Wandering Eyes

Super Fortune fresh and ready for next race View the full article

Clements not down for the Count View the full article

The Illinois Racing Board June 26 approved creation of a committee charged with drawing up rules that could govern the operation of historical racing terminals at tracks. View the full article

Dr. Paul Gutheil, a prominent owner and breeder in Ohio for over four decades, passed away last Saturday after an extended illness. He was 78. Gutheil was a member of the board of directors of the Beulah Park Jockey Club and a member of the Ohio Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association for 23 years, serving as Vice-President (2010-2012) and President (2014-2016). He received the 2017 O.T.B.O. Award of Merit. Gutheil campaigned stakes horses Polite Lil Sir, Brooke’s Tap Shoes, Crypto’s Twinjet, Hamlet’s Ghost and Blues Fan, as well as Crypto’s Redjet, who was voted Ohio Horse of the Year twice 1996-97 and Champion Handicap Mare 1996-97. After receiving a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine from Kirksville College in Missouri in 1966, Gutheil entered the U.S. Army and served as Chief of Anesthesiology at a U.S. Army Hospital in Long Bein Vietnam. He was the Medical Director for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Dept. for 13 years and was Chairman of the Department of Family Practice at Doctors Hospital for eight years. He was on the Advisory Board at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, a lifetime member of the Ohio Osteopathic Association and The American Osteopathic Association. A Funeral service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at Cypress Wesleyan Church in Galloway, Ohio. The family will receive friends from 4-8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Church and one hour prior to the service on Thursday. View the full article

First run in 1866, the Irish Derby is a Group 1 contest ran over 1 mile 4 furlongs at the Curragh. It’s the Irish equivalent to the English Derby and Orby was the first horse to compete the English/Irish Derby double back in 1907. Eighteen horses have completed the derby double, with Harzand the most recent to do so in 2016. Unfortunately, there will be no derby double winner this year as we don’t have this year’s Derby winner Masar in the field Thankfully we have the next best thing, in the form of the 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior. The impeccably bred son of Deep Impact came into the Derby with a huge reputation having defended his unbeaten record in 2000 Guineas but he could only finish 4th behind Masar in the Epsom showpiece. He has the best form in the race and with Aidan O’Brien having won nine of the last twelve renewals of the Irish Derby, Saxon Warrior looks like a strong candidate to make it ten from thirteen. Dee Ex Bee in 2ndMark Johnston’s Dee Ex Bee, a son of Farhh doesn’t know how to run a bad race and has just kept improving this season. He may have only won a maiden and a conditions race from six career starts but on his last two runs, he was third in the Group 3 Chester Vase and then ran a blinder to finish 2nd in the Epsom Derby beating Saxon Warrior. I’d expect Dee Ex Bee to appreciate the Curragh more than Chester and Epsom as it suits a galloper which he undoubtedly is. It’s also quite telling that the owners have stumped up the €100,000 supplementary fee for the race. Johnston said: “We had a bumper run in May and it’s carried forward into June. The horses are flying high at the moment, so let’s hope it continues until Saturday and beyond”. Old PersianAnother horse that has been supplemented is the Royal Ascot winner Old Persian, who won the King Edward VII Stakes last week and will only have an eight-day turnaround. Charlie Appleby doesn’t seem overly concerned saying: “He’s eaten up and exercised well. He bounces back from his runs very quickly, and we are confident we can come to the Curragh at the weekend with a horse that is going to be very competitive”. Platinum Warrior is the opposite of his two rivals above, he got a free entry into the Derby following his victory in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh in May. Michael Halford can’t wait to run his son of Galileo in this classic event. Halford said during the week: “He’s getting stronger and tougher with each run and is on an upward curve, Shane (Foley) thought he travelled really well through the race the last day and just idled a bit”. The final horse to note in the race is the Joseph O’Brien trained Latrobe, who was runner-up to Platinum Warrior in the Gallinule. It has taken Latrobe four runs to shed his maiden tag but he was runner-up to some quality colts along the way, including a neck defeat to the now Royal Ascot winning Hunting Horn. The son of Camelot looks the type to improve with every run and following a confidence-boosting six and a half-length victory at the Curragh on his final start, I expect Latrobe to far outrun his current odds of 25/1 and land a classic victory for Joseph O’Brien. It looks like Donnacha O’Brien looks set to partner Latrobe for his brother Joseph. Selection: Latrobe The post Irish Derby Preview appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

The Breeders’ Cup has released the names of the candidates standing for election to the organization’s Board of Directors. The election will be conducted online from July 2 until 5 p.m. July 10. There are seven seats open on the 14-person Board of Directors and eight candidates have been nominated to fill those open seats. Four candidates will be elected to fill a four-year term, two candidates will be elected to fill a two-year term and one candidate will be elected to fill a one-year term. The terms will be filled in the order of the candidates receiving the most votes with the candidate receiving the second-lowest number of votes filling the one-year term. The candidates are as follows (listed alphabetically): Barbara Banke, Stonestreet Farm; Alan Cooper, Flaxman Holdings; Bill Farish, Lane’s End Farm; Walker Hancock, Claiborne Farm; Gavin Murphy, SF Bloodstock; Dan Pride, Godolphin; Alex Solis II, Solis/Litt Bloodstock; and Elliott Walden, WinStar Farm. View the full article

Keeneland has unveiled a record $5.575-million stakes schedule for its upcoming 17-day Fall Meet, which will be held Oct. 5-27. “Year after year, Keeneland’s Fall Meet grows in stature, thanks to its lucrative purses and major stakes,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “The season is a key launching pad for the Breeders’ Cup, and we are pleased to introduce the Indian Summer as a 10th Breeders’ Cup Challenge race to further enhance our spectacular Fall Stars Weekend.” The $200,000 Indian Summer S.-which offers an automatic berth into the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint–will be held Oct. 7. Also on that card will be the $500,000 GI Juddmonte Spinster S. and GIII Dixiana Bourbon S. That card will be the final day of the Fall Stars Weekend, which features 10 stakes worth a total of $3.95 million. The weekend is anchored by the $1-million GI Shadwell Turf Mile, which Shadwell Farm has sponsored since the 1999 Fall Meet. Nine Fall Stars stakes are Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” races: GI Darley Alcibiades and GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) Oct. 5; Shadwell Turf Mile; GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity; GI First Lady S. and GII Thoroughbred Club of America Oct. 6; and Juddmonte Spinster, Dixiana Bourbon and Indian Summer Oct. 7. The GII JPMorgan Chase Jessamine S., also a “Win and You’re In” event, will be held Oct. 10. View the full article

Sam and Jo Pollock purchased their foundation mare Michele Royale (Groovy) some 20 years ago now and saw the family’s success extend into a third generation when Bano Solo (Goldencents) debuted with impressive victory (video) at Churchill Downs Saturday. The couple hopes the success continues into the sales ring when they offer a half-brother to that ‘TDN Rising Star’ through the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings Sale. The colt, by first-crop sire Carpe Diem, is catalogued to the July sale as hip 38. When the Pollocks, along with Taylor Made’s Frank Taylor, purchased Michele Royale for $160,000 at the 1998 Keeneland November sale, the 6-year-old mare was in foal to then-first-crop sire Unbridled’s Song. The investment paid quick dividends when the mare’s foal sold for $1.4 million at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. But the seven-figure fireworks almost didn’t happen. “When we took that colt to Saratoga, a man came up to me and offered me $300,000 for that colt,” Sam Pollock recalled. “I nearly sold him, too. But my wife told me, ‘Don’t you dare do that. We are going to let him go through the sale and let him bring what he will bring.’ He went in the sale and he brought $1.4 million.” Michele Royale’s most accomplished runner was Royale Michele (Elusive Quality), who was a graded stakes winner in the Pollocks’s colors after RNA’ing for $70,000 at the 2006 Keeneland September sale. It was another success story borne of Jo Pollock’s prescience. While carrying Royale Michele, Michele Royale colicked and was taken to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital with a grim prognosis. “She was still on the operating table and the [insurance] adjuster said, ‘We are ready to pay the claim, put the mare down,'” Pollock said. “So I called Jo. She said, ‘Don’t you dare do that. You make her comfortable, but you let her die on her own. Lo and behold, I called over at Taylor Made the next day and I asked what time the mare had died. They told me she was up and eating hay. And she did not lose the baby. That baby [Royale Michele] went on to win the GII Barbara Fritchie.” When she concluded her racing career, Royale Michele sold, in foal to Unbridled’s Song, for $700,000 at the 2010 Keeneland November sale. Her first foal, Royale Paradise, RNA’d for $70,000 at the 2012 Keeneland September sale, but the Pollocks quickly struck at the opportunity to bring the filly back into the fold. “She had a lot of talent,” Sam Pollock said of Royale Paradise. “We sent her to Ocala, but she had some kind of muscle degeneration in the left hip and so we had to take her out of training.” Bano Solo is the unraced mare’s second foal. He sold for $115,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale and turned heads with a quarter-mile work in :20 1/5 before selling for $400,000 to Winchell Thoroughbreds at the OBS March sale this spring. “He was absolutely gorgeous,” Jo Pollock said of the colt. “He was probably the best of our foals that year. He was good from the day he was born.” The couple was so impressed with what they were seeing from the family, they repurchased Royale Michele, now in foal to Super Saver, for $82,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. “We bought Royale Paradise first, before we bought her momma back,” Jo Pollock said. “When they put her mother in the sale, we were so thrilled with the things that they were producing in that line, we decided we would buy the mother back also. We also have another filly, who was Michele Royale’s last filly, who we tried to race and she had an ankle problem, so now she is in our breeding program, too.” Despite their faith in Bano Solo, Jo Pollock admitted they had missed his exciting debut last weekend. “We were at the beach,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t even know he was racing. I would have loved to have watched him-but we missed it.” She might get another chance with Royale Paradise’s Carpe Diem yearling who will go through the sales ring July 10 in Lexington. “He is probably one of the best of the yearlings we had this year,” Jo Pollock said. “I think he is going to be an outstanding individual. Taylor Made is selling him for us and a couple of people at Taylor Made thought he was our best yearling this year. They said, ‘Let’s sell him in July and he will be something special there.'” The Pollocks, alone or in partnership, own some 20 broodmares. “We used to have a farm in Alabama,” Jo Pollock said. “We would breed in Kentucky and raise them in Alabama. About 20 years ago, we decided we didn’t want to go through all that anymore, so we moved them to Kentucky and we’ve been happy with that.” The couple spend winters in Florida and their summers are spent at their Kentucky farm. “We bought this farm about 20 years ago,” Sam Pollock said. “Frank [Taylor] found this little farm that adjoins Taylor Made. I developed the farm and we leased it to Taylor Made. You have to have five acres in Jessamine County to build a house, so Frank took five acres and I took five acres and we live next door to each other.” The couple started out on the racing side of the business several decades ago, but are now committed to breeding specifically to sell. “My husband had a friend whose father was on the racing commission in Florida and they had mares and he was raising babies for his dad,” Jo Pollock said of the couple’s early involvement in racing. “They bought a horse and went to New Orleans. They had a really good time with it. She won a few races–nothing to write home about–but it was fun. So we decided maybe we’d like to do more of that. Then Frank Taylor got us interested in buying a portion of two or three Grade I horses who won some big races for us. We’ve kind of been all over the place. We have a colt out in California now in training with Richard Mandella. But that’s not our main thing.” Of the transition to breeding, Jo Pollock explained, “I used to raise show dogs and I think that carried over. I like the babies. I fall in love with the babies.” The yearling sales season kicks off with Fasig-Tipton’s July sale, which will be held July 10 beginning 10 a.m. Fasig-Tipton will host its July Horses of Racing Age sale the previous day. View the full article

Australian champion English (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) has been tapped for Damion Flower’s Jadeskye Racing slot in the Oct. 13 A$13-million The Everest, Racing.com reported on Tuesday. Sixth in last year’s edition behind Redzel (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), this season’s G1 Doomben 10,000 heroine is owned by Newhaven Park. Fully half of the slots are now filled for the second edition of the 1200-metre event at Royal Randwick with Trapeze Artist (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) representing Aquis Farm, In Her Time (Aus) (Time Thief {Aus}) (TAB), the aforementioned Redzel has been drafted by Yulong Investments, Brave Smash (Jpn) (Tosen Phantom {Jpn}) (Chris Waller Racing) and Shoals (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) (The Star Casino). View the full article

Wesley Ward is not sure what the future holds for Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) following her disappointing effort in the G1 King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot. The flying American filly was a heavily-backed favourite to make history with a third victory at the showpiece fixture, following her previous triumphs in the G2 Queen Mary and last year’s King’s Stand, but finished a disappointing seventh. Ward reports the 4-year-old none the worse, although she is likely to be further examined on her return to her homeland later this week. “Lady Aurelia came out of it great,” said Ward. “We got the Ascot veterinarian team to check her out after the race and a couple of days later and she scoped clear and trotted out perfect. It just wasn’t her day.” The Stonestreet Stables and Peter Leidel runner’s future on the course has yet to be determined. “It’s tough to say,” he said. “She’s coming home and we’ll get the veterinarian team to check her out again and see if something pops up. I had lunch with the owners on Thursday and we didn’t really talk about it [the future]. That decision [on retirement] isn’t mine to make.” Ward saddled nine runners across the course of the five-day meeting and was thrilled to claim his 10th Royal Ascot success overall with G2 Norfolk S. heroine Shang Shang Shang (Shanghai Bobby). The other Ward runner to emerge with plenty of credit was Bound For Nowhere (The Factor), who made much of the running in the G1 Diamond Jubilee before finishing a close-up third. Reflecting on the week as a whole, Ward said, “I always go into Ascot with high expectations and in all the interviews I did I was very confident we had a very good team going there. Thankfully we managed to squeeze out one winner by half a thumbnail. Shang Shang Shang is coming home and we’re kind of working back from the Breeders’ Cup with her. There’s a nice race at Saratoga over five and a half furlongs on the grass. We’ll see how she goes, but I think that could be within her range.” Ward continued, “Bound For Nowhere ran great. We could take him to Australia for the big sprint there [The Everest S.], but we see him as a miler going forward. He’s developing from year to year and it would be great to bring him back to Ascot as a 5-year-old. The [GI] Breeders’ Cup Mile could be a target for him at the end of this year.” ‘TDN Rising Star’ Chelsea Cloisters (First Samurai), who ran 11th in the G2 Queen Mary S. after missing the break, will remain on European soil and is eyeing a start in the G3 Prix du Bois at Deauville on July 3. “Chelsea Cloisters got left at the gate and my horses are kind of trained to go from the front,” said Ward. “She didn’t really have a race, so we’ve entered her up for the Prix du Bois at Deauville and she’ll probably go there next.” View the full article

Graded stakes winner Untrapped, a starter in the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), was euthanized June 25 due to the onset of laminitis, owner Michael Langford confirmed. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday’s Insights features a half-sister to 2015 GII Monrovia S. victress Shrinking Violet (Congaree). 5.10 Salisbury, Mdn, £7,900, 3yo/up, 9f 201yT SPIRIT RIDGE (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), an Amanda Perrett trainee, is out of 2003 GI Gamely Breeders’ Cup H. and GI Yellow Ribbon S. heroine Tates Creek (Rahy), and the Juddmonte homebred faces seven opponents in this belated debut. They include Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s fellow late starter Momtalik (Point of Entry), a $140,000 Keeneland September yearling and 390,000gns Tattersalls Craven breezer, who is a John Gosden-trained half-brother to last term’s MGSW G1 Prix du Moulin runner-up Taareef (Kitten’s Joy). 6.00 Naas, Mdn, €15,000, 2yo, f, 6fT SECRET THOUGHTS (War Front) was a debut runner-up going a shade over seven furlongs at Leopardstown earlier this month and gets a second bite for Aidan O’Brien dropped to six panels here. She is the first foal out of G1 Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), herself kin to this month’s G1 Epsom Oaks fourth and G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Stablemate Tracing (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) also contested that Leopardstown heat, finishing sixth, and is a daughter of 2012 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas second and G3 Jersey S. victress Ishvana (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). Other rivals include Fergus Galvin’s newcomer Cozy Sky (Animal Kingdom), a half-sister to 2015 GII Monrovia S. victress Shrinking Violet (Congaree), representing the Gordon Elliott barn. View the full article

Graduates of Arqana’s August yearling sale have been making headlines at the highest level across the globe this season, and the latest class up for grabs in Deauville was revealed on Tuesday when Arqana unveiled the catalogue for this year’s edition of its flagship sale on Aug. 18 to 20. The 2016 top lot Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) provided the latest advertisement for the sale when taking the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot just last week, the same meeting at which City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) just missed in a photo finish in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. Pakistan Star (Ger) (Shamardal) has flown the flag in Hong Kong this season with two Group 1 wins, while on the home front Olmedo (Fr) (Declaration of War) and Teppal (Fr) (Camacho {GB}) recorded a French Guineas double. In America, Arqana August graduate Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) took the GI Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland in April. This year’s catalogue numbers 345, with Part I to take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. after racing on the Saturday and Sunday, and Part II on the Monday beginning at 1 p.m. There are two Dubawis catalogued: the first foal of the dual Group/Grade 1 winner Just The Judge (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) (a colt, lot 137) and a filly who is the second foal out of the dual Dubai Group 2 winner Cladocera (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}) (lot 98). The sale will surely start off with a bang with the first of six Galileos catalogued to be offered as lot 1: a filly out of four-time graded winner Naissance Royale (Ire) (Giant’s Causeway). The others by Galileo are a full-brother to dual Group 3 winner Ernest Hemingway (Ire) and a three-quarter to Group 3-winning filly Toulifaut (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 96); a filly out of a full-sister to Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}) (lot 106); a colt and a filly, respectively, out of Group 1 winners Giofra (GB) (Dansili {GB}) (lot 121) and Margot Did (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) (lot 159) and a filly out of Tender Morn (Dayjur), who has already produced four stakes horses (lot 51). Frankel (GB)’s three on offer include a colt out of dual group winner Restiadargent (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) (lot 21) and a filly from the excellent family of Group 1 winners Cerulean Sky and Moonstone (lot 140). Standout young French sire Siyouni has 25 to go under the hammer, including a half-brother to French champion 2-year-old National Defense (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and two other stakes horses (lot 79), as well as a half-brother to Group 1 winner and exciting young sire Dabirsim (Fr) (lot 24). The locally based Le Havre (Ire) has 20 to represent him, including a full-brother to the dual Classic winner La Cressonniere (Fr) (lot 68). Mastercraftsman (Ire) is enjoying a prolific year, with high points going to his G1 Coronation S. and G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Alpha Centauri (Ire), and he has a full-sister to GI Just A Game S. winner A Raving Beauty (Ger) set to sell (lot 78). Kingman (GB) could hardly have gotten off to a better start at stud, his first winner being the ‘TDN Rising Star’ and subsequent G2 Coventry S. winner Calyx (GB), and his six here include a half-brother to the aforementioned Giofra (lot 124). Ballylinch Stud regularly brings a small but quality consignment to Deauville, and this year that includes a full-brother to dual Group 1 winner Belardo (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) (lot 105). Arqana’s August sale gives buyers their first look at the yearlings by many young sires that made favourable first impressions at last year’s foal sales. Champion sprinter Muhaarar (GB) has a lineup of five including a half-brother to G1 Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) and the aforementioned Ribblesdale winner Magic Wand (lot 16). Gleneagles has eight to go through the ring including a half-sister to this year’s G3 Prix du Guiche winner Intellogent (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) (lot 8). Gleneagles’s fellow Classic winner Golden Horn (GB) also has eight catalogued including a three-quarter brother to Group 3 winner Sea Lord (Fr) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and a half to multiple Group 3 winner French Navy (Fr) (Shamardal) (lot 114) and a half-sister to G1 Prix du Cadran winner Mille Et Mille (Fr) (Muhtathir) (lot 17). Make Believe (GB)’s three-horse haul includes a half-brother to the Group 3-winning sprinter Extortionist (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) (lot 107) while Free Eagle has two to represent him including a half-sister to dual Australian Group 1 winner Contributer (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) lot 33). American Pharoah will have already been tested at a few U.S. sales by the time late August rolls around, but the Triple Crown winner has a pair of fillies catalogued here: a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Shareta (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) (lot 34) and the second foal out of the Grade III winner Marbre Rose (Ire) (Smart Strike) (lot 158). View the full article

“The man is often accused of being inordinately cocky, even irreverent and vain to a fault.” –Bill Nack, GQ Magazine, 2003 The man in question is Bob Baffert, and Nack wrote that after Baffert won the 2002 GI Kentucky Derby with War Emblem (Our Emblem). It wasn’t atypical of what many people thought of Baffert at the time–great horse trainer, could be kind of a jerk. After wins in the GI Preakness, he would wear the trophy on his head, like he was a sixth-grade class clown. In 1998, he got into a feud with the late Sonny Hine and called him Elmer Fudd. He once got into a shoving match with Chris McCarron. He so upset trainer Jenine Sahadi at the draw for the 2000 GI Santa Anita Derby that she stormed off the podium in tears. “Thank God my horse has a lot of class, because there are a lot of people here who don’t,” she said of Baffert. Fifteen years after Nack’s harsh appraisal, the trainer’s image has taken a 180-degree turn. People may still be jealous of his success, but he has become the face of racing and most are glad that he is. He’s gone from inordinately cocky to humble. Irreverence has been replaced by a respect for the sport and a genuine appreciation of his phenomenal accomplishments. Vain? Not the 2018 version of Bob Baffert. Far from it. Respectful, grateful, charitable, humble and never too busy to grant someone an interview, that’s the Bob Baffert the public saw during the run to the Triple Crown by Justify (Scat Daddy). What happened? Baffert can’t pinpoint any one thing. For one, at 65, you don’t act like you did at 35. He also lost both his parents within the last few years and suffered a heart attack in 2012, one he thought was going to cost him his life. Baffert thought the irreverent sense of humor he brought with him to the Thoroughbred sport when he switched over from Quarter Horses would be seen as a breath of fresh air. Rather, he realized, the act grew tired. Baffert grew up in a large close-knit family in Nogales, Arizona and said the family way was to joke and poke fun at one another, and do so constantly. “We’d always be breaking each other’s chops,” he said. “They’re a big family, a very close family,” Baffert’s wife Jill said. “They don’t cut anybody any slack among the siblings. They always call each other out, jokingly. If you don’t know them, you think, ‘Wow, this is really inappropriate.’ It’s kind of the way he was used to communicating with people. Anybody who really knows Bob will tell you he has a very kind heart, a soft side. When I met him, that just didn’t translate well.” Baffert began to switch over full-time to Thoroughbreds in the late eighties and he was well on his way to being a star. He won his first Breeders’ Cup race in 1992 with sprinter Thirty Slews (Slewpy) and lost the Kentucky Derby by a nose in 1996 with Cavonnier (Batonnier). After coming over from Quarter Horse racing, which gets virtually no media exposure, he was thrust into the limelight, and admits he wasn’t ready for it. He wanted to impress people and thought the best way to do so was to play the mischievous, cocky, prankster role he was so comfortable with. “I tried to be funny all the time and I realize now it wore on people,” he said. “I always thought I was a humble person. I’ve never been braggadocious. But I always felt I had to play to the cameras.” But he coveted the spotlight because he saw it as a way to raise his profile, to achieve his goal of being the next Wayne Lukas, another training great who started out in Quarter Horse Racing. Because he was always ready with a wisecrack, the media couldn’t get enough of him. “I think I was just clawing myself up the ladder to become ‘the guy,'” he said. “When I became ‘the guy,’ I had to start acting like it, not some immature person always acting like he thinks he’s funny.” On the backside, he developed a reputation of being lazy. In a tradition-bound sport where some trainers judge their worth as a horseman by how early they get to the barn, his rivals were appalled that he would roll into the Santa Anita backstretch a good two hours after most had gotten to work. To this day, he is still a late arriver. “I get here every morning at 6:15,” he said. “But if you don’t get here at 4:30, you’re a late riser. When you’re doing well, people want to knock you and that’s what they picked up on, that I got to work late. Stuff goes on at our barn between 5 and 6 and I have a great crew and they go over every horse and give me a report on them when I arrive. The action starts at 6:30 when we start taking horses to the track and I’m always here for that. I’m here every day and I never leave before noon. Guys started spreading rumors that I get to the barn at 9. That’s ridiculous.” There was not one single thing that changed Baffert, and change didn’t happen overnight. But two events certainly caused him to look at life differently. In 2012, while in Dubai, he had a heart attack. Shortly before that, his mother died. Shortly after the heart attack, his father passed away. “The heart attack made me feel like I was getting a redo in life,” he said. “I thought I was toast. I thought I was curtains. I remember telling Jill, ‘Sell all the horses, except for one, Contested (Ghostzapper).’ I came out of it, but I was scared. Is this way I’m going to end my life, in Dubai? Something came over me. I thought, ‘I’m just going to enjoy things from now on.'” “He had two life-changing events, losing his parents and having to face his own mortality,” Jill Baffert said. “He’d say to me, ‘I’m built for stress. I handle stress.’ He really believes that. Instead of confronting issues which are stressful to him, he just compartmentalizes everything instead of dealing with it. In 2012, that manifested itself with the heart attack. Now he has a better understanding, a better way of dealing with stress and with people. He knows he’s not immortal, he’s not infallible. As time has gone on, he’s been able to appreciate his successes more.” And, that, perhaps is the biggest reason Baffert has changed. He was once so hungry for success that he tried too hard to impress people, to be the center of attention, to throw out the wisecrack that the reporters would eat up and put in their copy in the next day’s paper. Now, he doesn’t need that. He doesn’t need to steal the spotlight at all times to get good horses. They come to him no matter what. He’s one of only two trainers in history to win the Triple Crown twice and his 15 wins in Triple Crown races is the best of all time “I’ve mellowed out,” he said. “I was fighting to get to the top and be like Wayne Lukas. He was the top. He was the bar. Once I got there, I didn’t know if I liked what came with it. I really don’t want the attention.” Yet, now he can’t avoid it. He could easily withdraw, refuse interviews and immerse himself in his work. But he feels an obligation to promote the sport and knows he, more so than anyone else, has the ability to draw attention to the game. He is the closest thing racing has to a real celebrity. On his flight home from Louisville after the Derby, the actor and rapper Ice Cube was on the same plane and he pulled Baffert aside and wanted to know all about his win. “As he’s gotten older, I feel like maybe Bob doesn’t feel the need to prove himself,” Jill Baffert said. “That he has a bigger space for gratitude and he realizes how blessed he’s been to have had so many good horses.” Not that Baffert has turned boring or vanilla. He’s not wired that way. It’s that he has found a balance. He’s learned you can be fun without being obnoxious, that you can be good without being arrogant. He understands humility is a virtue. He knows nobody likes “inordinately cocky, even irreverent and vain to a fault.” They like who Bob Baffert has become. View the full article

Keeneland will award $5.575 million in stakes purses for its 17-day Fall Meet to be held Oct. 5-27 to mark a record for a season without the Breeders' Cup World Championships. View the full article

Funeral services for Shantel Lanerie will be at 11 a.m., June 28 at Liturgy of the Word in Evangeline Memorial Gardens Chapel in Carencro. View the full article

Kildare, IRELAND–The Curragh Racecourse hosted a ‘breakfast with the stars’ style event on Tuesday morning ahead of its G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby festival this weekend, but unfortunately unlike the well-established pre-Epsom Derby event, underfoot conditions on The Curragh meant trainers were reluctant to allow any of their Derby challengers to get a feel for the track. When one bemoans the going in Ireland it normally suggests the ground is ‘hock deep’, however, as we are currently in the vice-grip of a very pleasant heatwave, good to firm, firm in places is the order of the day, a situation which isn’t generating too many complaints from flat trainers. For an Irish Derby challenger, getting a feel for the track is a bit superfluous anyway, given The Curragh is probably as uncomplicated a track that a horse could compete at internationally. Those media folk who rose early and made their way to the track on the promise of breakfast were also given an insight by a number of trainers, some in person, others via telephone, on the well-being of their challengers. Michael Halford has been training for 35 years and he had his first runner in the Irish Derby in 1986, and one suspects he didn’t expect to have to wait 32 years for his next runner. The trainer was on hand after watching his contender Platinum Warrior (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) do his final bit of work up the Old Vic gallop on Tuesday morning. Halford hasn’t had the opportunity to train many Galileo colts and it is not a coincidence that when one did come along he just happened to be good enough to be aimed at an Irish Derby. “Flat racing has become very much about pedigrees,” the trainer said. “Only now and then does a horse come along that outruns its pedigree and it’s even hard enough to get one to run to up to his or her pedigree. When you get the opportunity to train a well-bred horse like Platinum Warrior at least it gives you a chance at competing at the top. As we regularly see there are any number of trainers who are more than capable of training a top-class horse, it’s just getting your hands on them that is difficult.” The Triermore Stud-bred colt was bought by BBA Ireland for €200,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2016 and although he didn’t feature among the original entries, he earned an automatic slot for Saturday with a comfortable win over another Derby entrant, Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), in the G3 Airlie Stud Gallinule S. on Irish Guineas weekend. Shane Foley, who parted company with Halford at the end of last year after a number of years as stable jockey will maintain the successful partnership forged last time out and Halford is looking forward to the occasion. “We’re delighted with him and he is improving with racing, getting stronger and tougher with each run and he seems to be on an upward curve. He is a very easy horse to train and his prep has been straightforward. He is a good-moving horse, not over heavy, so the fast ground shouldn’t inconvenience him,” he said. Platinum Warrior carries the colours of the increasingly ubiquitous Chinese investor Yuesheng Zhang, and Halford is one of several Irish trainers benefitting from the owner’s increased presence in Ireland. “We are very lucky to have Mr Zhang on board and he has some nice horses with us. It will be a big day out for him as well, he is investing worldwide and he is looking forward to having a runner in an Irish Derby.” An Irish Derby win would be extra special for Halford, though, who was born and reared nearby and whose late father was the track farrier. The fact that Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is trading odds on to give Aidan O’Brien a 13th win in the €1.5-million contest does not worry Mark Johnston, who trains the horse that finished two places ahead of the favourite in the Epsom Derby and there would be no more appropriate winner of the Irish Derby, given the sponsors, than Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}). The Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum- owned colt is named after the code for Dubai’s international airport (DXB), and his trainer reports him in fine fettle since his last time out defeat to Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). “He’s absolutely fine, he’s had no issues at all and he is just about to go out for exercise,” Johnston said by phone. That exercise obviously went to plan as Dee Ex Bee was subsequently supplemented for the race later on Tuesday morning and when reflecting on his Epsom performance Johnston added. “I certainly wasn’t surprised, though if someone had offered me a first three placing before the race I would have accepted that. He is a big horse and even though he ran well at Epsom I’m sure he will enjoy The Curragh more.” Another overseas challenger that was supplemented on Tuesday was Old Persian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who has apparently bounced out well from his recent Royal Ascot success in the G2 King Edward VII S. Charlie Appleby’s colt has been raised to a mark of 110 following his authoritative win over Rostropovich (Frankel {GB}) and while further progress will be required to continue his trainer’s brilliant season Appleby would not have advised Sheikh Mohammed to supplement if that was not a strong probability. “We are very happy with how Old Persian has come out of Royal Ascot, although we were taking it day by day as regards going for the Irish Derby. He did a routine canter on Monday and the signs are all very positive so we have decided to supplement and hopefully we will take our chance. It is a concern backing up so soon after Ascot, especially at this level, but as I say the signs are good that he has taken the race well,” he said. While it is disappointing for Irish racegoers that the stable’s Masar will not be aiming for a Derby double, the noises from the Godolphin camp suggest they could be sitting on a very able deputy. “We are pretty confident that we will be coming into this weekend with a horse that’s going to be very competitive. We fully respect Saxon Warrior, Dee Ex Bee and the others but this horse has a very nice upward profile and we certainly haven’t reached the ceiling of his ability,” Appleby added. Harry Dunlop can remember his father John saddling Salsabil (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) to win the Irish Derby in 1990 and he is hoping for a better performance from Knight To Behold (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) compared to the colt’s display at Epsom earlier this month, especially since he has secured the services of Frankie Dettori for Saturday. “Things didn’t really go his way at Epsom, they went very quick early in the race and he got involved with that and it didn’t work out for him. I’m looking forward to seeing him run back on a big galloping track, he seems to handle fast ground and we will probably ride him a little bit differently to last time,” Dunlop said. If one was to excuse Knight To Behold’s last run, his penultimate victory in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial over subsequent Royal Ascot winner Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) makes him a worthy challenger. The last word of the morning went to Aidan O’Brien, who was proving quite tricky to track down telephonically and when The Curragh’s Evan Arkwright managed to connect with the Ballydoyle maestro the conversation soon switched to Saxon Warrior. Stage fright and babyishness were the two mitigating factors put forward by O’Brien for the colt’s underwhelming effort at Epsom and while it wouldn’t take a major leap of faith to see Saxon Warrior reestablish his status on Saturday, he still has something to prove. “It just didn’t happen for him on the day at Epsom but we think he learned a lot from it and has grown up since,” O’Brien said. “The lads always do a great job at The Curragh providing beautiful ground and everyone knows it’s one of the fairest tracks in the world so we are all really looking forward to Saturday,” he added. Saxon Warrior will likely have a few stablemates for company as he makes the long trek across The Curragh towards the Derby start shortly before 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, with The Pentagon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Rostropovich, Nelson (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Kew Gardens and Delano Roosevelt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) all left in at Tuesday’s five-day stage. Completing the potential 14-strong field are the Dermot Weld trained Bandua (The Factor), Fozzy Stack’s representative Carlo Biraghi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Jim Bolger’s Theobald (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). View the full article

Europe has long proven a happy hunting ground for buyers from and for the U.S., and with an expanding Stateside turf schedule, the spigot is not likely to tighten shut any time soon. So, what do today’s buyers look for in horses bred and raced in Europe? We asked a number of trainers and bloodstock agents who have struck gold with European imports about their winning formulas. Answers varied depending on things like depth of pockets and final destination (East or West Coast). One unifying message, however, was that the European marketplace has grown increasingly competitive in recent years due to an influx of buyers from Hong Kong, the Middle East, Japan and Australia. The first in this two-part series looks at the qualities of form horses that best suit American racing. Tomorrow, we’ll narrow in on the horses themselves: pedigrees, physique, mental aptitude and the like. Form, Trip, Age, Ground Brendan Walsh, trainer: “Obviously distance wise, you don’t really want to be bringing back a horse here if they’ve been running further than a mile. Any horse that can run six or seven [furlongs] over there is probably going to get a mile over here. Any time we’ve bought horses from there, we’ve been looking for value–something unexposed, not necessarily an out-and-out proven horse.” David Ingordo, bloodstock agent: “You’d like a horse that looks like it can go through the conditions here. Our prize money is so good, if a horse over there hasn’t done it immediately, we can buy it and have a different experience over here, maybe help it along. You see a lot of that on the East Coast. You can buy them where your risk might be $50,000-100,000, but before you figure out whether the horse is a stakes-quality horse, you can still earn a big chunk of money back, get your picture taken, have some fun with it.” Ben Cecil, trainer: “The obvious thing is firm ground–you don’t want a soft-ground horse. And I think our racing [on the West Coast] isn’t as tough as it used to be, 10 to 15 years ago. In the old days, I used to think you’d need a 100-plus Timeform [rating]. Now I think an 80-plus Timeform [rating] is enough to be competitive on the grass here. The upside of that is you’ve got handicappers in Europe winning listed and graded stakes over here.” Pete Bradley, bloodstock agent: “First, I look for 2-year-olds. I like to find a horse who has made roughly two to four starts, is improving and may look like a horse who could go further but has enough precocity to win over six [furlongs at two]. I kind of shy away from five-furlong races. I’m always looking for horses that can go at least eight furlongs, and if you’re lucky, 10 furlongs. I don’t think our racing lends itself to European sprinters, necessarily. And I like the kind of horse who can finish well.” Graham Motion, trainer: “I think more of late, I’ve had 2-year-olds turning three that are a little bit proven. But I think the problem becomes, the more form they have the less viable they are–there are so many people in the market for them.” Joe Miller, bloodstock agent: “We’ve bought horses that are out-and-out stayers before, but there’s just not enough races for them. And then ultimately down the road for residual value, there’s not enough people wanting to buy those 10 to 12-furlong horses as broodmares. Really, the market for broodmares is in sprinter-milers. Conditions are important. We prefer to buy horses that are still eligible for allowance races. In New York and California, the way that they write the allowance races, you can have a horse in England with multiple wins but is still eligible for conditions races here.” Jane Buchanan, bloodstock agent: “A lot of people are trying to buy those horses with a bit more stamina, the 1 1/4 mile to 1 1/2 mile horses, because suitable races for them, even if they’re stakes horses, can come up quite light throughout the year. We’ve run in races like the [G1] United Nations [S.] at Monmouth Park, and it’s not like they’re always really tough G1s. Sometimes, these races can be on the easier side. And the New York racing program is writing more and more longer races for these types of horses, with the added purse incentive.” Simon Callaghan, trainer: “Typically, the races get a little easier when you go further than a 1 1/8 mile or 1 1/4 mile, but the ideal filly would be the six or seven furlong fillies that can stretch and get a mile here. Age wise, that doesn’t really matter. We’ve done well with a variety of horses–some that have come over as 2-year-olds, some that have come over as 4- and 5-year-olds.” Bradley Weisbord, bloodstock agent: “We have bought horses which are lightly raced, but then, we’ve bought horses who have run 20 times–the amount of runs doesn’t really impact us. We’ll generally stay in the 2-, 3-, 4-year-old range. And we obviously want horses who travel on good ground. Many European races are on soft ground, but the form won’t translate. We generally stay away from sprinters–we want to see them go at least a mile. Even those 2-year-olds we’ve bought that haven’t yet gone a mile, we want to know they have the pedigree to do so. I believe we have really good sprinters in America but not enough races for them. But if they go a mile-plus, you get a much better sample set of races.” Running Styles Cecil: “For California, you’ve got to have a little speed–it’s not easy to close a lot of ground. That said, it’s harder for a [European] front-runner to adjust here because the races are run that much quicker.” Marette Farrell, bloodstock agent: “An on-the-pace sort with no turn of foot, that doesn’t necessarily translate over here. You do want to see a turn of foot. You’d like to see a tactical horse, but you don’t want one who is one-paced in their races. They have to show a change of gears.” Tom Morley, trainer: “I’m not too worried about running style. If they’re a good horse, they’ll get the job done. Obviously, you don’t want to be buying a mile-and-a half horse out of Europe if they’re a slow starter because when you get to the [G1] Manhattan H., they go fast from the word go. And when you get left 12 lengths at the start, it’s going to be very difficult to win the race. It’s really more a question of whether they have the ability to kick in and go on and win at the business end of their races.” Aron Wellman, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners: “First and foremost, the ingredient I believe a horse must possess to be effective in American turf racing is a turn of foot–the ability to accelerate. That’s not a profound observation by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s an absolutely necessary component of any horse that’s going to be effective at a high level.” Preferred Places of Purchase Ingordo: “I worked with Bobby Frankel, who really pioneered the importation of horses from Europe to America. When he made an investment, he wanted to make sure he could improve the horse, whether it was in the feeding, the training. He had immense respect for certain trainers, but he knew that if a horse came here from this trainer or that trainer, even if Juddmonte sent it, he knew the best he was going to do was probably maintain its form, not necessarily improve it.” Walsh: “You like to buy them out of places where they haven’t run too, too much–they’ve still got some mileage left on the clock.” Morley: “I think when you’re buying young horses, it’s important to know what nursery they came out of and who raised them. And I think when you buy horses in training, you need to be a bit canny about who you do and who you don’t buy off.” Buchanan: “The thing I like about going to the sales is that you get to see the horses themselves. The most important thing about buying privately is you need to have eyes and ears and a trustworthy person that knows what they’re doing working with you. I can’t fly over [to Europe] every time I make an offer on a horse, so my most important thing is having someone I trust on the other side.” Race Off the Plane, or Time to Acclimatize? Motion: “I have a little bit of a problem racing off the plane. Often, they come to me, and by the time they get here, they’ve had a month not doing much–particularly these private purchases. My preference is to get them here, give them a week or two to get adjusted, especially in the summer when it’s so hot, then give them a month or two, breeze them a couple of times. I’m reluctant to be in a hurry with them.” Farrell: “I was assistant to Niall O’Callaghan, who in turn was assistant to Tommy Skiffington. And Tommy Skiffington was the guy back in the day for importing European horses, and European fillies especially. Niall always spoke about how they managed European horses, which was to run them straight off the plane, never give them time to acclimate. Or else, you had to give them six months. They had to then acclimate to the training here, getting used to the surface, swapping leads, going through the sore stage. So, that’s how Tommy did it, one or the other. And he had huge success.” Bradley: “I like sending horses to trainers that give them time to acclimatize. I think you can run straight off the plane–I’ve had some success doing that. But, most of the time, I think these horses take a minimum of 60 days and often 90 days to really get into the routine over here, to make the transition.” Callaghan: “If you do run off the plane, you’ve then got to give them a good period of time to acclimatize. In an ideal world, I like to get them, give them the time to settle in, 30 days to jog over the track, then another 30 days to gallop, get ready to start breezing. In the long-term, that’s the best way.” Part Two of this series will appear in tomorrow’s TDN. View the full article

The Kentucky Lottery Corporation’s Board of Directors has approved a trial introduction of “Win Place Show,” a lottery game based on the results of live horse racing, it was announced Tuesday morning. The board has approved a pilot test beginning Mar. 24, 2019. The pilot will consist of the game being offered in limited release at approximately 45 stores in the Louisville, Lexington and Northern Kentucky regions, and is expected to span 90 days. The development, roll-out and operation of “Win Place Show” will be a result of the collaborative efforts between the Kentucky Lottery Corporation, EquiLottery LLC, and IGT, the Lottery’s draw game system vendor. “We’re looking forward to seeing how our players respond to this new game,” said Kentucky Lottery Corporation CEO Tom Delacenserie. “The market research indicates the game could be a good opportunity for the lottery to appeal to existing players and bring in new players. To offer a game that uses a signature Kentucky industry is an exciting opportunity.” “Win Place Show” is a lottery game based on the results of an actual live horse race. Players will buy one or more $2 quick pick Lottery tickets at participating retailers through the same draw game system that produces games such as Powerball and Pick 3. The ticket will feature three horses along with their numbers based on their post position at the track, along with basic racetrack information and post time. With the “Win Place Show” mobile app, players can watch the featured races live or on replay and see if they’ve won. “This is a great opportunity for us to premiere our vision for a live sports lottery,” said EquiLottery Founder and CEO Brad Cummings. “We look forward to this chance to deliver an exciting and innovative new game to Kentuckians that our studies say will increase scholarship funding through existing and new player participation, and give much needed awareness to the horse racing industry in Kentucky and beyond. We anticipate this being just the beginning for our Louisville-based company.” Retailers participating in this pilot will be selected by lottery staff based on store location and sales. A complete list of participating retailers will be made available. For more information on “Win Place Show”, go to www.equilottery.com. View the full article

Doctor Geoff has been knocking on the door and is ready to land his first Hong Kong victory when he steps out in the Class Two Manawatu Racing Club Challenge Trophy (1,800m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. The talented four-year-old has placed four times from his seven starts since arriving from Ireland – where he won two from three – while he has never finished further than sixth. He was narrowly beaten by Caspar Fownes’ rising star Rise High last start and that augurs... View the full article

Doctor Geoff has been knocking on the door and is ready to land his first Hong Kong victory when he steps out in the Class Two Manawatu Racing Club Challenge Trophy (1,800m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. The talented four-year-old has placed four times from his seven starts since arriving from Ireland – where he won two from three – while he has never finished further than sixth. He was narrowly beaten by Caspar Fownes’ rising star Rise High last start and that augurs... View the full article

While Zac Purton and Joao Moreira fight out a thrilling jockeys’ championship there is still some interest a little further down the table with Derek Leung Ka-chun and Matthew Poon Ming-fai in a battle for the Tony Cruz Award. Leung is aiming for back-to-back victories in the award for leading local rider, holding a three-win edge over Poon (34 to 31) with six meetings remaining in the season and both riders head into Wednesday night’s Happy Valley meeting with solid chances. Leung... View the full article

While Zac Purton and Joao Moreira fight out a thrilling jockeys’ championship there is still some interest a little further down the table with Derek Leung Ka-chun and Matthew Poon Ming-fai in a battle for the Tony Cruz Award. Leung is aiming for back-to-back victories in the award for leading local rider, holding a three-win edge over Poon (34 to 31) with six meetings remaining in the season and both riders head into Wednesday night’s Happy Valley meeting with solid chances. Leung... View the full article

Jimmy Ting Koon-ho may have been left with a relatively short time frame to scramble for staff and horses – and still doesn’t know where he will be based – but the popular horseman said he is ready for the challenge of being Hong Kong racing’s newest trainer. Ting was only informed he would be training next season after the eventful licensing committee meeting on June 8, leaving the 45-year-old just five weeks to assemble a team for the 2018-19 season. “Sure, it is... View the full article

Jimmy Ting Koon-ho may have been left with a relatively short time frame to scramble for staff and horses – and still doesn’t know where he will be based – but the popular horseman said he is ready for the challenge of being Hong Kong racing’s newest trainer. Ting was only informed he would be training next season after the eventful licensing committee meeting on June 8, leaving the 45-year-old just five weeks to assemble a team for the 2018-19 season. “Sure, it is... View the full article