expand into a limelight left vacant by his trainer’s innate humility. In the years since, however, Oxx has been dropped by both the Aga Khan, owner of Sinndar and his principal patron until 2013, and the Tsui family, who owned Sea The Stars but moved their horses from Ireland in 2016. So far this season Oxx has been able to field 18 horses; just three of them winners. Nonetheless a conversation with this particular wise man remains an unchanging source of equilibrium in a changing world, without the faintest inflection of resentment or defensiveness. Instead there is such comforting familiarity to his bearing–benign, calm and modest–that you feel cheapened by your own sense of affront on his behalf. “People were very upset,” he admits, quietly bemused. “More than I was, in a way. Of course I was upset, and it affected our business and our livelihood. But you know, I’ve been in this business all my life. I know what it’s like. I’m kind of mentally prepared for anything, and was probably the person–well, I won’t say least upset, but I wasn’t as upset as a lot of people around me, and a lot of people well disposed to me. I’m philosophical about it. That’s the way life is. The business should teach you that. It’s part and parcel of it.” But if this mildness runs absolutely with the grain of Oxx’s character, nobody should confuse his resolute freedom from vanity with too meek or submissive a brand of fatalism. Here is a man who understands the corrosive nature of bitterness or blame; and who also grasps that the best redress lies within. “I was just determined that we were going to come back from this,” he says. “Build up the stable again. I’m not saying I want big numbers. There is this tendency among trainers today to want huge numbers of horses. You see it in America, you see it in jump racing, and you see it now in Flat racing [in Europe] too. I trained a lot of horses in the past. But I have no ambition to train even 100 horses. I just want to train enough; to enjoy it; and to train for good horse people, the sort of people who have come along to me now, when I’m not doing well, when I’m not in lights all the time.” “You really appreciate people like that, and you enjoy working for them. It’s a pleasure to get up in the morning and work for the people I’m working for at the moment. I just need a few more of them. I think there’s an opening for an ambitious young trainer like me, who doesn’t want 200 horses and can hopefully offer people a better service; who has time to devote to their interests.” The wry, deadpan delivery achieves an optimal balance between an instinct for self-deprecation and a quiet but no less authentic self-respect. This, after all, is a profession where experience should count for rather more than often seems to be the case. If you own the favourite for a Classic, and the horse comes up with a problem two days beforehand, would you rather your trainer was the latest fashionable young trainer, experiencing this particular issue for the first time–or John Oxx, trainer of 11 Classic winners, experiencing it for the 101st time? If it is not his nature to volunteer that point, it is one Oxx is prepared to acknowledge. “When I think back earlier in my career, even when I was winning loads of races, I made plenty of mistakes too,” he admits. “All things being equal, if a trainer still has the enthusiasm for it, and the health for it, he should get better every year. Other things can come in the way, knock a trainer off kilter; he hasn’t the right facilities, perhaps, or the right staff. But all things being equal, you will get better, there’s no doubt.” “I always admire Ian Balding for doing so well with Mill Reef: he was actually very young. I only became a decent trainer in my forties. I started when I was 29, I’d qualified as a vet and thought I knew everything. I imagined that my father didn’t know half as much as me. But as you get older, you tend to find your father was more clever than you thought. In my forties, certain things started to drop [in place]. And then, when I had those really good horses–I had Ridgewood Pearl when I was 45–well, you really begin to learn things then. To see things you hadn’t before, and understand them. And then you see similarities.” “A few years before Sea The Stars, I had Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift) who was very similar to him in constitution, mentally and physically. And that prepared me. They both ate more, under pressure, than any other horses I’ve ever had. Horses will eat tons of feed when they’re not under pressure, but when they’re in hard work and racing, a lot of them go off a little bit. But those two thrived on it. They could work to a different beat to the rest. And so they just got better and better.” Aidan O’Brien having shared similar insights about the vocational appetite of Galileo (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), you wonder about the half-brothers’ dam Urban Sea (Miswaki). Perhaps all those breeders seeking some holy grail should simply be concentrating on sheer physiological capacity? “Everything is inherited,” Oxx replies. “The longer you train horses, the more you realise that. When you train for someone like the Aga Khan for 25 years, you see the same thing, even little things, coming down through families. Urban Sea must have been hardy and tough: Jean Lesbordes ran her everywhere, in all sorts of races–and she kept coming back, and then goes and wins the Arc at the end of it. And temperament is the most transmissible of all the traits. Talent gets diluted by mares much more easily than temperament. Temperament just seems to stick and stick. So good temperament and toughness, like these horses have, is a huge asset in a stallion.” With all due respect for Oxx’s determination to look forward, it would be churlish to ignore the anniversary that has brought us to his door. And, with the legacy of Sea The Stars enriched at Royal Ascot by Stradivarius (GB) and Crystal Ocean (GB), we should celebrate anew the mastery and adventure with which Oxx first promoted his genetic wares. Having seen the unbeaten records of other champions defended with increasing nervousness, in fact, you wonder whether it actually helped that Sea The Stars did not win on debut? “Michael Kinane, particularly as he got older, was very gentle on horses having their first run,” Oxx recalls. “He always said you have to leave them with a good taste in their mouth. When I was young and foolish, I used to have them pretty ready to win first time out, if they could. But as you go along you change a bit. Mick gave him a nice, educational run: in between horses, boxed in a bit at the fence, got out towards the end and finished strongly. He could have won with a clear run but it served its purpose and he went on to win easily at Leopardstown a few weeks later.” After that, relentlessly, with each start the horse dug another seam in that mine of physical and mental toughness. “That’s why I always told people I never knew how good he was,” he says. “Because at some stage, very often, they crack. Nashwan (Blushing Groom {Fr}) cracked. He was a box-walker. I don’t think we realised that at the time. The Major [Dick Hern] got him as far as the King George but then he flopped in the Prix Niel. And Nijinsky was a temperamental horse. It might be that only Vincent could have got him there. But he cracked a little, in the Arc. He got very worked up and sweated a lot before the race. Slightly unusual, perhaps, for a great horse to be as hot as that.” When Sea The Stars rounded off his own career at Longchamp, Oxx was immune to the general alarm when he still had so much to do. The horse’s exuberance had been matched, since Epsom, by consecutive runs at 10 furlongs. “And Aidan always helped us, in that he always had pacemakers!” smiles Oxx. “He always had it in his head to get this fellow working four furlongs from home. But sure all he was doing was helping us. The horse had so much speed they could never get him off the bridle.” “In the Arc they didn’t set off at a mad gallop, so I was a little anxious the first two furlongs, when he just started shaking his head. But then Mick got him back, and I could see then he had him settled. After that I wasn’t too worried. Everybody else was, because he seemed to be far back; but the main opponents weren’t too far in front of him. He could do anything, you know, anything. It was a great relief, of course, having seen Nijinsky, this unbeaten hero of mine, lose the Arc to an inferior horse. That was a heartbreaker at the time and I didn’t want that to happen to our lad.” Nijinsky remains the last Triple Crown winner in Britain, and there was pressure to let Sea The Stars add the third leg in the St Leger. But Oxx remains in no doubt that the horse was better able to manifest his talent in the Irish Champion S., where he achieved his highest rating. At the same time, Oxx would have liked to do a service for the reputation of staying races. He believes that a great horse is indifferent to distance, using the recent example of Justify (Scat Daddy) rolling along in his usual fashion in the Belmont. “Breeders are always confusing distance with speed,” he says. “They don’t realise the difference between real class and just precocity and an ability to win over short distances. Occasionally you get a dominant sprinter but most of the time there isn’t a few lengths between good handicappers and Group 1 winners. Very often they’re interchangeable. So what does that tell you? People buy cheap horses in the hope they’ll make an Ascot 2-year-old, but an awful lot of nice types are sacrificed on that altar. I do think there’s a drift away from knowing what class is.” That said, Oxx relishes training sharper types. Unfortunately he often finds himself a victim of his own patience, tending to receive more backward types instead. Just one dimension, this, of the kind of reinvention that might restore Oxx, as a trainer, to a standing commensurate with that he has never lost, as a gentleman. For it is in adversity that you can best measure dignity. In Oxx, it is so deep-rooted, so natural, that he never needed the props of self-regard or self-satisfaction in the days of Sea The Stars. And nor, by the same token, does he require defensive spikes of acrimony now. The circumstances of his business may change, but both that dignity and his professional intuition remain invincibly the same. Just because he remains as understated now as in his pomp, however, do not underestimate the resilience and determination underpinning the expertise and seasoning he can summon for each new horse. This has been recognised by Godolphin, among others. Oxx does not want anyone to feel sorry for him, and is unsurprisingly and scrupulously courteous in his reflections on the patrons who left his stable for their different reasons. But nor would he want anyone to imagine that he has embraced some kind of semi-retirement. “We’ve been working harder than ever, myself and my wife, to get the business back on an even keel,” he says. “When the Aga Khan left, I knew we’d slip down to the bottom of the ladder and that it would take a few years to get back. It’s been difficult, and there’s a lot to do yet. As I said, we’re not trying to get huge numbers but we need more than we have. We haven’t had an economical number for years, and that’s something we can’t live with any longer.” “But I’m hopeful now. We’ve good clients, and nice people too. As you go along you realise how important that is. Some have been with us right through, some have come back after the recession, but most are new people who have come to me when I wasn’t in the top flight any more.” “It might seem I’ve had a raw deal. But I’ve had great owners over the years. I don’t find owners difficult, in general. I think they need time, and plenty of communication. That’s a big failing of some trainers, they don’t communicate properly, they’re not diplomatic, don’t listen. So yes, maybe a young, up-and-coming trainer like me, who’s not going to train 200 horses and has a bit of experience, might have something to offer.” View the full article

Winless since annexing the Zennippon Nisai Yushun over this course and distance to complete a four-for-four juvenile campaign, Rieno Tesoro (Speightstown) set a stalking trip from second, took command with about 500 metres to travel, repelled a bid from favoured Oken Believe (Jpn) (Kurofune) in upper stretch and held sway late for her third career black-type success. Rabbit Run (Tapit), already a Group 3 winner on turf, completed a US-bred 1-3 finish while earning her first black-type on dirt. Rieno Tesoro was blanked in six runs at three, though she did manage a big runner-up effort against the boys in the G1 NHK Mile Cup on turf. The chestnut was returning to her preferred dirt surface for the first time since last September and making her fourth start of the season Thursday evening, having finished well down the track in the G1 Victoria Mile May 13. A half-sister to the talented Governor Malibu, Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate Rieno Tesoro is out of a talented racemare who is a half-sister to Blue Devil Bel (Gilded Time), the dam of this year’s GI Xpressbet Florida Derby hero and GI Kentucky Derby third placegetter Audible (Into Mischief). Rieno Tesoro’s 3-year-old half-sister Peril (Ghostzapper) was a maiden winner at Belmont Park in her most recent trip to the post June 2, while 2-year-old half-sister Next Gen (Super Saver), a $235,000 graduate of last year’s FTSAUG sale, breezed five furlongs in 1:01 flat at July 2 Santa Anita for Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella. Akilina is the dam of a yearling filly by Uncle Mo and foaled a colt by Malibu Moon this past May 22. VIDEO SPARKLING LADY CUP-Listed, ¥42,500,000, Kawasaki, 7-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 1600m, 1:40.8, ft. 1–RIENO TESORO, 121, f, 4, Speightstown–Akilina (MSW & GSP, $316,460), by Langfuhr. ($250,000 Ylg ’15 FTSAUG). O-Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co Ltd; B-Oak Bluff Stables LLC (NY); T-Ryo Takei; J-Hayato Yoshida; ¥25,000,000. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Jpn, 14-5-1-0, ¥146,273,000. *1/2 to Governor Malibu (Malibu Moon), SW & MGSP, $665,700. 2–Oken Believe (Jpn), 121, m, 5, Kurofune–Bisque Doll (Jpn), by Sunday Silence. (¥16,800,000 Fl ’13 JRHAJUL). O-Akira Fukui. 3–Rabbit Run, 126, f, 4, Tapit–Amelia, by Dixieland Band. ($750,000 Ylg ’15 KEESEP). O-Katsumi Yoshida. Margins: HF, 1HF, 1HF. Odds: 3.40, 2.70, 4.40. View the full article

While a stakes win has since proven elusive, trainer Graham Motion sees grade 1-placed filly Maya Malibu moving in the right direction as she enters the $300,000 Delaware Oaks (G3) July 7 at Delaware Park. View the full article

Keeneland will reinstate its April Sale in 2019, as one of three changes to its sales calendar announced Thursday. The April auction, last held in 2014, will be staged as a one-day sale of 2-year-olds in training, as well as horses of racing age. Dates for the preview and sale will be announced at a later date. “Keeneland’s April Sale produced a number of champions and Classic winners, including 2017 champions Lady Eli and Roy H in its final edition in 2014,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “Horsemen are very supportive of the sale returning this spring, and we are excited to expand the auction from previous years by offering a limited number of horses of racing age.” Keeneland also announced the format for its upcoming September Yearling Sale. Book 1 of the auction, which was one session in 2017, will be held Monday through Thursday (Sept. 10-13) this year and will include approximately 1,000 yearlings with sessions beginning at 11 a.m. After a dark day Friday, Book 2 will be held Saturday and Sunday with sessions beginning at 10 a.m. The Book 2 portion of the 2017 sale was three days. Books 3-6 of the September sale will be held the following Monday through Sunday (Sept. 17-23). Keeneland introduced a bonus structure tied to its one-session Book 1 in 2017. With the longer Book 1 section in 2018, the bonus will not be applicable to graduates of the sale this year. “Keeneland engages in an ongoing dialog with our clients to collect their feedback and adapt our sales formats to meet the ‘market of the moment,'” Elliston said of the changes. “The market is fluid from year to year, and our primary goal is to create a sales environment that will produce the best results for our sellers and buyers.” Finally, Keeneland announced it will open its November Breeding Stock Sale with an exclusive Book 1 session to be held Monday, Nov. 5. “The Breeders’ Cup World Championships are at Churchill Downs the weekend before the November Sale begins, so what better way to continue the excitement than to host a select Book 1 on opening day,” said Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason. The entire November Sale schedule will be announced later. View the full article

Aidan O’Brien on Thursday committed ‘TDN Rising Star’ Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) to Saturday’s G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in a volte face that has caused a stirring of the mix for the proclaimed “first clash of the generations.” It will also feature the first true clash of the sexes in 2018, with fellow Ballydoyle representative Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) lining up to attempt to confirm the form of her beating of Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in last year’s G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. She will be partnered by Wayne Lordan, with Donnacha O’Brien set to renew his partnership with Saxon Warrior on whom he captured the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket May 5. In a measure of the operation’s continued regard for the GIII Dwyer S. protagonist Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy), Ryan Moore is heading to Belmont Park instead. Saxon Warrior, who was initially due a break according to Aidan O’Brien immediately after finishing third in Saturday’s G1 Irish Derby, bids to continue his stable’s impressive record of backing up their horses in the past fortnight, with six of The Curragh’s Derby meeting’s winners from the yard coming back from Royal Ascot duty. “Obviously he only ran last week, so we haven’t done much, but he seems to be in good form,” O’Brien said. “Obviously we’re observing him very closely because he only ran last week. If there was anything negative we’d flag it up straight away. We’re taking a bit of a chance running him back so close, but we’re happy with him. We never thought that dropping back in trip would be a problem to him.” With the chief older horses conspicuous by their absence in the line-up, the latest renewal looks like being one for the Classic generation and Saxon Warrior’s G1 Epsom Derby conqueror Masar even has the 2016 Eclipse hero Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy) as a potential domestique. Trainer Charlie Appleby was far from perturbed about the inclusion of Saxon Warrior in the line-up and said, “I’m pleased Saxon Warrior is running. The Eclipse is known as one of the summer spectacles, so I’m pleased for the race. From our point of view we won’t be running away from anything and we think Masar is very much the one to beat.” View the full article