Wandering Eyes

Assistant trainer Sean Murray has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the annual Toby Balding Award, the National Trainers Federation announced on Tuesday. The award, worth £4,000, allows ambitious employees in British racing yards to widen their knowledge and train to acquire new skills. Murray will be presented with the award at the Lycetts Team Champion Award presentation at the Institute of Directors in London on Thursday, Feb. 28. Originally created to award racing staff in memory of the late Toby Balding, the award is funded by the National Trainers Federation Charitable Trust (NTFCT) from a donation made by the Adrian Swire Charitable Trust in memory of Balding. Murray’s career began with weekend work for Peter Beaumont while still at school, before a stint as first cohort of staff when David O’Meara was beginning his training career, eventually rising to head lad. He is now the assistant trainer to Roger Fell at Arthington Barn. “I have gained a vast amount of racing and equine knowledge working alongside many talented horsemen and women,” said Murray. “I would like to use funds from this bursary to invest in more training such as Introduction to Management for the Racing Industry course and Level One NCFE Award in Mentoring. I am so grateful to the NTF Charitable Trust for enabling me to gain more training to further my career.” Added Fell, “Sean is a key member of the training team here at Arthington Barn and has put in the hard yards working as a positive role model, putting in long hours to ensure we achieve the best results. This bursary has come at an important time in Sean’s career as it will allow him to fund his ongoing development, and will help him to achieve his ambition to become a licensed trainer.” View the full article

While a country’s 2-year-old racing scene is not the sole indicator of its overall health, it is certainly an important one and is possibly France’s weak link as it bids to remain among the superpowers. Much has been said about dwindling returns from betting and decreasing attendances at the Paris racecourses, but little on the diminishing presence of domestically-trained juveniles in the country’s pattern races. During Deauville’s August meeting last season, it became evident that something was awry with poor representation and very little success in the generation’s peak contests. Taking on the visiting Brits there was always going to prove difficult, but what is clear from the analysis is that French trainers were mostly unwilling even to try. Startlingly, only two home-trained runners lined up in the fixture’s feature G1 Prix Morny and what was remarkable about the duo of Sexy Metro (Fr) (Diamond Green {Fr}) and Simply Striking (Fr) (Kheleyf) is that they were both colts. Unable to gain a place despite the pioneering efforts of their trainers Didier Guillemin and Mauricio Delcher Sanchez respectively, they were the first of their sex to trade at under 10-1 in the race since Mazameer (Ire) (Green Desert) in 2012. In many ways, the Morny acts as a genuine gauge as to the quality of French-trained juveniles in recent times. Over the past five seasons, there have been just 17 domestic runners from a total of 36 and only seven of those were colts or geldings who were mainly outsiders with no pretensions of upsetting the representatives of Wesley Ward’s stable or Team Ballydoyle. Of course, the elite stables perennially attempt to keep the prestige prizes at home and when the likes of Freddy Head, Jean-Claude Rouget, Andre Fabre and the now-retired Criquette Head fail why should other stables pitch in against the might of the British, Irish and now American presence? The answer to that is complex and involves the experience and confidence of the trainer, the lure of owners’ premiums and a possible lack of realistic ambition to think about future stallion careers. In the G1 Criterium International and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud which grace the late part of the 2-year-old campaign, Aidan O’Brien and Godolphin have been hard to subdue but in 2016 a particularly strong edition of the latter race stayed at home. That it was the legendary Andre Fabre who managed it is no surprise, especially as the colt in question was Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) who beat a dozen rivals. Yet of those, only one other was trained in France. It is hard to imagine the G1 Racing Post Trophy with just a couple of British-trained runners, or the G1 National S. with just that amount from Ireland, but the numerically poor attendance of France’s juveniles is almost the norm now. In the 2015 Criterium International, there were also just two home-trained runners including Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) who amazingly had just one of his seven rivals finish behind him in the affair. The case of Almanzor, who is the best colt France has boasted in recent times, is an interesting one. Started out in the provinces by Rouget, he garnered lucrative owners’ premiums at La Teste De Buch and Clairefontaine before collecting the Listed Grand Criterium de Bordeaux. Had Almanzor not been trained by Rouget, would he have even been tried in the Criterium International? While he was able to win comfortably already-valuable races with added premiums against marked inferiors, where was the pressing need to pit his wits against the pick of the O’Brien or Gosden yards? Rouget saw what he had in the son of the little-heralded Wootton Bassett and just had to try. While he failed there, he would reap rich rewards in under a year as Antonio Caro and Gerard Augustin-Normand’s handsome bay swept all before him. He is a true unexpected success story for French breeding and for the enterprise of his trainer, but unfortunately he is an aberration when the overall picture is taken into account. As Alan Shuback pointed out in his post of just over a year ago entitled “Foreign Invasion Creates Troubled Times For French Racing,” it was Rouget himself who “had the gall to suggest that some races in France should be closed to foreign-trained invaders.” Generally, the amount of French runners in the country’s Group 1 races open to both sexes is just over a third of the total but interestingly the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac saw a healthier 29 of the 56 runners being home-trained in the last five years. The reason is obvious. For owners of fillies attempting to gain black-type, such contests are always a draw as the reward vastly outweighs any from prize-money or added premiums. Last year’s Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Lily’s Candle (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}), who had been an inspired purchase the evening before at the Arqana Arc Sale by Martin Schwartz for €390,000, was two months later sold for €1.1 million. Fillies from all stables vastly outnumber the colts in all of France’s group races, with their connections desperate to obtain the credence that black-type bestows. With just three contests at Group 2 level, France is already lacking in gravitas where the juvenile pattern program is concerned but closer inspection of the Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte and Prix Robert Papin (both of which are due to be run at Maisons-Laffitte for the final time in 2019 if the planned closure of the prestigious track goes ahead) reveals bigger problems. In the Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte, just 14 of the 35 runners in the last five years have been from domestic stables with only eight of them being colts or geldings. The Robert Papin, which is particularly prone to successful overseas intervention, has seen just a dozen out of a total of 30 runners take on the raiders. Only six of those were colts or geldings, with good old Sexy Metro and Simply Striking popping up again last term. If the French trainers had talented sprinting juvenile colts during the summer, it is clear that they were reluctant to expose them against the possibly more precocious British and Irish contingent often already hardened by the Royal Ascot experience. Moderate representation of 2-year-old colts also manifests itself in the Group 3 races of the last five years, such as the fast Prix d’Arenberg in which there have been just 10 home-trained runners of that sex. In 2017, the Christophe Ferland-trained Rimini (Fr) (Elusive City) managed a 109-10 upset against the fillies and international interlopers and he is one of just 19 French-trained colts to win a pattern race at home during the last five seasons. That is less than 30% of the country’s main juvenile prizes being won by potential stallion prospects, with most of the wins coming in the longer-distance tests traditionally framed for colts such as the G3 Prix la Rochette, G3 Prix des Chenes, G3 Prix Thomas Bryon and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. As far as the speedier pattern-race contests are concerned, there is a definite void for home-trained colts with only the aforementioned Rimini and Goken (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) managing to win one in the last five seasons. Of those, the latter has earned a place at stud at Haras de Colleville through his subsequent exploits after first advertising his wares in the G3 Prix du Bois. In Part 2, we will talk to industry figures and trainers regarding their thoughts on this issue. View the full article

“I don’t think it’s rocket science,” says Dr. Stephen Jackson. “In the final analysis, you know, the eye of the master fattens the ox.” The antiquity of that adage, and the reproof it implies, suggests that men have always been tempted by the notion that livestock might be fed according to some convenient prescription. But even in the 21st Century, even after all the advances in our understanding of nutrition, one of the field’s premier experts insists that feed can only ever be the adjustable medium between a horseman’s eye and the condition of his horse. “It doesn’t matter what kind of rocket scientist I am, formulating the ration,” Jackson says. “If you don’t have the horsemanship to feed right, it isn’t going to work.” That doesn’t mean we should renounce science. Quite the opposite, in fact: because it’s precisely because the human factor remains so important that we need people like Jackson; people who can match our improving grasp of how the Thoroughbred functions with a personal subtlety, a personal flair, in the case-by-case application of those principles. Jackson has worked for many of the Turf’s leading enterprises: Darley, Juddmonte, the late Jean-Luc Lagardère, Lane’s End. He’s even been given a seat on the board at Three Chimneys. And it’s not as though all these hugely respected firms would hire him simply to be told that the science of nutrition is too remote, too theoretical, to supervise the manger of an individual horse. But what he does tell them all, and anyone else with ears to listen, is to temper expectations of modern nutrition. “I tell my clients that if someone comes to them and says [their feed] is going to make this horse run faster, or jump higher, or eliminate OCD [developmental disease affecting bone and cartilage], then they need to run just as fast as they can away from that person,” he says. “Because there is no silver bullet. Nutrition, certainly, is not a silver bullet. It’s a tiny piece of the entire process of raising an athlete. “So to think that you can come up with a nutrient or supplement that’s going to move a horse up is folly. At least I’m not smart enough to find it. You do the little things right: observe the horse, both on the racetrack and in the barn, and if he isn’t doing right you try to figure out what it is.” If anything, Jackson suspects that the key might be to prevent nutrition getting in a horse’s way. Get your feed regime wrong, and you might prevent a horse reaching its genetic potential. Easier, in other words, to make a horse slower than faster. “I try to stay away from supplements,” he says. “I figure if they have to use a supplement, I’ve done a bad job formulating a diet type deal. Probably in the last 100 evaluations I’ve done, I don’t remember seeing a deficiency–but I do remember lots of instances where I thought they’re getting too much of one thing or another, that can wreck the balance of the diet. “The people who get it right tend to be the same as those who get other things right. Because they’ve put in the time and effort, the money and emotion, to study–or get somebody else to study–this component. Like they have their vet. Like they have their trainer. Like they have their blacksmith. Because it’s a tough, tough racket if you do everything right; but it’s impossible if you do it wrong. Unless lighting strikes.” Jackson remembers being at a breeders’ forum in Britain and hearing trainer Sir Mark Prescott remark that it had been a big advantage, 20 years ago, to have a good “feed man”–but that formula feeds had since levelled the field. And Jackson accepts that these have now achieved such precision and palatability that 90 per cent of farms now use them. “But, interestingly, I’ve done some stuff for older trainers and when I analyzed what they were doing, it was pretty damned close to right,” Jackson notes. “They did it by trial and error, intuition, horsemanship.” His abiding faith in old lore is consistent with Jackson’s background as yet another significant influence on the modern American Thoroughbred who learned the ropes with Quarter Horses in Texas. His father was an extension horse specialist and, after reading animal science at Texas A&M, Jackson came up to the University of Kentucky for a PhD in equine nutrition. Foxhunting accelerated a passion for Thoroughbreds and, in terms of his own vocation, he found that the breed offered the ultimate challenge: to be raised sound enough to support its speed. As Jackson puts it, he “got used to the colour green” and never went back to Texas. Not that the environmental advantages of Kentucky deceive him that forage and soil and climate ever have absolute virtue: as with everything else, they take their place in the line, as one more factor to be balanced. “Don’t get me wrong, I think Kentucky is a great place to raise a horse,” he says. “But I’ve always maintained that if you do due diligence, you can raise a good horse anywhere.” Sure enough, he has managed young stock successfully in India and Saudi Arabia. Domestically, after all, even California sets a different kind of challenge. “When I go into a place I usually don’t try to reinvent the wheel,” Jackson remarks. “What I try to do is look at the horses. Look at what they’re doing. Look at the resources available to them, not only in terms of hay and pasture but also grain and [local] ingredients. And then try to tailor the program to their environment. Because what’s supposed to work in Central Kentucky doesn’t work in Jerrys Plains, Australia.” Jackson established himself in Kentucky as an academic and teacher, including 20 years as a professor at the university, and counts many Bluegrass horse professionals among his former students. Then he joined Dr. Joe Pagan, setting up Kentucky Equine Research, while his first private client was Josephine Abercrombie at Pin Oak. When Joe Osborne left that farm to work for Darley, he recommended Jackson to his new employers–for whom he now works on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Japan. His clients in Japan also include a 150-strong stable, extending through farm and training center, while he has also worked with horses in training in Brazil and Newmarket. In other words, Jackson can work the full palette, from nursing mares to older horses ten days off a run. That said, his priority has always been farmwork. “Of course, present a trainer with a sound horse that’s been raised properly, you can still screw it up,” he says. “For example, people think of bone like a ‘two by four’ piece of lumber. Okay, you’ve built the piece of lumber so, job done, move along to the next thing. But bone is an organ, always in a state of flux. So if you take a young horse raised on a good program, you can still undo a lot of what has been done during the developmental stage. And quickly. “So you look at body condition. You make sure this horse is in an ‘anabolic’ rather than a ‘catabolic’ state: that he’s gaining muscle and keeping bone healthy. I think that’s one of the things about the really good trainers: you don’t see their horses washed out very often. They’re generally on an ascending plane.” Because so much depends on physical evaluation, Jackson’s passport has frayed corners: four weeks a year in Japan, one in Australia, two trips to Ireland. On the home front, moreover, he practises what he preaches–having built up his own boutique operation at the farm he aptly named, on its acquisition, for the Jackson Purchase area of his adopted state. Apart from offering at auction such youngsters he deems “too good for me to keep”, he largely breeds to race. “Most of these horses, September [i.e. the Keeneland sale] is the most they’ll ever be worth in their lives,” he says. “But I got tired of bringing what I thought to be nice, athletic horses and getting dinged because they had a P1 chip, or because they weren’t radiographically perfect.” Flint Stites, a former veterinarian and a seasoned trainer on the Midatlantic circuit, did so well with the first couple of RNAs sent over by Jackson that nowadays most of his yearlings typically aren’t even entered for a sale. The core of the Jackson Purchase Farm broodmare band earned their stripes at stakes level with Stites, or their mothers did. “I get a hell of a lot more thrill out of a homebred winning a race,” Jackson says. “It doesn’t have to be a big race. People can be elitist about claiming horses but because a horse is running for a tag doesn’t mean he’s unsound, or unhealthy. And it’s an opportunity for a lot of people to make a living in the business.” As one breeding for the track sooner than the ring, Jackson is wise enough to favour his mares with proven sires. “I can breed to a horse for $15,000 that’s produced 70 stakes winners versus $35,000 for a new horse that has produced all of nothing,” he reasons. “It’s all blue sky, so I’m probably better off in terms of the odds of getting a horse that can run. I always say to clients, don’t ever breed your ‘A’ mares to a first-crop sire. Because you are squandering genetics. Look through the November catalog and see how many stakes-winning mares have been bred to a freshman sire the first five times they were bred–when only 10% of those stallions are going to make it. The horses they were bred to, typically they’re now in Scandinavia or Turkey.” Through his clients, even so, he also has a weather eye on commercial trends. And he is concerned that the market has become besotted with youngsters he views as simply too big, too powerful. “It used to be that 500 kilos was a big racehorse,” he reflects. “Now he’s close to an average racehorse. In Japan, I have [established] that fillies with a race weight of less than 430 kilos are less inclined to be Group fillies, unless they really like to eat. So it takes a certain amount of mass and volume to be competitive today. That’s because we’ve selected for heavy-muscled horses. But then you look at a really nice turf filly. It’s a different body type, and I think we’ve gotten a lot of our dirt horses too heavy.” His ideal is a finer build: balancing depth of chest with length of cannon bone and forearm, plus a good, “long-rein” shoulder. “But then you look at this incredible racehorse called Justify (Scat Daddy),” he concedes. “That is a beast. I mean, an absolute mesomorph. Big, heavy muscle, lots of bone. So if you decide not to move the growth curve so far to the left, they’re going to punish you in the sales ring. You’ve got to bring what the buyer wants, whether what the buyer wants is right or not.” Excessive size is not the same as excessive fat, however, and Jackson is comforted that elite yearlings are no longer fatted calves. “They’re well grown, and they’ve got adequate cover because fat’s a pretty colour, but they’re athletes,” he says. “In the 1970s, a lot were obese. But people have figured out that, other than sumo wrestlers, fat athletes don’t exist. They’re thinking more about optimizing instead of maximizing.” Whatever shape you’re breeding for, Jackson has an old-school conviction that horses should be reared as naturally as possible. “The more time they spend outside, the more bone they’ll have, the more athletic they’ll be,” he says. “If I look at changes in the way people raise horses, over the last 30 years, I see more and more figuring how to get them outside as long as possible. One of the major causes I see of developmental orthopaedic disease is confinement.” Strictly in terms of nutrition advice, however, Jackson is anything but dogmatic. “I feed a cube myself, about as big as my index finger,” he says. “But I have clients that feed just straight sweet feed. Clients that feed bulk oats and a balancer. Others that use alfalfa hay and some that just use timothy. So if people have preferences, I try to develop a program they’re comfortable with.” Not least because that guarantees compliance. If Jackson comes back after a month and finds his client has slackened off his program, nobody gains. “So you want something that makes sense, something you can teach them,” he says. “You know, I was a teacher for 20 years. What I try to do is show why we do these things; and how to see things that aren’t right in a horse, that might have a nutrition variable. To me, always, it’s about doing the little things right. Take care of the horse. Don’t overface him, nutritionally or work-wise.” Jackson is one of those who can communicate deep learning by sheer, infectious engagement. He makes a living out of his expertise, sure, but the compulsion comes from the horse. “I don’t snow ski, I don’t water ski,” he says. “I don’t go to the Bahamas. I don’t have kids–except 22 head, with four legs, on the farm; and ten that are now racehorses. This is what I do, and what I enjoy doing.” And if his professional fees are ultimately consumed by his amateur experiments, so be it. He smiles, gives a shrug, and says: “I never saw an armoured car following a hearse.” View the full article

The father-son dream that Chuck and Alex Zacney shared of reaching the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) together with Maximus Mischief has been dashed. View the full article

The Champion Chase is all about Altior who’s won his last 17 starts including this contest last season. Nicky Henderson’s stable star has been so bulletproof in recent seasons, all the superlatives to describe his achievements have been used. Altior’s Tingle Creek performance was particularly impressive where he easily brushed aside the classy Un De […] The post Champion Chase 2019 Preview appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

First-season trainer Jimmy Ting Koon-ho will roll the dice on a first-up Happy Valley assault for his New Zealand import Telecom Puma on Wednesday night.Ting has had extraordinary success racing tried Hong Kong horses in the early part of his training career but is looking to now prove himself with fresh imports as he tries to expand his operation.An amazing 24 of his 26 wins have come in Class Four and Five while he has only managed to collect two wins in Class Three.With a rating of 80,… View the full article

A shattered Tony Cruz said he was blindsided by the shock departure of his popular galloper Pakistan Star.Speaking at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning, Cruz said he wished new trainer Paul O’Sullivan well with the dual Group One winner who had struggled to reach his lofty heights this season.Pakistan Star, who is owned by Kerm Din, became an internet sensation after he stormed home from a long last in his first two starts to win, before going on to run second in the 2017 Hong Kong Derby.“I wish them… View the full article

Tan hopes to see Galvarino on straight and narrow View the full article

Thompson booked on King Louis at comeback race View the full article

Updates on stewards' follow-ups to Friday meeting View the full article

The Japan Racing Association announced the 2019 Japan Autumn International Series Feb. 22, a bonus program aimed at drawing international horses to compete in four Japanese grade 1 stakes. View the full article

A Kentucky state senator with professional ties to the racing industry is endeavoring to change a recently-enacted state tax that he believes unintentionally penalizes racetrack bettors by taking away their ability to offset gambling winnings with losses when calculating income. “There was never any specific intent to target horseplayers,” Damon Thayer, the Republican Majority Floor Leader, told TDN via phone on Monday. “I’m trying to get some language in [a new bill] to fix the problem.” Although the tax changes brought about by HB 487, Kentucky’s sweeping tax reform bill, were first enacted on Apr. 27, 2018, many horseplayers and tax professionals are just now becoming aware of the potentially costly gambling-related consequences as they prepare their 2018 tax returns. Frank Angst of Blood-Horse first broke the story Sunday, detailing complaints from bettors who could face thousands of dollars in new taxes because they can no longer mirror federal income-calculating guidelines that pertain to gambling winnings when filing their 2018 Kentucky state income tax returns. A closer look at HB 487, which passed the House (51-38) and the Senate (24-14) before becoming law without the governor’s signature last year, shows that only a single line of text within the bill without any reference at all to “gambling,” “winnings” or “losses” is what has triggered the potentially onerous tax liability for bettors. The clause within the 417-page bill was inserted on page 166, where in a section detailing how the calculation of income should follow federal standards, one of ten exceptions to following the federal code states that “Any deduction allowed by 26 U.S.C. sec. 165 for losses” is no longer permitted. Section 165 of the federal code reads, in part, “Losses from wagering transactions shall be allowed only to the extent of the gains from such transactions [and] the term ‘losses from wagering transactions’ includes any deduction otherwise allowable under this chapter incurred in carrying on any wagering transaction.” This means Kentucky residents are still able to deduct losses to the extent of winnings on their federal returns, but not on their state returns for 2018. Thayer, upon first hearing word Monday about how this clause will negatively affect Kentucky taxpayers, said, “It was news to me, because I was in the room with [Speaker of the House] David Osborne, who is also a horse racing industry participant like me, and there was never any mention of pari-mutuel wagering, losses, deductions, anything. So I think it’s a misapplication of the law by the finance cabinet.” Thayer explained how in the wake of passage of any wide-ranging state tax reform, lawmakers typically have to come back and put together a “cleanup bill” as constituents come forward with complaints. That process, he said, already began months ago in Kentucky, and is not limited to Thayer’s efforts to change the way gambling winnings are reported. “Any time you do a major tax overhaul like we did last year, there are always unintended consequences that you have to do a cleanup bill [for],” Thayer said. “It just passed the House last week. We just got it. It’s in the possession of our Appropriations and Revenue Committee, and I’m already working with Senator Chris McDaniel, the chairman of the committee, to see if we can insert some language. He’s working on an amendment to the House bill, and I’m going to try to get some language in there to fix it. We’ve only got 12 days left in our legislative session, so time is of the essence.” But Thayer said it is unlikely that the changes will help horseplayers on their 2018 returns. “It’s difficult to do those things retroactively,” Thayer said. So is 2019 the target date for rolling back the tax change? “That’s to be determined, but I would say that’s a likely application,” Thayer said. TDN attempted to contact Republican Phillip Pratt of Georgetown, who sponsored last year’s sweeping tax bill, to ask why HB 487 stripped out the ability to deduct losses from winnings in the first place. But a message left with a staffer did not yield a return call prior to deadline for this story. Jeff Platt, the president of the Horseplayers Association of North America, told TDN via phone that one “silver lining” for Kentuckians is that because of tax-friendly code changes initiated at the federal level in 2017 (in which a bettor’s entire-pool investment, as opposed to only the amount wagered on the correct result, determines the amount reported or withheld for tax purposes), the number of “signers” is down significantly. Thus, for Kentucky residents, there are fewer documented winnings that need to be reported at the state level. “Me personally, I’m against these kinds of tax code changes,” Platt said of the new Kentucky law. “Give the taxpayer the option of either using a short form or a really extensive long form to deduct stuff like this. “The thing is, so few people actually win on horse races,” Platt continued. “Even those who might hit lots of signers during the year, they tend to churn most of it back. The number of people who win in this industry is maybe 1% or 2%, something like that. The maddening thing is that this type of statute discourages someone from even going to a horse track.” View the full article

The four horses catastrophically injured at Santa Anita over the past four days have underscored once again how fatalities at the track this winter are higher than in comparable periods over the last three years, leaving track management, regulators and the horsemen themselves scrambling for answers that aren’t always easy to come by. In an unusual turn of events yesterday, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) released the numbers on horses fatally injured at Santa Anita between Dec. 26, when racing started, and Feb. 23. During that time, 18 horses died-6 on the dirt during racing, 5 on the turf during racing, and another 7 during morning training. Another horse, a 3-year-old gelding named Charmer John, was euthanized during training hours this morning. Typically, information on fatalities as granular as this could only be accessed by the public through stewards minutes, which aren’t always accurate. In a decision made Sunday, the main track was closed for training this morning at 9 a.m. It will remain closed through Tuesday. During this time, track superintendent Andy LaRocco’s crew will “peel back” about five inches of the track’s cushion to examine the base, while the surface’s soil consistency and moisture will also be analyzed. The track was originally scheduled to be closed this morning for maintenance work, but push-back from horsemen saw it re-opened until 9 a.m. “Maybe they shouldn’t have opened it,” California Thoroughbred Trainers president Jim Cassidy said, in light of the breakdown this morning. Cassidy has two horses entered on Thursday, and if track management don’t find anything wrong with the surface, he plans to run them. “If they find a problem, then yeah, they probably should hold off [with the races]” he said. “If they don’t find anything, then you have to go along with it.” Myriad factors weigh into any catastrophic injury. As CHRB medical director Rick Arthur routinely points out, between 85 and 90 percent of all musculoskeletal-related fatalities have pre-existing pathology at the site of the injury. Race-day catastrophic injury risk factors include racehorse age and race distance. And not all fatalities are due to musculoskeletal injuries, of course. One of the training fatalities at Santa Anita this year was due to sudden cardiac death. All horses fatally injured at Santa Anita this winter underwent, or will undergo, a standard necropsy. According to Arthur, about 1/3 of the necropsies have been completed. Some necropsies take longer than others, “depending on the circumstances,” said Arthur. A typical range is between six and 12 weeks. If the pathologist performs certain special procedures, like bone demineralization and histological examinations, the longer the necropsy typically takes. Among the completed necropsies, Arthur was unwilling to comment on any possible underlying trends. “Anything I say at the moment would be speculation,” he said. “We’re always looking for trends-always looking for issues that can be addressed. It’s an ongoing process.” Nevertheless, it’s on Santa Anita’s racing surfaces that the bulk of the attention has been focused, and that’s due largely to the 11 1/2 inches of rain that has this year lashed the facility. “At Santa Anita, it’s dry, dry, dry, and then suddenly it floods,” said Mick Peterson, an expert in racetrack surfaces, who will head out to Santa Anita on Wednesday to assist the track superintendent, Andy LaRocco. At the heart of the issue, said Peterson, is the matter of consistency-what is described in this Grayson-Jockey Club Racing Surfaces White Paper as integral to the “performance and orthopedic health of the horse.” So, what do we know of the consistency of Santa Anita’s racing surfaces? According to Peterson, the moisture content is routinely monitored, and samples of the track are taken monthly and sent for analysis at a laboratory in Kentucky. The samples are tested to determine the combination of sand, silt and clay in the track. As for how the samples are taken, there are two main protocols. Ordinarily, four samples are taken at the quarter poles roughly seven feet from the inside rail. After periods of rain, two samples-one at three feet and one at 15 feet from the inside-are taken at the quarter pole and the wire, and further samples are taken at the 1/8 pole, the 3/4 pole, and the 1/2 pole at seven feet from the rail. “You can picture what we’re doing-we’re looking at the variation from the middle of the racing lanes to the inside of the racing lanes,” said Peterson. “And we’re looking circumferentially at the variation around the track. We’ve got to keep both consistent.” The first set of samples since the rain-using the second testing protocol-have been sent to Kentucky. The results could be back by Thursday. What Peterson expects to find is the finer particles of silt and clay in the racetrack surface to have washed to the rail, leaving the larger, coarser particles of sand towards the outside. If that’s the case, there are two possible responses the track management can take, said Peterson. The first is to take a “grader” to move the materials to the middle of the track before pulling it back to the edges. “It’s just like mixing dough,” he said. Or else, the track staff can go “round and round” with the harrows. “What you’re looking for is consistency.” This “mixing” process will begin when the track is peeled back, said Peterson, and could continue after he arrives Wednesday. “We will keep taking samples until the consistency is within the error of our testing,” he said. “The process is not unusual, just the intensity.” Five of the 18 fatalities at Santa Anita this year have been on the turf track, which was completely renovated last year. Peterson said the “drainage at Santa Anita is fine.” But identifying any potential issue with the turf is that much tougher than with the dirt because of a dearth of diagnostic technologies, said Peterson. “We need better tools. Right now, turf is a huge frustration to me,” said Peterson, who added that “if done carefully and consistently,” the turf moisture probe can be a “terrific” tool. “You know what I look at? Hoofprints. What I’m looking for is a hoof that penetrates down in, where the toe penetrates down in, and it doesn’t sheer out the surface. You don’t get it cupping out or divoting.” Where data holes exist, so does speculation. And contrary to widely-assumed wisdom, a sealed track is not an unsafe track, as has been proven by data out of Minnesota, said Peterson. “The challenge is when you transition from a sealed track to an open track. You run the risk of a very hard sealed track as it’s beginning to dry out.” Exacerbating this problem is how different parts of the track dry at different rates, said Peterson. “You’ve got the shadows on the front stretch. The clubhouse turn tends to get a lot of wind across it. The sun and the wind hits turn one and two, but turns three and four are very different. There’s no way to fix that, and that’s where the experience of the trackmen matter.” Andy LaRocco recently assumed the position from long-time superintendent Dennis Moore. “It was pretty seamless from Dennis to Andy,” said Peterson. And what LaRocco has done successfully, said Peterson, is to maintain his usual approach-an approach shaped by Moore-to the maintenance of Santa Anita’s dirt course. “The worst thing you can do when something like this happens is make changes without using data to guide you,” Peterson said. “Maybe some of the races should have come off the turf. That’s all I can say. People are making judgements, and this is where data is critical.” Jim Cassidy said that he and his fellow horsemen are pleased that the track management are “trying to figure out what’s going on,” especially as he sees the condition of the racing surfaces as fundamental to the problem. “All this rain we’ve had, you’d have to blame it mostly on the track.” The Cassidy-trained Amboseli was recently euthanized after breaking down on the turf in the GIII Astra S. Cassidy said that mare didn’t have any signs of a pre-existing injury or problem. “It was a complete shock to me-she was 100 percent.” Cassidy added that the horsemen he has spoken to, those who have also lost horses in recent months, are equally perplexed. “However, if someone sent one out there with an issue, well, that’s another story.” According to Arthur, the track can be a factor in any injury. “I think it’s particularly problematic when you have so many off-tracks that require it to be sealed,” he added. “It’s very challenging.” Nevertheless, Arthur stressed the “multi-factorial” nature of any catastrophic injury. “Is there one thing to change to correct the problems we face?” he said. “No, I don’t believe that’s the case.” An ad hoc committee has been put together comprising Peterson, Hall of Fame retired jockey Alex Solis, now a CHRB commissioner, a Southern California trainer, an active jockey and one member of Santa Anita’s management team. According to Solis, that last slot has been filled by P.J. Campo, executive vice president, Racing Division, for The Stronach Group. The trainer and active jockey slots have yet to be filled, Solis said. Solis said that the committee was put together to gather together and analyze feedback from a variety of parties, including the horsemen, the jockeys and exercise riders. “That’ll give us a better idea of what’s going on,” he said. Though retired from race-riding, Solis still exercises horses for Richard Mandella of a morning, and he’s hesitant to pin blame entirely on the track surface. Rather, he sees recent events as a “wake-up call” for all sectors of the industry to assess and perhaps re-assess their role in the issue. “One of the main things is owners putting pressure on their trainers to run when they’re not quite ready,” said Solis. “At the end of the day, this is a team effort.” View the full article

With no Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races the weekend of Feb. 23-24, there's little change in this week's NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll. View the full article

Magic Bloodstock Racing, R.G. Treweeke, and Mrs. D.N. Kepitis' Winx will aim to land a fourth-straight victory in the Chipping Norton Stakes (G1) at Royal Randwick on March 2. View the full article

Just 13 days after racing resumed in Britain following a six-day break due to equine influenza, there has been an outbreak of EI in a trainer’s yard in Lamorlaye, near Chantilly, France, France Galop confirmed on Monday. Both the trainer and his veterinarian have taken the necessary steps to isolate the infection. Details on the number of infected horse(s), the trainer, or if those horse(s) had recently raced were not released. The organization reminds trainers of the need for quarantine isolation for horses exhibiting respiratory symptoms, as well as any new arrivals to the yard. Horses should be nasal swabbed that are showing signs of the virus and the RESPE should be notified of those individuals. Movement of stock should also be minimised and only healthy animals should be transported, with particular care taken to prevent the spread of the disease through both equine and human means. France Galop also recommended that horses that have been vaccinated against EI more than six months ago should receive a booster vaccine. View the full article

A third horse in three days has been euthanized following an injury sustained during training on the main track at Santa Anita Park. The horse who suffered the fatal injury Feb. 25 was named Charmer John and was trained by Mark Glatt. View the full article

University of Kentucky researchers Karin Pekarchik (College of Agriculture, Food and Environment) and Kimberly Tumlin (College of Public Health) are seeking participation for an online research survey to better understand who participates in horse activities and sports. “Portrait of a Rider: Characterizing Active Participants in Horse Activities and Horse Sports,” is a survey that will help qualify socioeconomic factors and type of participation of equestrians, which includes any person–rider, handler, worker–who interacts with horses. Compared to the amount of research on horse health, little research has been conducted on equestrians, despite the economic importance of this industry globally. “This survey is an important step in making sure we understand who participates in the industry, where they are, and generally get more detail on their backgrounds. There are some pressures to participation rates and workforce development in different areas of the industry, and this is one way to give everyone an opportunity to be counted,” Pekarchik said. “We hope that characterizing equestrian participants in 2019 will yield new insight into trends and facts that could be used to fine-tune recruitment and training for workforce development, participation rates, etc. We will literally be painting a portrait of the horse rider/handler with facts.” “I love the collaborative nature of the equestrian community of practice. All of the women freely give their time and expertise to further an industry that is clearly important to them. The research paper that we are working on is a big effort, but we hope it will be really useful for other researchers and industry groups, whether they are in the Thoroughbred racing, eventing, Pony Club, or any of the other diverse groups that make up the equestrian world.” Although there are generalizations about who participates, it is unclear if those generalizations are reflective of accurate socioeconomic factors or are perceptions based on stereotypes. “There are many pre-conceived notions that being involved in the equine industry is precluded by having economic stability. This survey is aimed at understanding potential disparities that we have observed but are not widely documented in the various sectors of equestrian participation,” Tumlin said. Pekarchik and Tumlin aim to receive completed surveys from at least 1,000 people so they can create a statistically valid portrait of who participates in horse activities. The online survey is open to anyone over the age of 18 and will be distributed in the United States and internationally. The survey will be open until March 31, 2019. To participate, click here. An interdisciplinary team, Pekarchik and Tumlin have been engaged in equestrian research for several years. Currently, Tumlin and Pekarchik, with Mike Sama, Ph.D., PE, an engineer at the University of Kentucky, have funding from the UK Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center to explore impacts of biomechanical forces on the jockey/equestrian spine more fully. The funding will support a collaboration with the North American Racing Academy (NARA), the Lexington, Ky., race-training program. NARA’s students will participate in both live animal and simulated racing experiences while wearing newly engineered sensor systems that will measure spine forces. Eventually, Pekarchik and Tumlin will compare the impacts of riding to other sports activities to better understand the effects on the body. To learn more about the Female Equestrian Community of Practice, visit https://www.uky.edu/equestrians. View the full article

A 3-year-old gelding suffered a catastrophic injury during training at Santa Anita Monday and was euthanized, adding to three deaths at the Arcadia oval Friday and Saturday, according to Daily Racing Form. Santa Anita announced Sunday its main track would be closed for training Tuesday as officials conduct an examination of the racing surface in response to an increase in equine fatalities from last year to the current meeting. Charmer John (He’s Top) broke down soon after turning into the stretch during a work shortly after the track’s 7:30 renovation break Monday, DRF’s Jay Privman reported. The once-raced gelding was taken by horse ambulance back to the barn of trainer Mark Glatt, but was euthanized shortly after. This story will be updated throughout the day. View the full article

A full rundown of horse racing television and radio for the week, including Saturday’s Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2). View the full article

Shane Foley will replace Colm O’Donoghue as the stable jockey for Jessica Harrington’s Commonstown Stables, the Racing Post reported on Monday. Foley’s career highlights to date include the 2016 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas on Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) and the 2018 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas on Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). “We have used Shane for a number of years and I am delighted to secure him as our retained rider for the season ahead,” Harrington, who saddled champion Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for four Group 1 victories in 2018, told Racing Post. “He is well established as one of the top-tier jockeys and is a Classic-winning rider. Shane is able to give us the commitment we and our owners require and I am delighted to have him. “Our numbers have grown on the back of such a fantastic season last year and, while it’s going to be even more competitive, we hope to build on that again. Shane has an existing arrangement to ride Mr. [Yuesheng] Zhang’s horses, which will remain in place. Tom Madden, who’s also a key member of our team, will act as second jockey and I hope to give him plenty of opportunities.” Said Foley, “I have been involved as part of the team in Commonstown for a long number of years and I am thrilled and excited to firm up the arrangement for the season ahead. Jessie is firmly established as one of the leading Flat trainers in Ireland and Britain and this is one of the top jobs that anyone would be delighted to have. I have been riding out regularly and we look to have a really exciting bunch of horses for the season. I can’t wait to get started.” View the full article

During a recent visit to Weatherbys Racing Bank we caught up with Tom Jonason, Head of Business Development, to discuss his career change and some of projects he has been working on. TDN: Tom, tells us a bit about your career to date. TJ: Before I joined Weatherbys Racing Bank, I was actually with a company called RacingFX for a little while. Before that, I worked for Paul Nicholls, as his assistant trainer for six years. TDN: There is a bit of a difference working as an assistant trainer to what you are currently doing. Why the change? TJ: There were a multitude of reasons really, and it wasn’t an easy decision, I can tell you. It was changing priorities and changing responsibilities in my life. I was getting married, and thinking about buying a house, so there were a number of sensible factors. Obviously, working for Paul, there was an actual lead into training, Dan Skelton has gone on and done very well, and Harry Fry, which really inspired me that I could go on and do it. But, like I said, it was just a number of factors. It took me a really long time to come to the decision. So I started to think about other career options, and gave Paul a year’s notice, and started to put the word about. TDN: Do you miss working with Paul? I’d imagine your time there is something you think about a lot given the time of year we are in? TJ: I do miss it. I miss the big days, but I don’t regret it, which is the most important thing. I miss the buzz around the yard, I miss the lads. There’s definitely a difference between working in an office environment and outside. But equally, I don’t miss the snow fall that Paul Nicholls just had, for example, and I saw on Twitter that the gallops man was on the tractor all night, harrowing the gallops and two or three years ago, I would have been very much a part of that. I was sound asleep in my bed this year and I didn’t miss that aspect. TDN: Why Weatherbys Racing Bank? TJ: Well, Weatherbys actually came about in a funny sort of way. I did actually come for an interview when I gave Paul a year’s notice for a role very similar to what I have now, but I didn’t get it. Then the opportunity just presented itself about a year later. It was a no-brainer for me: Weatherbys’ name is synonymous with racing. It’s a company that I’ve wanted to get involved with. The big thing, for me, about Weatherbys, is that it’s a really good brand. If I pick up the phone and say its Tom from Weatherbys, it doesn’t matter who I’m speaking to, and doesn’t matter they have no idea who Tom from Weatherbys is, the client or potential client is immediately engaged. Everyone knows the name Weatherbys in the racing industry, and I think it’s got a really good reputation. TDN: As you said Weatherbys is synonymous with racing and breeding. What do you think the ethos of the company is? TJ: The ethos of Weatherbys is summed up in our customer service. That’s another thing that I like about Weatherbys. I’m probably a bit of a perfectionist, a bit pernickety. That’s something that was bred into me at Paul’s, is that you leave no stone unturned. It’s the same with Weatherbys. You go the extra mile for the customer all the time. I think that’s hugely important–the personal service here. I work specifically in the bank and the personal service that our clients receive is like no other and not even imaginable on the High Street. We answer the phone in three rings and if you’re a client of the Private Bank you could be speaking to your relationship manager within 10 seconds. That trickles down through the Racing Bank as well, and I hope that our clients find that as much as I do. On the High Street, it’d take you 10 minutes just to be able to speak to a human being. TDN: What are some of the projects you have been involved in since joining Weatherbys Racing Bank? TJ: There’s always a desire to move forward and keep pace with technology whilst keeping the personal service that you can only really get with human beings and the personal touch. I’ve been a part of a few different things with the Racing Bank in particular. Since I’ve joined, we’ve launched an account called Racing Plus, which really bridges the gap between the standard racing account and wanting a bank account for a fuller service. You’ve got online banking and that facilitates your transactions for racing, inasmuch as that your entry fees are automatically taken out and your prize money automatically goes in, but also that there’s a range of different benefits that go with it. You can have debit card, cheque book and there is our VAT return service which is available as a part of the Racing Bank. You get a 20% discount from that service, from the quarterly fee, if you’re a Racing Plus client. We also have a £500 prize money bonus for owners if they win a Racing Bank-sponsored race throughout the year at a range of racecourse in both codes. But also you can step outside of just a racing activity. It’s a full banking service for anyone that’s connected to the bloodstock industry. A lot of studs might use it or any bloodstock professional, you get the full Weatherbys service combined with that racing specialist nature of the account. TDN: I believe you have recently launched a banking app as well? TJ: Yes, that’s right. It’s an app that fits across all products: from the Racing Bank to our Racing Plus clients, and also the Private Bank. It’s as you would expect any online banking app to be, but from a racing perspective, it’s not something we’ve properly had before. For our racing clients, it’s just another string to the bow of Weatherbys Racing Bank, being able to hold your funds in a racing account and making your payments and doing all your racing activity on the go–it’s just a really slick piece of kit. It’s all been designed in-house at Weatherbys. It’s quite exciting for us and hopefully it’s exciting for our clients. TDN: What do you enjoy most about the job? TJ: It’s that Weatherbys ethos, going that extra mile for the client. Like I said earlier on, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I like to know that everyone’s getting as good a service as possible. That runs down through Weatherbys. Working for Weatherbys, I’ve been able to have a professional career that’s still connected to the racing and the bloodstock world, but just on the other side of the fence, and that’s the most exciting thing. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Jonason Relishing Career Move","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/319476103.sd.mp4?s=cbae665c7ea46ba326337169b998499727fc2e3c&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/314514672.sd.mp4?s=a306d293085e5b37b7a8153e8ad79633640c115a&profile_id=165","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"http:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"} View the full article

Trainer Karl Broberg secured the 3,000th victory of his career Friday, Feb. 22, when Sarge's Daughter posted a 2 1/2-length victory in the seventh race at Sam Houston Race Park. View the full article

Trying to write a brief résumé of Redoute’s Choice‘s stellar career isn’t easy, in view of the scale and depth of the impact this son of Danehill has had on the Australian industry. The Arrowfield Stud patriarch made a spectacular start to his stallion career, with the G1 Golden Slipper S. winners Stratum and Miss Finland emerging from his second and third crops. Consequently, in the space of a few years, his fee soared from A$40,000 in 2004 to a career-high of A$330,000 in 2007 and 2008. While Redoute’s Choice couldn’t come close to matching Danehill’s nine sires’ championships, he has proved the most successful of Danehill’s sons in this respect. He has taken three championships, as opposed to Fastnet Rock’s double and the single titles taken by Flying Spur and Exceed And Excel, with his titles spread from 2005-06 to 2013-14. Redoute’s Choice has also taken a head start over other Danehill stallions, as his son Snitzel already has two sires’ championships in the bag, with a third consecutive title likely to be sealed later this year. Snitzel ranks alongside the likes of Not A Single Doubt and Stratum as one of several sons of Redoute’s Choice with Group 1 winners to their credit. With his eldest sons only 11 years old, it is still comparatively early days for Snitzel’s own stallion sons. However, his grandson Time To Reign ran out a decisive winner of the G2 Silver City S. at Rosehill three days ago. Sadly this colt’s sire, the dual G2 two-year-old winner Time For War, died from a colic attack as a 5-year-old, after only two seasons at stud. While his grandsons are just beginning to make their mark, Redoute’s Choice is proving to be far from a back number, even though he was born as long ago as August 1996. Last week saw him represented by group-winning sons in the UAE and Australia, with Spotify taking the G3 Dubai Millennium S. at Meydan, while The Autumn Sun landed the G2 Hobartville S. at Rosehill. There is a tenuous link between these two, as The Autumn Sun’s dam, the Galileo mare Azmiyna, was bred by the Aga Khan, whose association with Arrowfield led to Redoute’s Choice shuttling to the Aga’s Haras de Bonneval for the 2013 and 2014 Northern Hemisphere seasons. The 5-year-old Spotify is a member of the stallion’s first French crop. Redoute’s Choice commanded a fee of €70,000 in his first Bonneval season and €60,000 in his second, which made him the highest-priced French-based stallion by a considerable margin. The Stallions website credits him with siring 71 foals during his first visit and 69 in his second, for a total of 140 foals. It is probably fair to say that Redoute’s Choice’s French progeny haven’t matched their Australian counterparts–at least not so far. Whereas he has 34 Group 1 winners from his Australian crops (including several in South Africa), he has yet to hit the Group 1 target with his Northern Hemisphere progeny. However, he has enjoyed group success with Gold Luck (G3 Prix Vanteaux over nine furlongs and G1SP), Ibiza (G3 Prix Chloe over nine furlongs), Sevenna Star (G3 Classic Trial over 10 furlongs) and now with Spotify. He also has the listed winners Lilac Fairy, Time’s Arrow and Wajnah, with these seven black-type winners representing 5% of his 140 foals. He also sired the black-type earners Astronomy’s Choice (listed-placed), Impertinente (Group 3-placed), Maid To Remember (Group 3-placed) and Roystonia (listed-placed). Spotify’s group success at Meydan was gained over a mile and a quarter, which means that all four of Redoute’s Choice’s European group winners have scored over nine or 10 furlongs, even though Redoute’s Choice was a Group 1 winner over six furlongs at two and over six, seven and eight furlongs at three. In other words, he has followed in the footsteps of Fastnet Rock, another of Danehill’s speedy Australian champions who has generally proved an influence for middle-distance ability when mated to European mares. This comes as no great surprise, as Redoute’s Choice’s Southern Hemisphere winners include no fewer than three winners of the Australasian Oaks over a mile and a quarter and two of the AJC Australian Oaks over a mile and a half, plus winners of the UAE Derby, South African Derby, New Zealand Derby and Queensland Derby. The fact that The Autumn Sun is out of a daughter of Galileo provides another parallel to Fastnet Rock, whose long list of important winners out of Galileo mares include Qualify (Oaks), Zhukova (Man o’War S.) and Unforgotten (AJC Australian Oaks). However, The Autumn Sun–who is being groomed as a potential replacement for Redoute’s Choice at Arrowfield–has been making his name at up to a mile, notably running out a very decisive winner of the G1 Caulfield Guineas over a mile last October. The fact that Spotify didn’t become a listed winner until he was four and a group winner until he was five may have something to do with his May 23 birthday, but he still managed to win his only start as a 2-year-old. He is a well-connected individual, as his dam Gwenseb was a Group 3 winner over five furlongs as a juvenile and later enjoyed listed success over a mile. She has proved even more successful as a broodmare, with Spotify being her third group winner and fourth black-type winner. Each of her group winners has a different sire, the others being Impassable, a dual Group 2 winner over a mile by Invincible Spirit, and Attendu, a three-time Group 3 winner over a mile by Acclamation. View the full article

Victory by Hustle Up in the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park Feb. 24 provided trainer Todd W. Fincher with his 1,000th career winner. View the full article