Wandering Eyes

Racing fans were really spoiled by all the top tier racing from Royal Ascot last week so you could be forgiven for assuming this weekend would be thin on quality and quantity. Although nothing could be further from the truth, there is Group action from Newmarket, the Northumberland Plate takes pride of place at Newcastle and its Irish Derby weekend at the Curragh. Higher Power winning the 2017 Northumberland PlateNorthumberland Plate This 2-mile 56-yard contest is the flagship flat race at Newcastle and is always a target for smart stayers that may have “Cup” aspirations. Top stayers such as Overturn, Angel Gabrial and Quest For More have all won this fiercely competitive handicap in recent years. Among the leading fancies for this year’s renewal are Withhold, Amazing Red and last year’s winner Higher Power. Withhold hasn’t been seen since landing a massive gamble in the Cesarewitch for owner Tony Bloom and champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa. Robert Winston takes over the reins this time with SDS on duty at the Curragh to partner Dee Ex Bee in the Irish Derby. Roger Charlton will have left no stone unturned in his pursuit to land back to back top staying handicaps with this improving son of Champs Elysees so a 259-day absence wouldn’t bother me. He will face stiff opposition, in particular from the ante-post “money” horse Amazing Red who won a 1-mile 6f handicap impressively at Newmarket under Frankie Dettori earlier this month. Ed Dunlop’s inmate has been trimmed from 25’s into 7/1 in recent days and looks primed for a huge run. Higher Power is looking to defend his crown and become the first horse to win back to back victories in recent times. He runs off just 1 pound higher than last year and with regular jockey Tom Queally in the plate, a strong bid looks assured. Of the outsiders, I quite like the chances of Byron Flyer who hails from the in-form Ian Williams yard looks to hold strong claims of landing this prestigious handicap following some consistent runs in top handicaps over the past two seasons. The son of Byron hasn’t won since early 2017 but a host of runner-up placings suggests if he keeps knocking on the door a big handicap surely lies in waiting for this likeable gelding. Selection: Higher Power Outsider: Byron Flyer 2000 Guineas Winner Saxon WarriorIrish Derby For those of you who missed the Irish Derby Preview, you can read it here. A few days on my views haven’t changed, I think that Saxon Warrior is justifiably favourite and will take a lot of beating but I predict that O’Brien Jnr will upset the apple tart with the improving Latrobe. Latrobe who was runner-up to Platinum Warrior in the Gallinule has taken four runs to shed his maiden tag but he was runner-up to some quality colts and looks the overpriced colt. Duke of FirenzeRockingham Handicap This five-furlong handicap is going to be one of the quickest contests that’ll be run on the Curragh this year. The home brigade will be hard pushed to keep the €100,000 prize in Ireland with a host of British raiders looking to plunder this ultra-competitive handicap. David Marnane will be looking to continue his hot streak following his victory in the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot by claiming the Rockingham with the improving Alfredo Arcano. This progressive four-year-old was a somewhat snug winner over course and distance when last seen earlier this month and with his favoured, underfoot conditions the son of Arcano looks sure to run a big race. Ger Lyons’s lightly raced Blue Uluru who’s a daughter of Choisir looks set to start favourite on the back of two recent wins at Navan and The Curragh. Blue Uluru has won four of her eight career starts to date, three of which were over the minimum distance. She seems to have been laid out for the race and no doubt will give her backers a run for their money. One of the old-timers in the race that shouldn’t be overlooked is Duke of Firenze. Dave Griffiths nine year old has been a real stalwart of the yard and although he hasn’t won since May last year, he showed that he still retains a lot of his ability with a fourth-place finish in the Prix De L’Abbaye last season. Duke of Firenze now runs off a mark of 102 which I think he will prove is quite lenient considering he’s been slightly unlucky in his most recent runs and has the back class to exploit it. Selection: Blue Uluru Outsider: Duke of Firenze Beckford winning last season’s Railway StakesThe Group 2 Railway Stakes looks like a very interesting race on Saturday, where surprisingly Aidan O’Brien has only trained one of the last eight winners. Land Force looks his most likely candidate to bring the prize back to Ballydoyle, having run really well in the Norfolk last week. He was actually a bog eye catcher for me which those of you who read The Royal Review will already know. Make sure to check out all of RaceBets offers for this weekend here The post Weekend Preview – Northumberland Plate, Irish Derby & More appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

About a month after members of the California Horse Racing Board promised changes to the composition of stewards on the Southern California racing circuit, changes have indeed been made ahead of the upcoming summer meet at Del Mar. View the full article

AK Lim 'Kean' to do well at new Kranji experience View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings June 29 View the full article

Horses' body weights June 29 View the full article

Early scratchings June 29 View the full article

D'Great Boss dictates terms even up in class View the full article

Back-in-form Lord O'Reilly thrives on the Poly View the full article

Nothing can beat Good News like a Secret Win at juicy odds View the full article

Tan glad Bossy horse has won again View the full article

Race 2 void after false start View the full article

TIGHT TEN (c, 2, Tapit–Devils Humor, by Distorted Humor) dueled fellow firster Mr. Ankey (Into Mischief) through a swift opening quarter in :21.67. Still neck-and-neck with that rival as they hit the half in :45.66, the 7-2 shot shook free in the lane and scored a facile five-length victory, despite showing some greenness when drifting into the rail. The final time was 1:10.83. Ready and Rich (Super Saver) filled the place spot. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steve Asmussen. View the full article

Officials at Breeders’ Cup have announced the names of four celebrity Breeders’ Cup Ambassadors for this year’s event to be held at Churchill Downs Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3. The newest BC Ambassadors include television host Chris Harrison, an anchor in the early days of the Television Games Network (TVG); National Hockey League defenseman Erik R. Johnson of the Colorado Avalanche; Jamie-Lynn Sigler, an actress best known for her work on The Sopranos, but also a daughter of the principal owners of the New York-based Winning Move Stable; and Michael Owen, a former English footballer and Thoroughbred owner and breeder who campaigned the popular, but ill-fated stayer Brown Panther (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}). “I am excited to join a fantastic list of individuals as a Breeders’ Cup Ambassador,” said Harrison. “I’ve attended Breeders’ Cup, and I really enjoy watching the outstanding showcase of international Thoroughbred racing, as well as the fun and energy at the event. I look forward to supporting the Breeders’ Cup for many years to come.” Added Breeders’ Cup President and CEO Craig Fravel: “We are excited to introduce a new group of Ambassadors to the Breeders’ Cup family. From actors to former football players, these new ambassadors diversify our program with their many talents and backgrounds, and their shared passion for Breeders’ Cup and horse racing enriches the fan experience. We look forward to sharing their enthusiasm with fans across the world.” View the full article

After going postward in Saturday’s GIII Bashford Manor S. at Churchill Downs, a pair of juveniles trained by transplanted Irishmen will head across the state for an expected engagement in the following week’s Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale in Lexington. John Ennis will saddle Weiland (Yes It’s True), a 6-1 shot in the six-furlong race, while Paul McEntee will saddle 30-1 outsider Baytown Glory (Morning Line). Weiland, who will be offered as hip 547 through the Paramount Sales consignment at the July sale, is already a stakes winner under the Twin Spires, having broken his maiden in the May 3 Kentucky Juvenile S. (video). “He’s doing fantastic,” Ennis said of Weiland, who gave him his first stakes win in the Juvenile. “I couldn’t be happier with him. He’s a super nice horse.” Ennis purchased Weiland for $7,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale and the colt races in his colors. “I didn’t look at him at the barn,” the former jockey said of Weiland. “He just caught my eye in the back ring. He had a great walk, was very athletic, he was correct, and he had a great eye. With yearlings, I think a big thing is their minds, and he had a great mind. To this day he has a fantastic, fantastic mind. I think that is a big part of his success.” Weiland opened his career with a fifth-place effort at Keeneland Apr. 18. He was 19-1 longshot when he gutted out a narrow victory in the Juvenile S. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little bit of a shock,” Ennis said of the stakes win. “He improved massively from his first start. He’s a pretty big horse. Once he figured it out after his first run, he went on and won. It was fantastic.” When he purchased Weiland as a yearling, Ennis fully expected to resell the youngster as a juvenile. “I was buying yearlings myself to get them started at Keeneland,” he explained. “And if they were precocious enough, win at Keeneland and maybe sell them then. Or get a good form on them and then go back to the July sale.” Regardless of where Weiland finishes Saturday, he will keep his engagement in the July sale, according to Ennis. “I own him all myself and whether he finishes first or last, he’s going to Fasig-Tipton,” Ennis said. “He’s a stakes winner already and it would be great if he went there as a graded stakes winner as well. But he is going there regardless. This is what I bought him to do. He’s perfectly sound. He runs Lasix free. He is a clean, sound, good-looking horse. And there are more yearlings to be bought in September and this fall.” Ennis has been training for only the last five years or so and maintains a small stable based at Keeneland. “I never have more than eight or 10 horses,” he said. “So it’s hard to get a stakes horse when you only have a small number. I used to be a jockey back in Europe and I came here maybe seven years ago and I was galloping here first. And it developed into training myself.” Ennis said the July sale is a perfect venue for both buyers and sellers. “The horses of racing age is a super sale for buyers and sellers because you are getting horses who are safe, sound, and like Weiland, has the form to go to Saratoga if they want him to,” he said. Weiland’s stablemate Payntermaniac (Paynter) will go postward in Saturday’s Debutante S. at Churchill Downs. The filly, owned by Coco Jean Stable, is catalogued as hip 498 at the July sale. “She is 30-1 in the Debutante, but she doesn’t deserve any part of that,” Ennis said. “She ran first-time out at Churchill and she got beat three or four lengths by a filly [Eyeinthesky] who just got beat [when third] in the Astoria at Belmont. She is a correct filly, very, very fast and she will definitely outrun her odds on Saturday.” Another European import, trainer Paul McEntee will look for his first graded stakes winner when he saddles Baytown Glory in the Bashford Manor. The colt (hip 407), along with stablemate Baytown Macca (Creative Cause) (hip 408), is catalogued to sell at the July sale through the Ballysax Bloodstock of McEntee’s brother, Carl. Baytown Macca, entered in Thursday’s fifth race at Churchill Downs, was third in the Kentucky Juvenile S. and McEntee admitted it was a toss up which colt would be pointed towards the Bashford Manor. “I worked them both two weeks ago last Saturday and Baytown Glory worked a lot better,” McEntee said. “Then last Saturday, I had a horse running at Churchill and I brought Glory over there for a breeze over the track. My brother organized for him to breeze with three of Dale Romans’s 2-year-olds and he breezed very well over the track. So I decided to put him in it.” McEntee acquired Baytown Glory, who RNA’d for $1,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale, privately over the winter. The colt was seventh in his debut at Keeneland Apr. 25 before graduating by 2 1/4 lengths at Indiana Grand May 1 (video). “I had met [Darby Dan general manager] Robert Hammond who obviously worked with Carl and I met up with him over the last three or four years that Carl was working at Darby Dan,” McEntee said. “He told me there was a 2-year-old that I might be interested in who was down with Eddie Woods in Florida. He asked me if I was interested and I said I would go and have a look at him. I went down to see him on the farm and acquired him privately.” McEntee continued, “He is a really nice horse and when he ran first-time out at Keeneland, I’d only literally had him a month and I was just giving him a race to get experience. He got bashed coming out of the gate and he had a really rough race. Then I ran him back only six days later in Indiana and I told the jockey to be very easy on him. So even though the time was slow, he won it very impressively. He won by four lengths and the jockey never even smacked him or pushed him. It was only a couple of weeks after that he was truly 100% fit.” McEntee said he acquired Baytown Glory with an eye towards a possible resale. “In an ideal world, I’ll normally try to make the sale,” McEntee said. “That’s what I’ve done the last two or three years. I’ve bought them at Fasig or Keeneland, getting them going and then moving them on elsewhere. This year, with my brother going out on his own [with Ballysax Bloodstock], he and I spoke about getting a 2-year-old stakes placed and selling him at the July sale. Normally 2-year-olds do fairly well there.” Now in its fifth year, the July Horses of Racing Age Sale is a convenient place for trainers like McEntee to market their horses. “Fasig is just down the road,” McEntee said. “I don’t have to change any of their training plans and they can train up to the sale. If they sell for what I want them to sell for, then they will move on to a different owner and if they don’t, they’ll carry on in their training and future career.” McEntee, who recently purchased a farm in Scott County, has been training in the U.S. for the last seven years. He had his first stakes winner when Lay Line Force won 2011 Sophomore Sprint S. at Mountaineer. “I was over here in the early ’90s and I worked for Christophe Clement for 2 1/2 years,” McEntee said. “Then I moved back to England and worked with my dad who trained in England until he passed away.” McEntee is a fifth generation horseman and said there was never any doubt his future was in the racing industry. “All four brothers work in the Thoroughbred industry,” McEntee said. “The only one of our family who isn’t in racing is my sister and she works in banking.” He added with a laugh, “I suppose she was the only one with a bit of common sense.” Should Baytown Glory provide him with his first graded stakes victory, would it be more difficult to offer the colt at auction? “There is definitely an emotional attachment,” McEntee said. “But I’ve just purchased my own farm and obviously it’s all about doing business. So I would love to see him go on and be successful for somebody else, to be perfectly honest. And then reinvest the money myself this fall in September and October in more yearlings.” The Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale will be held Monday, July 9 beginning at 4 p.m. The company will host its July Selected Yearlings Sale the following day, beginning at 10 a.m. View the full article

I had no idea, back in March, that some folks in casual attire at Craig Bernick’s annual crawfish boil at Glen Hill Farm in Ocala would be on television or social media three months later in morning suits and top hats at Royal Ascot–except for Wesley Ward, of course. Ward’s name has become synonymous with Royal Ascot, just as it once was with the Fairplex fair and now is with early 2-year-olds at Keeneland. I met Ward for the first time that evening outside the pristine mid-century modern home where Leonard Lavin lived at Glen Hill. He was nursing a glass of red wine and was surrounded by a group of young college women who’d started a racing partnership with Bernick’s help, and they were asking him questions and treating him like a rock star. Ward was modest, perhaps mildly embarrassed by the attention, but pleasantly acquiesced. He seemed to have a permanent smile on his face. Later, he welcomed my introduction, and when I mentioned a mutual friend, he quickly snapped a selfie of us together and shot it off to her. It was easy to like the guy right away. He was smart, straightforward, had no airs and seemed genuine. I’d paid close attention to him in New York in 1984 when he won an Eclipse as the leading apprentice rider and later I’d casually followed his training career as it developed in the 1990s in California. What had particularly struck me through the years was that Ward was starting to train homebreds, too. It’s not often that an ex-jockey becomes a trainer, owner, and breeder. One of Ward’s notable homebreds was the filly Bear Fan (Pine Bluff), co-owned with Peter Fan, and the arc of her racing career foreshadowed some elements of Ward’s Royal Ascot forays: breed a horse, take a partner, and ship to a place far from home where you can win a prestigious race and add to the horse’s value. A California-bred foal of 1999, Bear Fan won her debut in typical Ward fashion at Hollywood Park, albeit at 3 instead of 2; raced against state-breds early on; and was tried against graded California fillies later, finishing second in the GIII Desert Stormer H. at Hollywood. She was then shipped across the country from California to Maryland to target Laurel’s GII Barbara Fritchie H., which she won, in 2004. The mare would add the Grade 2 Genuine Risk and Vagrancy Handicaps at Belmont (by a combined 14 lengths) to her resume that year and retired with a record of eight wins from 16 starts and $808,150 in earnings. These days, Ward said, he owns about 25 broodmares and is still passionate about breeding. He foals his mares in Kentucky now and is hands-on through every stage of their development, and slowly he’s been upgrading the quality of stallions he uses. Early on, he stood a few sires himself, horses like Bring the Heat (In Excess {Ire})–sire of two graded stakes winners Lost Bust and Madman Diaries, bred or co-bred by Ward–and Iqbaal (Medaglia d’Oro). But now his homebreds are by horses like Scat Daddy and Distorted Humor, the sire of Ward’s Grade III winner Happy Like a Fool, who now races for Merriebelle Stable and Coolmore. He noted that he uses several sires at Ashford, including American Pharoah, for whom he has high hopes. Homebreds alone can’t wholly sustain Ward’s operation, so he’s fortunate to have a steady stream of owners and investors. Some of them from Ward’s orbit at the Glen Hill crawfish boil who later reappeared at Royal Ascot included Gatewood Bell of Cromwell Bloodstock and Hat Creek Racing; Bradley Weisbord, agent for the ubiquitous Sol Kumin; Walker Hancock of Claiborne; and Charlie O’Connor of Coolmore’s Ashford. About 20-odd years ago, Ward told me recently, he’d forged a relationship with Coolmore’s Paul Shanahan under adverse conditions. Ward had “overbred a mare” to an Ashford stallion and couldn’t pay the fee when it came due and asked Shanahan for some extra time to pay off the debt. Shanahan granted it. Ward eventually paid it off, but was impressed and appreciative that Shanahan, without knowing him–a small-time trainer at the time–had agreed to the arrangement. “He’s a great friend of mine, a guy that’s really, really helped me to be successful. He’s been wonderful,” Ward said. That Coolmore connection has paid mutual dividends through the years, notably with Acapulco (Scat Daddy), winner of the G2 Queen Mary S. for Coolmore, No Nay Never (Scat Daddy), winner of the G1 Prix Morny for Coolmore and Ice Wine Stable, and Hootenany (Quality Road), winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for Coolmore. Ward also raced his homebred Pablo Del Monte (Giant’s Causeway) in partnership with Coolmore and was third with the colt in the 2014 GI Blue Grass S. Both No Nay Never and Hootenanny were also Royal Ascot winners for Ward along with Acapulco. No Nay Never is now off to a hot start at stud with 10 winners–including one trained by Ward–from his first crop this year and is a potential big-time stallion for Coolmore as a son of Scat Daddy – also the sire of Ward’s marquee filly, Stonestreet Farm’s European champion and Royal Ascot Group 1 winner Lady Aurelia, winner of the King’s Stand in 2017. Gatewood Bell, son of Darley’s Jimmy Bell, purchased both No Nay Never for $95,000 at Keeneland September 2012 and Hootenany for $75,000 at Keeneland September 2013 under his Cromwell Bloodstock banner. Cromwell also purchased Ward’s Grade 2 winner Bound for Nowhere (The Factor), who was a narrowly beaten third in the G1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot this year, for $310,000 at Keeneland September 2015, and at the same sale, Cromwell also signed the $130,000 ticket for the graded-placed stakes winner Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy), a winner at Royal Ascot last year for Hat Creek Racing, a partnership that’s growing in popularity each year with Bell’s prowess for selecting stock at reasonable prices and Ward’s development of them. “Gatewood is very good at what he does,” said Claiborne’s Bernie Sams, who was also at Royal Ascot this year with Walker Hancock to see the Hat Creek 2-year-old Chelsea Cloisters (First Samurai) run unplaced in the G2 Queen Mary S. Bradley Weisbord was at Royal Ascot with Kumin, whose wife Elizabeth is now a co-owner of Undrafted (Purim) with Wes Welker after Weisbord agented the deal. Undrafted was initially purchased for $50,000 at Keeneland September 2011 by Bell’s Hat Creek Racing and won the Diamond Jubilee for Ward and Welker at Royal Ascot in 2015. Ocala to Keeneland Ward didn’t have time for a formal education coming up, but his intelligence is apparent when speaking to him. He’s articulate, has a thirst for knowledge, and keeps calibrating his operation to yield maximum results. Because he’s a practical horseman with experience in all facets of the game, he decided recently to centralize his operations in Kentucky, at Keeneland’s Barn 68 and at the 100-acre farm across the road from Keeneland that he leases from Brad Kelley, whose Calumet Farm is nearby. Ward still sends his Kentucky-bred weanlings to his Ward Ranch in Ocala to develop, but in a departure from the past and a move that’s distinctly against the grain, he brings his yearlings back to the Kentucky farm in the fall to break and train. He started this regimen last year, he said, so he could gallop them over the forgiving grass fields of his farm to get a better idea of how they travelled over turf, and also because he could have access to Turfway Park to breeze them on the all-weather over the winter–a better preparation altogether for his 2-year-olds for Royal Ascot, he said. He should know, because he’s the master of preparing juveniles in North America to strike on debut. Ward noted that training 2-year-olds is an art form and that in Florida there’s an inclination sometimes to “overtrain” a horse. He said his fastest 2-year-old this year, the filly Jo Jo Air (Scat Daddy)–a $325,000 Keeneland September purchase by Andrew Farm and Mrs. Charlie O’Connor that Ward kept in Florida–came up with a shin after Joel Rosario worked her an eighth of a mile faster than Ward had wanted on the dirt at Palm Meadows. “It only takes one mistake,” Ward noted. Because of the shin, she missed Royal Ascot, but Ward is excited that she’s back on track and still maintains that she’s the fastest juvenile in the barn–and that includes the Royal Ascot winner Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby). The latter was purchased for $200,000 at the OBS March sale by newcomer Breeze Easy LLC and is one of two Royal Ascot winners Ward has had that have exited juvenile sales–the other was Acapulco, purchased at the same sale in 2015 for $750,000 by M.V. Magnier–but in general he said the 2-year-old sales are too taxing on young horses for Royal Ascot. “Shang Shang Shang and Acapulco were extremely sound and trained on,” Ward noted, but he said they were exceptions and that most graduates of 2-year-old sales need some time off after purchase and are generally not good prospects for Royal Ascot. With 10 winners and counting at Royal Ascot, Ward has established himself as a serious horseman on both sides of the Atlantic. And, yes, Ward is the master trainer of 2-year-olds in North America, but don’t pigeonhole him there, either. He’s had plenty of horses that have trained on, and that list includes Lady Aurelia and Undrafted, along with others such as Grade I winner Judy the Beauty (Ghostzapper), a filly Ward purchased for $20,000 at Keeneland September 2010 and won more than $1.8 million with over five seasons. Champion female sprinter of 2014, Judy the Beauty gave Ward another distinction–the first Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey to own and train an Eclipse Award winner. Ward’s world is in good order right now. View the full article

Grade I winner Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), bought into and transferred between barns since running third as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks, will make her first start for new connections in Saturday’s GII Mother Goose S. at Belmont. Originally bought by Jeff Bloom for $80,000 at OBS April and campaigned under his Bloom Racing Stable along with Allen Racing, the dark bay was two noses from being undefeated going into the Oaks. Just missing at 21-1 on debut Oct. 27 at Santa Anita behind subsequent Grade I winner Dream Tree (Uncle Mo), she again was nipped by that foe in the Desi Arnaz S. Nov. 18 at Del Mar before reeling off three straight convincing tallies in the GII Santa Ynez S., GIII Santa Ysabel S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks over the winter and early spring. Making a strong closing bid into a modest pace in the Oaks, the dark bay flattened out in the final furlong and just held for the show spot. Moved shortly after from the California-based Bill Spawr outfit to Steve Asmussen in order to be closer to the big 3-year-old filly races this summer, Midnight Bisou has clocked five breezes at Churchill for her new conditioner in the interim, highlighted by a six-furlong spin in 1:12 flat (1/2) June 18. It was announced this week that Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables has purchased a minority interest in the filly. Her chief competition appears to come from Gary Barber and John Oxley’s exciting, undefeated Road to Victory (Quality Road). Bought for $500,000 at the same OBS April sale, the bay debuted with an open-lengths success on the Woodbine lawn Oct. 1 and repeated with a game victory in the GII Golden Rod S., in the process earning the distinction of being the only horse in eight starts so far to topple Oaks heroine Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). Road to Victory made her belated 3-year-old debut with a workmanlike tally in the Alywow S. back on the Woodbine turf June 9. “We just gave her some time off and she grew up,” trainer Mark Casse told the NYRA notes team. “It took a little longer to get her back than I thought it would. When I knew we couldn’t make the Kentucky Oaks, we came up with Plan B for the Alywood and the Mother Goose. We’ve been extremely happy with how she’s trained since arriving at Belmont.” Courtlandt Farms’ My Miss Lilly (Tapit) looks to bounce back after a poor Oaks run. Picked up for $670,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, the gray scored a hard-fought win in the GII Gazelle S. Apr. 7 at Aqueduct before finishing a no-factor 11th under the Twin Spires. StarLadies Racing’s Mo Smart (Uncle Mo) is two-for-two by a combined 20 1/2 lengths to begin her career, but steps way up in class for this first stakes attempt. View the full article

Aiden Murphy had his name on the tickets for the top three lots during the second and final session of the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale on Thursday, all in conjunction with different buyers. The top-priced lot was a €365,000 Milan (GB) 3-year-old gelding (lot 462), signed for by Murphy on behalf of MV Magnier. That marked a record high price for the sale. “MV has been supporting the market all week,” Murphy said. “He is a seriously lovely horse and from a hugely successful producer.” The gelding was sold by John Dwan’s Ballyreddin Stud, which had bought him for €40,000 as a foal. “He was a lovely, scopey foal and I loved him–he has a great walk too,” said Dwan. “[Half-brother] Altior had just won his first hurdle, but has obviously done so much since then. This horse has also blossomed since. This has exceeded my expectations.” Murphy signed for a 3-year-old Martaline (GB) gelding (lot 448) at €240,000, and that one is set to go into training with his son Olly. Murphy also signed for lot 444, a 3-year-old gelding named No Risk des Flos (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}), for €200,000; those three were the only offerings to top the €200,000 mark during the session. The sale as a whole ultimately returned a clearance rate of 85%, which was on par with last year, while the average and median both held steady as well: the median was down 2% at €42,000, while the average remained the same at €51,558. View the full article

As usual, two-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown is too stocked with turf talent to afford himself the luxury of trying not to beat himself. View the full article

Credit for the 7-year-old's resurgence this season must go to Brad Cox, who has the 7-year-old son of Value Plus primed for a return to top company in the $250,000 Highlander Stakes (G1T) June 30 at Woodbine. View the full article

5.25 Curragh, Mdn, €17,000, 2yo, f, 7fT GODDESS (Camelot {GB}) is one of three Ballydoyle fillies in this maiden won by the stable’s Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2015 and 12 months ago with Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A half-sister to the stable’s 2014 G1 Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and her G2 Rockfel S.-winning sister Wading (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), the descendant of Urban Sea (Miswaki) is therefore connected to ‘TDN Rising Star’ Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}). Also debuting for the yard is Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-sister to the Group 1-winning duo Hydrangea (Ire) and The United States (Ire). 6.10 Newmarket, Cond, £8,000, 2yo, f, 6fT LOVER’S KNOT (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) debuts for Charlie Appleby and is a half-sister to the G1 Jebel Hatta winner Blair House (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and Listed Newmarket S. winner Key Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Faced with seven rivals, the relative of the late G1 Queen Elizabeth II S.-winning sire Poet’s Voice (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) should be a warm order. View the full article

Curlin's Approval will seek to become the first horse to win the Princess Rooney Stakes (G2) in back-to-back years since Gold Mover in 2002-03 View the full article

The British Horseracing Authority will on Friday send owners a voluntary online survey to help investigate and better understand the aftercare of Thoroughbreds. This follows on from a survey sent to trainers earlier in the year and is an important part of developing the BHA’s equine health and welfare strategy, part of which is to improve traceability of Thoroughbred racehorses from foals to beyond retirement. David Sykes, director of Equine Health and Welfare at the BHA, said, “The survey we sent to trainers earlier in the year proved to be an extremely useful source of information regarding what happens to horses when they leave training yards, and I’m sure we will get plenty of information from owners too which will inform future work on improving racehorse traceability.” If you are an owner and do not receive a survey or would like a hard copy, email equine@britishhorseracing.com. View the full article

Four impressive wins in four starts have stamped Breeze Easy LLC’s Imprimis (Broken Vow) as a budding star in the turf sprint division, but the gelding will get easily his toughest test yet, along with a chance to prove he’s the real deal, as the favorite in Saturday’s GI Highlander S. at Woodbine, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier race for the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Debuting Feb. 2 at Gulfstream, the dark bay rallied to a 33-1 upset, and he repeated in a Florida-bred allowance there 26 days later. Privately purchased from owner/breeder Craig Wheeler after that effort, Imprimis quickly proved a shrewd purchase when romping in an open allowance in Hallandale Mar. 24. Getting his first stake opportunity in the boggy-going Turf Sprint S. May 18 at Pimlico, he was more than up to the task, running away in the stretch to a powerful 5 1/4-length score. The Highlander, however, represents a steep class hike, as three graded stakes winners and several other up-and-comers await Imprimis as part of a nine-pronged challenge to the undefeated 4-year-old. He will also be stretching out past five furlongs for the first time in the six-panel test. Madaket Stables and Ten Strike Racing’s Long On Value (Value Plus) returns to the scene of one of his career-best efforts. The two-time graded winner, who just missed when second by a nose in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint last spring, finished third to champion World Approval (Northern Afleet) despite a nightmare trip in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile Sept. 16. The bay went through the ring at Keeneland November after that, selling to these connections for $100,000, and made a winning debut for them and new trainer Brad Cox with a last-to-first tally in the Mighty Beau S. June 2 at Churchill. “We liked the horse; we knew he had some back class,” Cox told the Woodbine notes team. “Obviously, he’s accomplished a lot and he’s versatile, anywhere from five-eighths of a mile to one mile. He came out of [the Mighty Beau] in outstanding shape, and he’s had two really nice breezes at Churchill.” Live Oak Plantation’s Holding Gold (Lonhro {Aus}), upset winner of the GII Shakertown S. last spring, has scored just once in his subsequent eight starts, but hinted at rounding back into form when running fourth, beaten just over a length, in the GII Jaipur S. June 9 at Belmont. A pair of female runners entered against the boys merit long looks. Heider Family Stables’ Lady Alexandra (More Than Ready), also purchased after her career started at last summer’s Fasig-Tipton July sale, exploded forward with a sharp victory in the License Fee S. last out Apr. 29 at Belmont. The 104 Beyer she earned that day is tied for highest in the field. Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s Belvoir Bay (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) ships in from Southern California off a three-race winning streak, including a tally against males in the GIII San Simeon S. Apr. 29 at Santa Anita. Ontoawinner and Partner’s Corinthia Knight (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) adds some foreign flavor as the field’s lone 3-year-old. Shipping over to run fourth at 24-1 in the Juvenile Turf Sprint S. last November at Del Mar, the chestnut reeled off four consecutive triumphs over synthetic ground to start his sophomore season in Europe before fading to finish ninth as the favorite in the grassy G3 Prix Texanita last out May 9 at Maisons-Laffitte. “France was a bit of a disaster,” said trainer Archie Watson. “We took him over and the ground was slated to be good to firm, but they watered and it was quite sticky ground really. He obviously has very good form on the all-weather but on the turf, he wants it firm.” View the full article

Dixie Moon, who went unsold as a yearling for $150,000, seeks to defeat males in the Queen's Plate June 30 at Woodbine. 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, including the return to graded company for a talented 3-year-old son of Stormy Atlantic: Saturday, June 30, 2018 5th-CKO, ¥13,400,000 ($121k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT SEEDIG KAZUMA (JPN) (c, 2, (Midnight Lute–Crisis of Spirit, by Vindication) is the first Japanese-bred produce for his stakes-winning dam, a half-sister to GSW Govenor Charlie (Midnight Lute), who like his sire was raced by Mike Pegram and was trained by Bob Baffert. Acquired in utero for $120K at KEENOV in 2015, the dark bay counts Pegram’s two-time Eclipse Award winner Silverbulletday (Silver Deputy) as his third dam. The latter is also the granddam of 2018 freshman sire Shakin It Up (Midnight Lute). B-Mishima Bokujo Sunday, July 1, 2018 7th-HAK, ¥14,250,000 ($129k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1000m TEN MOHS (f, 4, Speightstown–Lemon Kiss, by Lemon Drop Kid) cost $230K at KEESEP in 2015 and has earned her keep with a pair of wins and four minor placings from 10 career runs. The half-sister to GISW Lochte (Medaglia d’Oro) and to MSP Inscom (Distorted Humor), whose dam is a full-sister to MGSW Kiss the Kid, looks to snap a five-race skid, having finished a latest third over course and distance June 17 (gate 4). B-Mark Gittins (KY) 11th-CKO, CBC Sho-G3, ¥74,600,000 ($675k), 3yo/up, 1200mT ASAKUSA GENKI (c, 3, Stormy Atlantic–Amelia, by Dixieland Band), a Group 3 winner at two, returned from a brief freshening to complete a US-bred 1-2 behind the talented Mr Melody (Scat Daddy) in the G3 Falcon S. Mar. 17 (see below, gate 7). He missed the break from gate 2 when a fast-finishing fifth in the Listed Aoi S. at Kyoto May 26 (video) and faces elders for the first time here. A $210K KEESEP acquisition, the bay is one of five black-type winners for his dam, including Japanese GSW Rabbit Run (Tapit), US MGSW Rainha Da Bateria (Broken Vow) and GSW Kindergarden Kid (Dynaformer). Also among his siblings is GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up He’s Had Enough (Tapit). His third dam is blue-hen Courtly Dee (Never Bend). B-Alexander-Groves-Matz (KY) View the full article