Wandering Eyes

Mark Richards has been selecting horses for the Hong Kong International Sale for the past decade and he believes this is the best batch ever assembled – and he’s not alone.On Friday night, 30 prospects will go through the ring at Sha Tin hoping to follow in the footsteps of dual Group One winner Pakistan Star and reach the pinnacle of Hong Kong racing.Richards, the Jockey Club’s executive manager of the international sale, has spent years scouring the globe for yearlings that will be suited to… View the full article

Trainer Frankie Lor Fu-chuen has confirmed Hugh Bowman will ride Furore as planned in this weekend’s BMW Hong Kong Derby (2,000m), despite the jockey leaving Flemington early on Saturday to be with his wife, Christine, who required medical attention.Bowman left the track to return to Sydney after riding Osborne Bulls in the Group One Newmarket Handicap and also stood down from his rides in Canberra on Sunday, but told Racing Victoria on Sunday that his wife’s health had improved.“Thank you for… View the full article

Jim Cassidy didn’t think he’s survive when a car veered onto his side of the road and crashed head-on with his SUV. View the full article

S John appeals, stay of sentence granted View the full article

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

Zyrul’s suspension dates amended View the full article

Horses' test results March 9 View the full article

Azhar and Zyrul suspended two days each View the full article

Corms Racing Stable and R.A. Hill Stable's Divine Miss Grey provided jockey Manny Franco with his fourth of five wins on the card while successfully defending her title in Sunday's $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational. View the full article

Following stakes-record setting score in Saturday’s GII Tampa Bay Derby by Juddmonte’s Tacitus (Tapit), Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott confirmed the son of champion Close Hatches (First Defence) exited the race in good shape and outlined a few options along the Triple Crown trail for the grey. “The stakes record was a good thing and I think Tampa was a good place for him to get a race in,” said Mott. “It’s a good, safe racetrack and that should be a good conditioner for him.” Looking ahead, Mott indicated there are sevral possibilities: the GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland–both Apr. 6–in addition to the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park Apr. 13. At two, Tacitus debuted with a fourth at Belmont Oct. 4 before breaking his maiden at Aqueduct Nov. 10. “He’s run in New York [twice], so it’s very possible we could go [the Wood],” said Mott. Following Saturday’s victory, Mott reflected, “We really didn’t know what we had until we got into September and started putting a little more pressure on him and asking him, and I said, well, we’ve got to find out, let’s ask him the question, and he started to respond. The tougher the training got, the better he got. Then we got two races in him and got a win out of him in the fall, and for the size of horse he is and the type of horse he is, I thought it was a big accomplishment to get that completed that early in the season.” Mott confirmed Tacitus will race at least once more leading to Louisville for the GI Kentucky Derby May 4. “He’s got to run,” he said. “This horse is a big, tough horse, and if we had to, we could run him twice more [before the Kentucky Derby], but with this win under his belt maybe that won’t be necessary. We’ll keep all the options open.” In regards to how the Juddmonte-bred colt might handle the step up to Classic distances, Mott added, “We’ve always felt that as the distances increase, that should be beneficial to him,” Mott said of Tacitus’ pedigree influences.” View the full article

Unbeaten as a juvenile with three wins including the G2 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup and the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S., Danon Premium scored in his sophomore bow, the G2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho in early March of last year. His winning streak was snapped when sixth stepping up to 2400 metres in the G1 Tokyo Yushun at the end of May, and the dark bay has been missing since. The 5-2 second choice promptly settled in a relaxed third while saving all the real estate against the rails past the winning post the first time and dropped back to fifth through 1400 metres in 1:25.50. He was traveling ominously well as the field fanned out in the home straight, angled into the three path and swept home an 1 1/4-length winner. Lys Gracieux rallied to take second, 3/4 of a length in front of 2-1 favourite Air Windsor. Pedigree Notes The 2017 Japanese champion juvenile colt, out of the Irish MSW & MGSP Indiana Gal, is followed by the placed 3-year-old filly Premium Gift (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}). Sunday, Chukyo, Japan KINKO SHO-G2, ¥119,820,000 (US$1,078,135/£828,315/€959,543), Chukyo, 3-10, 4yo/up, 2000mT, 2:00.10, gd. 1–DANON PREMIUM (JPN), 123, c, 4, Deep Impact (Jpn) 1st Dam: Indiana Gal (Ire) (MSW & MGSP-Ire, $319,044), by Intikhab 2nd Dam: Genial Jenny (Ire), by Danehill 3rd Dam: Joma Kaanem (Ire), by Double Form (Ire) O-Danox Inc.; B-K.I. Farm (Jpn); T-Mitsumasa Nakauchida; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥62,924,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt-Jpn, G1SW-Jpn, 6-5-0-0. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Lys Gracieux (Jpn), 121, m, 5, Heart’s Cry (Jpn)–Liliside (Fr), by American Post (GB). O-Carrot Farm; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥25,264,000. 3–Air Windsor (Jpn), 123, h, 5, King Kamehameha (Jpn)–Air Messiah (Jpn), by Sunday Silence. O-Lucky Field Inc.; B-Shadai Farm (Jpn); ¥16,132,000. Margins: 1 1/4, 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 2.50, 7.70, 2.00. Also Ran: Persian Knight (Jpn), Al Ain (Jpn), Gibeon (Jpn), Muito Obrigado (Jpn), Suzuka Devious (Jpn), Mozu Katchan (Jpn), Tanino Frankel (Ire), Satono Walkure (Jpn), Shonan Bach (Jpn), Maitres d’Art (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart and video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. View the full article

Trainer Bob Baffert’s top sophomore colts Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Improbable (City Zip) will both be Arkansas-bound for Saturday’s GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn Park, while the highly regarded filly Chasing Yesterday (Tapit) is headed to New Mexico for the Mar. 24 Sunland Park Oaks. All three of those A-list trainees had been scheduled to make their 2019 debuts in cancelled stakes this past weekend at Santa Anita Park. But Baffert, while on a flight out of California himself late Sunday afternoon, confirmed via text that detours were in order in the aftermath of Santa Anita’s recent closure for racing and training. In an attempt to identify and rectify problems related to 21 horse deaths since the meet opened Dec. 26, last week Santa Anita halted all racing and training for a thorough inspection of its racing surfaces. With new protocols in place, the main track will open for light training on Monday, and racing is scheduled to resume Mar. 22. But Baffert wanted his star horses to train sooner than that, so he shipped a contingent some 33 miles south to Los Alamitos Race Course, where he also has stalls. All three of the above-mentioned sophomores had timed workouts there on Sunday morning, as did Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man), who is now targeting the GIII Sunland Derby on Mar. 24. Baffert indicated via text message that he felt better about sending both Game Winner and Improbable to the Rebel after learning that the race could be split into two divisions if it draws an overflow field. Trainers who enter two Rebel horses would have their entrants placed in separate divisions, meaning Baffert’s two undefeated 3-year-olds wouldn’t have to square off just yet if the race splits. They would have had Game Winner and Improbable both started in the Mar. 9 GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita as planned. That race will not be rescheduled. Oaklawn issued a press release on Sunday that said track officials “were confident the Rebel would be split.” “We knew the Rebel was always there, but at first we were thinking not to ship,” Baffert said in the Oaklawn release. “We could come back [for the Apr. 13 GI Arkansas Derby]. We hate to ship twice. It changes things a little bit, but right now we’re going through a little crisis here in Southern California. We never dreamed the day would come they would close down Santa Anita, but we’re getting through it. The main thing is that the 3-year-olds, they worked well. They’re coming up there. I think it’s very nice of them to want to split that race. That’s the key thing.” 2-year-old champ Game Winner worked five furlongs in company with 5-year-old GSW Dr. Dorr (Lookin At Lucky) in :59.80 (12/25). Improbable worked a solo five-eighths in :59.20 (6/25). Mucho Gusto was clocked in :57.80 (2/25) for five furlongs in company with the 3-year-old filly Flor de la Mar (Tiznow). Chasing Yesterday, American Pharoah’s half-sister, earned the five-eighths bullet (1/25) for her :57 solo scorcher. View the full article

Santa Anita Park has canceled four stakes and rescheduled several others as track officials work to reopen the main track and return to racing. Barring further weather setbacks, track management has tentatively set March 22 as the first race day. View the full article

Bob Baffert sent out two of his brightest juvenile stars to work March 10 at Los Alamitos Race Course. The Hall of Fame trainer relocated the horses following the closure of Santa Anita Park to assess track conditions. View the full article

Twin Creeks Racing and Eclipse Thoroughbreds Largent (c, 3, Into Mischief–Life in Seattle, by Unbridled) went wire-to-wire and strode clear down the lane to score a four-length debut victory over the turf at Gulfstream Park Sunday. Sent off at 8-1, the striking bay broke alertly from his inside post and took the lead into the first turn. After setting fractions of :23.18 and :47.71, he shook loose approaching the stretch and came home a much-the-best winner, completing the one mile in 1:35.27. The Rock Says (Uncle MO) was second and Big Torch Key (Lemon Drop Kid) was third. Largent, a $460,000 KEESEP yearling, is out of Life in Seattle who is a daughter of multiple Grade I winner Life at the Top (Seattle Slew). He is a half to multiple stakes winner and graded placed Kona Blend (Dixieland Band). Lifetime Record: 1-0-0-0, $30,000. O-Twin Creeks Racing & Eclipse Thoroughbreds. B-Lazy Lane Farm (Va). T-Todd Pletcher. View the full article

Group 3 victor Fantastic Moon (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}–Rhadegunda {GB}, by Pivotal {GB}), a half-brother to champion and MG1SW Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}), will stand at Haras de la Haye Pesnel in 2019, the Racing Post reported. A winner of two of his eight trips to the post, including the G3 Solario S. at Sandown in 2012, the Hascombe and Valiant Studs-bred will stand for €2,500. The first foal out of the Listed Prix Solitude heroine Rhadegunda, the 210,000gns Tattersalls October yearling’s third dam is G1 1000 Guineas victress On the House (Fr) (Be My Guest), who also lifted the G1 Sussex S. View the full article

Trainers reported March 10 that the top three finishers of Aqueduct Racetrack's Gotham Stakes (G3) are doing well, and planning has begun for the next steps on the Kentucky Derby trail. View the full article

With its main track deemed safe enough to reopen for light training on Monday, Santa Anita Park is on the cusp of a “new normal” in terms of equine safety precautions. Although racetrackers in general are averse to the “new” part of anything, you’d be surprised how quickly the normality aspect can become a seamless part of daily routine. We will likely never know the exact reasons or correlations linking the 21 Thoroughbred deaths at Santa Anita since Dec. 26 because the multi-factorial nature of the problem defies easy explanation. The recent deluge of rain and the composition and maintenance of the track are obvious starting points. Trainers and track management attempting to leverage as much practical use as possible out of a years-in-decline national horse population is another relevant angle. Farther out on the periphery–but still very much a valid part of the equation–are all the bigger-picture issues the sport has been struggling with for decades, like equine drug use, the overall speed-centric direction and soundness of the breed, and whether or not synthetic racing surfaces are safer than dirt. A statistician might tell you that the recent spike in fatalities could just be attributed to a bad run of numbers within a very large data set. That makes mathematic sense, too. But theoretical explanations rarely go over well when stakeholders and the public all want definitive answers that can be articulated in quick sound bites or tidily summed up in news feeds, with blame pinned squarely on something tangible. The changes implemented by The Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita, include a new provision requiring 24-hour advance notice from trainers who intend to work a horse, with a newly hired team of veterinarians identifying “at-risk” horses that might require intervention. In addition, veterinarians will observe all horses entering and exiting the track each morning during training, and a newly created Director of Equine Welfare will head a new Rapid Response team for injuries. A new house rule will require each horse’s veterinary records to follow that horse through any trainer or ownership change, claim, or private sale. Track maintenance procedures will be tweaked so there is less compacting and sealing of the track in advance of heavy rain, and more consideration will be given to calling off racing based on adverse forecasts when the meet resumes Mar. 22. Beyond Santa Anita, the racing nation is wondering if what is happening in Southern California will spur true safety reform at racetracks all around the country. Other notable spikes in racehorse deaths over the past decade–at Aqueduct in 2012, Del Mar in 2016, Saratoga in 2017–have all been met with some degree of jurisdictional response that has gradually shaped equine safety for the better. But the one common thread among those collective responses is that they have all been reactionary. A serious problem popped up, and steps were taken to rectify it. If you’re searching for the answer to the long-term “true reform” question, don’t focus microscopically on Santa Anita in the near future. The more meaningful indicator that systemic change is under way will come when a track that is currently experiencing near-zero catastrophic injuries steps up and implements a new and robust program of equine safety protocols. Proactivity, not reactivity, needs to be the driver of a nationwide “new normal.” International Women’s Day Under new ownership, Colonial Downs will run its first meet this summer in six years. With a boutique, turf-centric 15-date season that is expected to double to 30 race dates in 2020, the Virginia track is poised to be a significant national presence in the years to come. Last Friday was International Women’s Day. But Colonial Downs Group doesn’t seem to need a recognized date on the calendar to guide hiring choices that will put more women in positions of power within its management hierarchy and among its contractors. Last autumn, in what was quite possibly a racing industry first, Colonial hired an all-female design firm, Within Interior Design, Inc., of Norfolk, Virginia, to renovate the 21-year-old facility, which will now include a newly licensed historical horse race (HHR) gaming section. At the time, John Marshall, Colonial’s senior vice president and general manager, told TDN that “We understand that our main demographic for HHR business is going to be predominantly females 55-years-plus. The challenge that we posed to Within was to consider this job as designing a sports bar for women. What would it look like? So we are going to lean toward feminine design in a lot of ways.” In January, Colonial hired Jill Byrne, a well-respected industry executive and on-air racing personality, to be the track’s new vice president of racing. And just last week, Colonial announced the hiring of racing secretary Allison De Luca, who has served in the same capacity Tampa Bay Downs since 2006 (a Colonial spokeswoman confirmed that De Luca will work both jobs because the race meets do not conflict). De Luca has worked various racing office and officiating gigs across the country since 1978, including being the assistant racing secretary at Churchill Downs and the stakes coordinator at Keeneland Race Course. When De Luca was hired in 1987 for a five-year stint as the racing secretary at now-defunct Sportsman’s Park in Illinois, she was reported to be the first woman in the country to be named racing secretary at a commercial track. It’s the thought that counts… As a TwinSpires online wagering customer, I’m still trying to figure out the confounding and (in my opinion) very user-unfriendly interface that the advance-deposit wagering (ADW) company forced upon users back in December. I guess the first paragraph of this column about racetrackers being crankily resistant to anything new applies to me in this instance. But last week TwinSpires rolled out several intriguing incentives designed to compensate horseplayers who suffer bad beats or unfortunate racing luck, and both are good moves. The rewards equate to short money in terms of what an individual bettor might get back. But in an era where so-called whales reap the majority of rebates and incentives, it’s nice to see smaller-scale players getting money back (that will very likely end up churned into future bets anyway). On Mar. 5, TwinSpires debuted the “Bad Luck Board,” which, according to a press release, “will meet each week following key race dates to determine a horse that we think should either be refunded or be paid out as if it won.” The first Bad Luck Board cash award was credited to the accounts of horseplayers who backed fourth-place Hidden Scroll (Hard Spun) in the Mar. 2 GII Fountain of Youth S. So if you wagered on Hidden Scroll to win (capped at a $10 bet), you got a $22 credit, equivalent to what a $10 win bet would have paid had Hidden Scroll not gotten cooked in a speed duel before fading in the stretch. Some of the immediate-reaction internet chatter about the promotion focused on whether Hidden Scroll’s botched-tactics loss actually constituted “bad luck,” but that’s not the point. Keeping smaller-scale players from getting discouraged and tapped out is the aim of the program, which welcomes social media input from customers on which races or horses should be considered for the credit. “The marketing team is always looking for new ways to return money to our horseplayers,” said TwinSpires promotions director Bethani White. “It’s tough to stomach when the gates open and your race is over on the first jump–a potential scenario where we might refund your bet.” A similar “Jump Insurance” promotion will apply to international steeplechase races at this week’s Cheltenham festival (pre-bet opt-in required). TwinSpires will refund win wagers at up to $5 per race if a backed horse does not finish the race. View the full article

The G2 UAE Derby at Meydan on Mar. 30 is the next target for Shekih Hamdan’s Jahbath (GB) (Mukhadram {GB}) after his impressive victory in the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” Conditions S. at Kempton on Mar. 6. Since rounding off his juvenile year with successive wins at Kempton on Oct. 15 and Nov. 6, the Mukhadram colt has extended his unbeaten record on the all-weather to four with a runaway success at Southwell on Jan. 24. Trainer William Haggas feels his charge deserves to step up in class on Dubai World Cup night this month. He said, “We hoped he’d win, and we were very pleased he did. Hopefully he’s now booked his ticket to Dubai, and that [UAE Derby] is uppermost in our minds at the moment. He’s not in the [GI] Kentucky Derby, but if he was to do something brilliant in Dubai then you never know.” View the full article

Charlie Appleby intends to give Godolphin’s unbeaten G1 National S. hero Quorto (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) his first start over a mile in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. The Newmarket trainer plans to send the ‘TDN Rising Star’ straight to the opening colts’ Classic on May 4, for which he is general 8-1 chance, on his return from a winter break in Dubai. After winning his first two starts, a Newmarket novice race on June 22 and the G2 Superlative S. on July 14, Quorto maintained his perfect record when signing off for the season with a Group 1 victory in the National S. at The Curragh on Sept. 16. Appleby said, “Quorto has been wintering away well and doing what is being asked of him. Everything is going in the right direction. The intention is to go straight to the Guineas. From two to three he has done well and has done what you would hope to see.” Quorto will remain in Dubai until much nearer the start of his 3-year-old campaign. Appleby added, “He has done well cantering away–there have been no serious questions asked of him at this stage, but he is pleasing me in what he is doing. There is no set time for him to come back [from Dubai] yet, but it will be just before the Guineas.” View the full article

Shadwell Stable’s Haikal (Daaher) exited his win in Saturday’s GIII Gotham S. in good order, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin reported Sunday morning. “He looks great,” said McLaughlin. “He appears to have come out of the race well and I have to say that [assistant] Joe Lee and our team in New York have done a great job with him.” McLaughlin said he will point Haikal towards the Apr. 6 GII Wood Memorial S. At Aqueduct for his next start. The nine-furlong Wood will see its purse increased from $750,000 to $1 million if a Grade I or Group 1 winner is declared an official starter. That purse boost could very well come from the presence of Gotham runner-up and GI Hopeful S. winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty). “Moving forward, going two turns in the Wood is the next logical spot,” said conditioner Greg Sacco. “He has the tactical speed to be forwardly placed and we know he doesn’t need the lead. I think he’ll be able to settle, and if it’s a paceless race he can make it. What we learned yesterday is a real big plus for Mind Control. We were really proud of him. He ran a dynamite race and Kiaran’s horse ran an exceptional race. It was a fun race to watch and we’re really happy with how he ran.” Gotham third-place finisher Instagrand (Into Mischief) finished evenly after chasing a hot pace in his first start since capturing the GII Best Pal S. at Del Mar in August. “It was a very good effort off the long layoff-we’re very pleased,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. “It showed a different dimension and that makes it all the much better.” Hollendorfer said he has yet to decide on a next start for Instagrand, but noted that “we’re nominated all over the country.” View the full article

To be told that a horse that won the G1 Triumph Hurdle five years ago is only reaching his peak now may seem a little preposterous but who more qualified to make a statement like that than one Gerry O’Brien, the breeder of the horse in question, Tiger Roll (Ire) (Authorized {Ire})? And who could argue, when the big-hearted but neatly made gelding blew away his rivals in the G2 Boyne Hurdle three weeks ago, a race Gordon Elliott was purely using to give the Michael O’Leary-owned star a pipe-opener ahead of potential repeat wins in both this week’s Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and the G3 Randox Health Grand National next month? “It’s the family, they just tend to get better with age,” insists O’Brien. “If you take Tiger Roll’s half-brother Azeemah (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), he wasn’t a spectacular 2-year-old, but he was better at three, then better again at four when he won the [G2] Lonsdale Cup and was second in the [G1] Irish St Leger and he continued to show high class form at five and six. They give everything and the mother was the same.” The mother O’Brien is referring to is 19-year-old Swiss Roll (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}), the only broodmare O’Brien owns. If you are going to have only one mare, then what a mare to own. O’Brien bred Swiss Roll himself out of On Air (Fr) (Chief Singer {GB}), a mare he bought in the early 1990s and one who would turn out to be a great producer in her own right. Swiss Roll got On Air off to a good start, winning twice for Tommy Stack, and she garnered a bit of valuable black-type when second in the Listed Vintage Crop S. at Navan in 2005. “She was good but she was a poor grubber and was fragile but she had a big heart. She loved a stiff track, she won in Galway and relished that hill,” recalls O’Brien. Incidentally, O’Brien is a retired vet and worked at Coolmore for years, which is how the initial mating with Entrepreneur came about. “It was Tom Lynch in Coolmore who advised me to use Entrepreneur in the first place,” he says. “I used to be in the car with Tom going around the farms and I asked him who the best-looking stallion was in Coolmore and his answer was Entrepreneur. He ended up not really making it as a stallion but it certainly worked out well with On Air.” A second date with Entrepreneur saw On Air produce a colt called Berenson (Ire) who O’Brien also raced. His career on the track was short-lived but he certainly made an impact. After winning a maiden at The Curragh first time out in 2004, he finished second in the G1 National S. before being purchased by Sheikh Mohammed. Unfortunately he never raced again. “It was a pity he went wrong as he could have been something else at three,” O’Brien reflects. That National S. began a series of links and threads that have continued into the next generation of the family. The winner of that race was none other than Dubawi (Ire), who was then chosen by O’Brien as an early mate for Swiss Roll. That pairing produced Azeemah (Ire), who was bought by John Ferguson as a foal on behalf of Godolphin. “The late Mick Buckley offered me a foal share in Dubawi and I guess having seen him beat Berenson at The Curragh I knew he was a high-class horse. I think it was his third season at stud so he was good value at the time and easier to get into than now. I also thought he would suit Swiss Roll physically. She is lanky and tall and he is burly so I thought it would be a good match.” Swiss Roll was sent back to Darley the following year to visit Derby winner Authorized (Ire) and the result was Tiger Roll, who was also bought by John Ferguson as a foal for 70,000gns. Time went by and there was no sign of Tiger Roll hitting the track, and when he was bought by Nigel Hawke for £10,000 out of the Darley horses-in-training draft at Goffs UK three years later, O’Brien’s optimism for the horse’s prospects was certainly tested. “He was bred stamina on stamina so he was never going to be sharp and precocious but still it wasn’t encouraging that he didn’t make the track for Godolphin given he wasn’t a big weak horse,” he says. Tiger Roll soon found his vocation and having easily won a juvenile hurdle on debut he was snapped up by current connections for £80,000 a month later. His subsequent exploits, which include three victories at the Cheltenham Festival over hurdles, fences and the cross-country course, have been well documented but there came a stage in Tiger Roll’s life when it looked like his career would go the way of many high-class, Flat-bred 4-year-old hurdlers who fizzle away into obscurity. But then he is trained by a gifted man in Gordon Elliott and a switch to fences has been the unlikely making of the horse. “Gordon has done an unbelievable job with him,” O’Brien says. “The jockeys, too, that have ridden him have been fantastic. I was amazed with Davy Russell in the Grand National last year. They showed it on ITV in slow motion when Tiger made a bad mistake and Davy lost an iron. He just casually reached down and put it back on his foot as a big fence loomed up. He didn’t panic and was so cool.” Apart from Tiger Roll, 2019 could be an interesting year for two of Swiss Roll’s other progeny. Her 4-year-old son of Teofilo (Ire) called Austrian School (Ire), is in training with Mark Johnston and he is beginning to creep towards ‘Cup’ standard on the Flat and given the family’s propensity for improving with age that path looks a distinct possibility. He won on debut as a 2-year-old and finished up last season rated 102. “He looks a right horse,” says O’Brien. “The Aussies have tried to buy him but his owner Jim Walker has resisted so far. Jim is an economist from Glasgow who is a professor of economics in Hong Kong and I asked him how he came up with the name and apparently the Austrian School of Economics was the gold standard for the profession in the 1930s and ’40s. This horse is a totally different model to Tiger Roll. He is a big imposing horse and was well over 16 hands as a yearling. No-one wanted him at the sales though. Jim Walker picked him out on pedigree and when Mark Johnston phoned him to say he’d bought him for 20 grand he couldn’t believe it and asked was there something wrong with him.” He continues, “It’s worth having a look at the rerun of Austrian School’s debut. He was so green, he missed the break, went around last, swung wide turning in and it was only in the last furlong that the penny dropped and he clicked into gear to win going away. He’s never been out of the money and I’m hoping he will come into his own this year.” O’Brien also has an unraced 3-year-old daughter of Teofilo (Ire) to look forward to following. She was bought by a former Coolmore colleague Eamon Phelan for €28,000 as a yearling and that looks to have been a fairly shrewd move given her lineage. “I’m delighted Eamon bought her, she is probably the best-looking horse the mare has produced. Eamon has given her plenty of time to mature and develop and she is in training with Joe Murphy in Fethard and I believe she is pleasing them.” O’Brien departed from his usual formula and sent the mare to speed influence Exceed And Excel (Aus) two years ago and has a yearling filly by him to offer at the sales later this year, but he reverted to the middle-distance approach that has served him and Swiss Roll so well so far and she is due again to Teofilo in April. An engaging character to talk to, O’Brien puts a lot of faith in nature when it comes to rearing his Thoroughbreds. Foals are left with their mother for far longer than is the norm in the industry with Swiss Roll and her yearling filly having been separated only recently. “I don’t like interfering too much. They get well fed with nuts and hay and I leave them together so they will have company. They’ve only just gone their separate ways as I send the mare to a friend for foaling and the filly has gone for some education as well,” he explains. “Breeding is really a lottery though and so many factors are involved. You could have a lovely horse to bring to the sales and he could cut himself in the horsebox on the way and the whole thing is scuppered. Similarly, it’s important that your horses go to good yards as that can be the difference between a mare making a name for herself and not. I’ve been lucky to have had some great days cheering on the likes of Tiger Roll but at the same time it’s certainly not a game for small boys, orphans or widows is it?” O’Brien won’t be at Prestbury Park this week to watch Tiger Roll attempt to land back-to-back Cross Country Chases under Keith Donoghue but he is planning a trip to Merseyside next month. “I’ve never been [to Aintree] before but the sponsors have kindly invited me. They sent me a nice trophy for his win last year which was a nice gesture. I take nothing for granted though and while he is favourite for his race this week anything can happen in jump racing. I just want him to come back safe each time and eventually enjoy a nice retirement back at Gigginstown House Stud. That’s the most important thing of all.” View the full article

With the troubles at Santa Anita, the season debut of champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the postponed Gll San Felipe S. was put on hold, but his sire is once again poised for another big year. Candy Ride (Ride the Rails), who stands at Lane’s End for $80,000, was #2 on the General Sire List by worldwide earnings in 2018 and 2017, #6 in 2016, and #5 in 2015 and 2014, and this year Game Winner is among the early favorites for the Gl Kentucky Derby and heads a group of promising 3-year-olds for his Argentine-bred sire that also includes Saturday’s Glll Honeybee S. winner at Oaklawn, Chocolate Kisses. Stallions from South America haven’t been particularly successful in North America, but Candy Ride, along with Forli (Arg) (Aristophanes {GB}) and Lord At War (Arg) (General {Fr}), is one of three notables that has been. It’s a guessing game to figure out why some horses flourish while others flail, but high-class runners with foreign, off-the-beaten-path, or obscure sires and families can sometimes benefit by mixing with the richer pedigrees and prominent sire lines of a different locale, and this is the case with Candy Ride. He has made his mark with the assistance of the preeminent lines of Storm Cat, A.P. Indy, and Mr. Prospector, which have yielded some of his best runners, including champion juveniles Game Winner (A.P. Indy mare) and Shared Belief (Storm Cat), Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Giant’s Causeway), and Grade l winner and proven young sire Twirling Candy (Chester House), who’s also at Lane’s End with his sire. Once a “nick” appears, it tends to get repeated by breeders, and a stallion can have a long run of success if it’s evident early. Candy Ride started his career at Hill ‘n’ Dale for $10,000 in 2005 and had three first-crop Grade l winners, two of which were from Storm Cat-line mares. So far there are 21 unrestricted black type winners bred on the Storm Cat cross, which is almost a quarter of the stallion’s 83 black type winners to date, and five of his 14 Grade l winners are also from Storm Cat-line mares. With the A.P. Indy line, Candy Ride has 10 unrestricted black type winners, including undefeated Grade l winner Mastery–at stud at Claiborne–in addition to Game Winner. It’s generally accepted among pedigree analysts that inbreeding to Mr. Prospector through a branch of Fappiano (Mr. Prospector) is one of the best ways to go, and Candy Ride has proved that maxim with 20 unrestricted black type winners from a multitude of Mr. Prospector-line strains, including Grade l winners Ascend (Silver Ghost), Twirling Candy, Separationofpowers (Empire Maker), and Leofric (Unbridled’s Song). Candy Ride traces to Fappiano through a far less-travelled path than Unbridled (Fappiano) and his sons Unbridled’s Song and Empire Maker. Ride the Rails was by the Fappiano horse Cryptoclearance, a top runner and a decent stallion but not one with lasting influence in tail-male, except for Candy Ride. It’s worth noting that Candy Ride is mixing well with the two prominent Fappiano branches of Empire Maker and Unbridled’s Song, and altogether there are nine Candy Ride black type winners, including Gun Runner, inbred to Fappiano. More notably, the lines of Storm Cat, A.P. Indy, and Mr. Prospector in total have yielded 51 (61%) of Candy Ride’s black type winners and 11 of his 14 Grade l winners. Conspicuously missing, obviously, are the Northern Dancer lines separate of Storm Cat, and Candy Ride has only one graded winner, Unified (Dixie Union), bred this way. Unified, like Twirling Candy, is also at stud at Lane’s End. Aside from Game Winner, a $110,000 Keeneland September yearling who worked five furlongs at Los Alamitos Sunday in preparation for a likely start in the Mar. 16 Gll Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Candy Ride is represented this year by the following promising 3-year-olds: Grade lll winner Vekoma (Speightstown), third in the Gll Fountain of Youth last weekend and a $135,000 Keeneland September sale purchase; Sparky Ville (Storm Cat), winner of the Gll San Vicente and a $170,000 RNA at Keeneland September; homebred ‘TDN Rising Star’ Desert Ride (Distorted Humor), a Fair Grounds maiden special winner from two starts; the aforementioned Grade lll winner Chocolate Kisses (Forest Wildcat), who was also fourth last year in the Gl Alcibiades S. and cost $410,000 at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga; Americandy (Quiet American), a January Fair Grounds maiden special winner from two starts and an $80,000 Keeneland September purchase; Ulele (Any Given Saturday), a January maiden special winner at Oaklawn, third in an AOC at the same track last month, and a $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale grad; Grade ll winner Liora (Giant’s Causeway), second in the Gll Rachel Alexandra S. at Fair Grounds last month and a $175,000 Keeneland September buy; Get the Prize (Giant’s Causeway), a debut February maiden special winner at Fair Grounds and a $125,000 Keeneland September yearling and a $410,000 OBS March 2-year-old; She’s a Problem (Forest Wildcat), a Gulfstream Park maiden special winner last month from two starts and a $40,000 Keeneland September yearling and a $100,000 OBS April 2-year-old; and Pyron (Tapit), a debut maiden special winner at Oaklawn last month and a $15,000 Fasig-Tipton Timonium 2-year-old. Note that these recent 3-year-old winners were all bred from either Storm Cat, A.P. Indy, or Mr. Prospector-line mares and weren’t particularly expensive sales horses, either. Game Winner, in retrospect, was a bargain at $110,000 on the second day at Keeneland, where Ben Glass, agent for Gary and Mary West, bought him; his vet passed the colt while those for a lot of other potential buyers didn’t. The same was probably true for several of the others listed above, including the bargain basement $15,000 2-year-old Pyron. Candy Ride Candy Ride twice failed the vet himself as a yearling before he was sold by his breeder to owner Gumercindo Alonzo for the equivalent of $12,000. His veterinary issues didn’t stop him from becoming a brilliant racehorse in Argentina, where he won all three of his races by wide margins and accounted for two Group 1 wins, including the prestigious Joaquin S. de Anchorena, a 1600-meter turf race at San Isidro that he won in 1:31.01. Off this form, Alonzo sold Candy Ride to Sid and Jenny Craig for a reported $900,000. For the Craigs and trainer Ron McAnally, who’d had prior success from Argentina together with Grade l winners Paseana (Arg) (Ahmad {Arg}) and Different (Arg) (Candy Stripes), Candy Ride won another three races in the United States, led by the Gl Pacific Classic at Del Mar over Medaglia d’Oro in track-record time of 1:59.11. Feet and ankle issues finally ended his career and he went to stud at Hill ‘n’ Dale, where he remained until he was moved to Lane’s End for the 2010 breeding season. Candy Ride, like Different, was bred by Alejandro and Julio Menditeguy’s Haras Abolengo. The Menditeguy family has deep roots in Argentina’s breeding community. The patriarch, Julio Menditeguy (grandfather of Alejandro and Julio), established Haras El Turf–home of top sire Pronto, among others–in 1908, and upon his death in 1930, the farm passed to his sons Julio and Charly. The latter’s family still runs El Turf, but the former’s family established Abolengo in 1966 and today the farm is run by yet another Julio Menditeguy–the patriarch’s great-grandson. I visited Abolengo several times during the early 1990s when Alejandro Menditeguy–the current owner’s uncle–was at the helm, and he ran the farm in the typical South American fashion of breeding the daughters of one established farm stallion to the new horse in residence. This is illustrative of how nicks were originally developed, and the concept was practiced in this country, too, years ago, when more big-time owner-breeders populated the sport than now. The Bold Ruler/Princequillo cross at Claiborne that was responsible for Secretariat is an example of a nick that succeeded this way, while the Buckpasser/Bold Ruler cross at the same farm is an example of a “negative nick.” It produced only one top runner, 1000 Guineas winner Quick as Lightning. When Abolengo started off Ride the Rails at stud, the farm already had daughters of its Blushing Groom horse Candy Stripes at the ready, and Candy Ride is out of one them, Candy Girl (Arg)–an unraced sister to the top Abolengo-bred colt City West (Arg), winner of the G1 Argentine Guineas and Derby equivalents. Improbably, the product of this mating is now one of the best stallions at stud in North America. Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks. View the full article

The thawing of strict quarantine restrictions between Australia and Hong Kong looks set to pay immediate dividends for FWD Champions Day next month.A range of Australian horses have the meeting on their radar with three Group Ones on the day.Multiple Group One winner Santa Ana Lane headlines the list of possibles with connections exploring the option of travelling to Hong Kong for the HK$16 million Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize before going to Royal Ascot.Assistant trainer Sam Freedman… View the full article

Regan Bayliss proved he has the fortitude to survive in the pressure cooker that is Hong Kong racing with a dream double at Sha Tin on Sunday.Only two weeks after his first ride in Hong Kong, the 21-year-old broke through with his first winner aboard Rise High and had his second just over an hour later when Champion’s Way continued his unbeaten run.With the crack ride on the John Size-trained Champion’s Way and a host of other chances, the rising star came into the meeting knowing he had to… View the full article