Wandering Eyes

Copper Bullet will stretch out in his season debut Feb. 18 at Oaklawn Park, where he will take on an evenly matched field of 13 other older horses in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) going 1 1/16 miles. View the full article

13:00 Huntingdon Mr Pumblechook started his hurdle career with a couple of promising placed efforts in races that have both produced subsequent winners, so it was no surprise to see him gain his first victory at the third time of asking when romping home by ten lengths at Plumpton in December. He found Listed company […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Sunday 17th February appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

European Exports is a series where we catch up with people who have left their home countries to make a new life in racing in America. Today, we speak with Coolmore’s Robyn Murray. TDN: Where are you originally from? RM: I’m from Middleham in North Yorkshire, and it’s quite a big horse racing town. We have around 15 to 20 trainers there at any one time like Mark Johnston and Karl Burke, so I grew up around horses. My family was kind of involved in ownership. It was a fantastic place to be, getting to see some incredible horses. TDN: Did you work in racing there before coming over to America? RM: I did. I started off working in racing, and I rode out for a little while. I certainly wasn’t going to be the next Frankie Dettori, but I enjoyed it at the time. And then from working in racing I went on and did the English National Stud Course and took it from there. I was very lucky to be able to travel. I went to New Zealand, to Australia, to Ireland, and then came over here three years ago and haven’t left since. TDN: Is there anything you miss about home? RM: Not really. Obviously the weather’s a little bit chillier here during the winter, but I still get to go backwards and forwards because everything is so international you get to see everyone when the sales and the racing are on. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"European Exports With Robyn Murray","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/311903279.sd.mp4?s=9d6478d34f34a7d4c5c080d9de946f45ffa373fc&profile_id=164","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=164","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\/"} TDN: What do you like about working in racing in America? RM: We’re so incredibly lucky here with having Keeneland just down the road for the racing and the sales, and Churchill Downs just up the road as well. It’s quite incredible to be so close by to everything and also Lexington is a beautiful place. There’s a lot of us English and Irish over here as well which kind of makes it like a home away from home. TDN: When you go back home, does your family make any comments on your accent? RM: A couple of people mentioned a slight American twang but then also people said Irish as well, which I guess considering I work around so many Irish people; neither way is a bad thing, but I think I’ve still got the Yorkshire hint in there. View the full article

Since racing on the Southern California circuit moved to Santa Anita Park the day after Christmas, KMN Racing's homebred Apache Princess has been unstoppable. View the full article

Copper Bullet will stretch out in his season debut on Presidents Day at Oaklawn Park where he will take on an evenly matched field of 13 other older horses in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) going 1 1/16 miles. View the full article

The Haefner family’s Moyglare Stud outside Maynooth in County Kildare has been a bastion of Irish breeding and racing now for half a century, and the farm’s black-and-white bodied silks have become part of the furniture of Irish flat racing. The stud’s association with Dermot Weld must be one of the longest- running in racing at the moment and despite the lack of a Group 1 winner since Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) landed the G1 Prince Of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot in 2015, such is the quality of the broodmare band that surely it can only be a matter of time before another top-level winner emerges from the Moyglare production line. The continued use of a stallion such as Galileo (Ire) will also surely give Moyglare Stud every chance of unearthing another star and, according to Moyglare’s bloodstock advisor Fiona Craig, that is who Free Eagle’s dam Polished Gem (Ire) (Danehill) will visit this year. It will be a case of sooner rather than later also as the 16-year-old, who is also the dam of MGSWs Custom Cut (Ire) (Notnowcato {GB}) and Sapphire (Ire) (Medicean {GB}), is empty this year having been rested in 2018. Another mare penciled in for a date with Coolmore’s perennial champion is Discreet Marq (Discreet Cat), a $2.4-million purchase by Moyglare at Fasig-Tipton in November 2014. She had won the GI Del Mar Oaks for previous owner and breeder Patricia A Generazio and was given a chance by Moyglare to add to that tally under trainer Christophe Clement. A Grade III win and a third in both the GI Matriarch S. and the GI Just The Game S. followed before retirement to the paddocks. All her matings so far have been with Galileo and she is due to foal in April. “Discreet Marq’s first foal is now a 2-year-old, a Galileo filly and she is training away in Dermot Weld’s and she is a nice filly,” Craig said. “We saw enough quality in the 2-year-old to keep the link with Galileo and have a lovely yearling colt out her also so it made sense to go back again this year.” Another American Grade I winner in the Moyglare broodmare band is Switch (Quiet American), who landed an elite double when winning the GI La Brea S. and GI Santa Monica S. at Santa Anita in late 2010 and early 2011. The 12-year-old is one of three Moyglare mares due to Galileo this year but she will be covered by Invincible Spirit (Ire) this season. Sea The Stars (Ire) is the choice for two of Moyglare’s black- type mares in Carla Bianca (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and Joailliere (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Carla Bianca won three stakes races in a row for Dermot Weld in 2014 and added to that tally when landing the G3 Meld S. in 2015. She was covered by Dubawi (Ire) for her first two seasons as a broodmare and is due this month. “Her first foal was a grey Dubawi filly which is always a positive for us and she is due to foal another Dubawi any day now,” Craig said. Joailliere was well-placed by Weld to gain her stakes win in a listed race at Dortmund in Germany in 2016, having been third in two Group 3s at The Curragh earlier that season and is expecting to Frankel (GB) and is also due this month. Only one mare on the farm is currently carrying a Sea The Stars foal and that is the great producer Es Que (GB) (Inchinor {GB}), the dam of four stakes winners including G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Dominant (Ire) (Cacique {Ire}) and last year’s G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris winner Listen In (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Es Que is one of two Moyglare mares who will visit Tally-Ho Stud stallion Kodiac (GB) this year, the other being former Ballymacoll Stud mare Liber Nauticus (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}). The G3 Musidora S. winner was purchased out of the Ballymacoll dispersal for 425,000gns in 2017 and since then her second produce, the 3-year-old filly Miss Celestial (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), has gotten the mare off to a good start winning twice as juvenile last year for Sir Mark Prescott and achieving a rating of 90. Liber Nauticus is currently carrying to Muhaarar (GB) and is due the middle of March. Apart from those going to Galileo, four other mares are also Coolmore-bound, with Group 3 winner Afternoon Sunlight (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a half-sister to G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Casual Conquest (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}), booked into Camelot (GB), while the recently retired Chateau La Fleur (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a winner at Dundalk in December, will have Fastnet Rock (Aus) as her first partner. Knowing You (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) continued to race last year while in foal to Mastercraftsman (Ire), but she didn’t manage to add to her two wins achieved the previous year and she will be covered by Zoffany (Ire) this year while Colour Bright (Ire) (Dream Ahead), a half-sister to Tha’Ir (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), will be tried with Starspangledbanner (Aus) as soon as she delivers her Nathaniel (Ire) foal. Other Irish studs to receive Moyglare support include Ballylinch Stud with Sorelle Delle Rose (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a winning full-sister to the remarkable Sovereign Debt (Ire), visiting Lope De Vega (Ire) and Derrinstown Stud, whose Tamayuz (GB) has been chosen to cover the multiple winning flat stakes performer and dual Grade 1-winning hurdler Unaccompanied (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Eight mares are scheduled to travel abroad to either England or France to be covered and they include Majestic Silver (Ire) (Linamix {Fr}), the dam of Carla Bianca and Joailliere. The 13-year-old was rested last year and will be covered this year by Dalham Hall lynch-pin Dubawi (Ire). Also Newmarket-bound are Rose De Pierre (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Terrific (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who are booked into Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB). Rose De Pierre, a stakes-winning daughter of the great race mare Profound Beauty (Ire) (Danehill), is carrying her first foal by Siyouni (Fr). Former Coolmore mare Terrific (Ire), a stakes-placed full-sister to Group 1 winners Jan Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), was bought by Moyglare Stud for $1.9-million at Keeneland November in 2015. She was in foal to War Front at the time and that subsequent produce, a now 3-year-old colt called Tranchee (Ire), made a debut full of promise when third to G1 Vertem Futurity S. winner Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) at Naas last September and holds an entry in this year’s G1 Investec Epsom Derby and G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas. Terrific was covered last year by Fastnet Rock (Aus) and the timing of this interview was perfect. “Terrific actually foaled a lovely filly at 6.30 a.m. this morning,” Craig revealed on Tuesday. “We have been trying for ages to get a Fastnet Rock but we’ve had some bad luck up to this so we are delighted,” she added. Terrific also has a Dansili (GB) 2-year-old filly to hopefully represent her on the racecourse this year. Her name is Lilli Milena (Ire) and is the subject of a good homework report from Rosewell House. Both multiple stakes winner Mad About You (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) and her winning daughter Malinka (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) are also heading across the water with Mad About You scheduled to visit Muhaarar (GB) when she delivers her Dark Angel (Ire) foal. Meanwhile Malinka, who is due to Kodiac will, go to Whitsbury Manor stud to be covered by Showcasing (GB). Espoir D’soleil (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a half-sister to Afternoon Sunlight, will be covered for the first time this year and the Moyglare team have chosen leading French stallion Siyouni (Fr) to start her off. Moyglare Stud also keep a number of mares in America and among some familiar names who will be covered there are Tocco d’Amore (Ire) (Raven’s Pass). The 2015 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale topper obviously had her training issues, having run only twice, but she undoubtedly was talented as she went unbeaten in those two starts including in a listed race at Naas. The granddaughter of Flame Of Tara (GB) (Artaius) is being sent to War Front for her first cover while a return visit to the Claiborne stallion is the plan for G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Princess Highway (Street Cry {Ire}) who was also covered by War Front last March. “It was hard to find the right cover for Tocco d’Amore here as she is out of a Sadler’s Wells mare so we thought War Front might suit as she is a big staying type of mare,” Craig said. “We’ve been short of a star or two the last few years but we have retired some really nice mares in recent years that will hopefully be capable of producing some proper group winners. Unlike a lot of studs we are happier when we have filly foals as they are the future of the stud. We had some nice backend juveniles emerge last year like Mia Maria (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and Kiss For A Jewel (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) and we are hoping they may develop into group-class fillies this year, as that’s really what we are trying to do here.” View the full article

French jockey Alexis Badel has crammed plenty into the final weeks of his stay in Hong Kong and the 28-year-old hopes the party is not finished just yet as he heads into the final meeting of his contract at Sha Tin on Sunday. He’s had a winner at the past two meetings, taking his tally for this stint to 10, and has also been busy away from the track as he prepares to say goodbye to the city where he has spent the last three winters. “I’ve been out quite a lot because I wanted... View the full article

John Size lives in hope of a Group One boilover in Sunday’s Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m), saying his duo of Beat The Clock and Conte are poised to strike if champion Beauty Generation is not on his A game. The master trainer said the clash – which sees the like of Beauty Generation and Conte dropping in distance while Beat The Clock steps up – makes for a “fascinating” race. Beauty Generation narrowly beat home Beat The Clock in the same race last year... View the full article

Superstar mare Winx easily won her 30th consecutive race Saturday as she began what is expected to be a farewell autumn campaign before drawing a close on her incredible career. View the full article

Winx won her 30th straight race to extend an Australian record on Saturday, dominating down the Royal Randwick home straight to claim her third Apollo Stakes. View the full article

Winx won her 30th straight race to set an Australian record on Saturday, dominating down the Royal Randwick home straight to claim her third Apollo Stakes. View the full article

Winx’s place in history is assured whether she wins the Apollo Stakes or not. View the full article

A measured ride by jockey Rafael Hernandez put Somelikeithotbrown in the winner's circle after the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes Feb. 15 at Turfway Park. View the full article

Simply Brilliant lines up for his first Group One contest in Sunday’s Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, but he is not just be representing his connections, he is flying the flag for his super sire Frankel. The Frankie Lor Fu-chuen-trained galloper comes into the event after an impressive victory in the Group Three January Cup at Happy Valley and has been a model of consistency since arriving in Hong Kong from Britain in early 2017. Bred by Cheveley Park Stud and formerly among the 220-odd horses... View the full article

A’Isisuhairi and Krisna suspended View the full article

Former jockey agent Carolyn Conley will join Kentucky Equine Research (KER) as Thoroughbred Specialist effective Feb. 18. In addition to serving as agent for Brice Blanc and Stewart Elliott in California, Conley also hosted racing coverage and reported live on location for HorseRacing TV. She has also been a print journalist for the Dubai Racing Club and was a former exercise rider at both Southern California and Washington tracks. In her new role, Conley will work with Thoroughbred trainers, owners, and managers to match their stables with the proper equine nutrition products. Based in Versailles, Kentucky, KER advances the industry’s knowledge of equine nutrition and exercise physiology. View the full article

Mubtaahij (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the GI Awesome Again S. and of the G2 UAE Derby, will begin his stallion career at Haras Abolengo, one of the most important argentinian farms, the same farm that bred champion and successful stallion Candy Ride (Arg) (Ride the Rails). Mubtaahij will join Abolengo’s stallion roster in association with his owner Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, who will support him with his broodmare band in Argentina. “Alejandro García Romero, manager of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa in Argentina, presented me with the opportunity to repeat the agreement we had made some years ago with UAE Triple Crown winner Asiatic Boy (Arg) (Not for Sale) and, after studying the horse we reached an agreement that will allow us to incorporate in our stallion barn a horse with excellent running power and great ability,” said Julio Menditeguy, owner of Haras Abolengo. Mubtaahij will stand along John F. Kennedy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Long Island Sound (War Front), Equal Stripes (Arg) (Candy Stripes) and Cosmic Trigger (Arg) (Sunray Spirit), the latter an undefeated half-brother to Candy Ride. View the full article

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), a not-for-profit grassroots organization that serves as Kentucky’s equine economic advocate, held its third annual KEEP Day in Frankfort Feb. 12. Representatives of the horse industry, ranging from racetrack and sport horse organization executives to administrators and students from equine academic fields to small horse operation owners, met with legislators. Topics discussed included the industry’s support for House Bill 175, which would make sports wagering legal in Kentucky, and Senate Bill 81, which would provide equine program funding at public institutions in the state. Bills recently introduced on equine cruelty were also on the menu of discussions. “Bringing together all of these different groups from the horse industry is critical to our work,” said Speaker of the House David Osborne, “because it shows lawmakers that the horse industry is speaking with a unified voice on the issues that impact them most. We certainly understand the importance that horses have in this state and appreciate KEEP bringing a full representation of the industry to Frankfort.” The horse industry generates $3.4 billion within the Commonwealth and its economy, KEEP says. View the full article

9th-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT DANCENSING (Tiznow), a half-sister to MGSW & MGISP millionaire Good Samaritan (Harlan’s Holiday), makes her career bow in this Hallandale test. In addition to Good Samaritan, who is standing his first season at WinStar this term, the bay is a half to GSP Brave Nation (Pioneerof the Nile). They hail from the family of GISW sire Sky Mesa and MGSW Wiseman’s Ferry (Hennessy), best known as the sire of two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan. Dancensing is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who also conditioned Good Samaritan. TJCIS PPs Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency View the full article

Ed DeRosa of TwinSpires.com takes on TDN’s Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap each prep race leading up to the GI Kentucky Derby. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets-highest bankroll after Arkansas Derby/Lexington day wins. DeRosa – GIII Sam F. Davis – Going for Gold was ninth. Bankroll: $530. GII Risen Star S. – I’m very much against one favorite Saturday and in the camp of the other. We’ll try to beat Lecomte S. winner War of Will in the Risen Star, as that foe has not run fast enough to merit backing at the shortest price in a full field. The Lecomte as a whole evokes thoughts of Shania Twain because it didn’t impress me much. Another race at Fair Grounds, however, did, and that was the entry-level allowance race that produced the Owendale, Frolic More, Gun It trifecta. We’ll take Owendale on top here, as that race did come back just as good as the Lecomte and you get a better price. Selection: #8 Owendale (6-1). El Camino Real Derby – In the El Camino Real, Kingly stands tall over this field, and I have no issue with synthetic given the versatile breeding. Selection: #9 Kingly (2-1). Sherack – GIII Sam F. Davis – Kentucky Wildcat turned in a big effort to finish a strong second before being vanned off with an injury. Hoping for a speedy recovery for this talented son of Tapit. Bankroll: $230. GII Risen Star S. – Outside post and all, I just don’t see anything in this field stepping up and defeating the very imposing War of Will. The runaway GIII Lecomte winner is tactical enough to once again secure that ideal, stalk-and-pounce trip, albeit at a short price. Selection: #14 War of Will (5-2). El Camino Real Derby – I always tend to side with the grassy SoCal invaders in this race and certainly had plenty of options to choose from this year. Eagle Song (Ire) brought approximately $215k from Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale after turning in consecutive wins over the Dundalk synthetic for Joseph O’Brien Oct. 5 & 19. He’s run well in defeat in a pair of efforts over the Santa Anita lawn since venturing Stateside and returns on quick notice here-something he clearly thrives on-after finishing a strong second going a mile Feb. 1. This one could be rounding into form at the perfect time and should sit a nice trip if he handles the added distance. Selection: #7 Eagle Song (Ire) (5-1). DiDonato – GIII Sam F. Davis – Original pick Cave Run scratched, but replacement play So Alive put in a nice run from very far back to be third. Bankroll: $500. GII Risen Star S. – I found this race tough to take a stand in–there were just cases to be made for a lot of them. I’m going to stop from changing my mind again and take a swing already on Dunph. His Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion S. romp couldn’t have been much more impressive, and while he’s failed to reproduce that effort in two subsequent attempts, I’m willing to forgive those runs. The GII Kentucky Jockey Club came in the slop, and he had a right to come back down to earth a bit after two romps. I thought his Springboard Mile third was sneaky good–he moved too early and wide into a pace that ultimately collapsed. The form of that race has held up reasonably well overall and has produced two next-out stakes winners including fifth finisher Marquee Prince, who was part of the Springboard Mile pace as well and came back to earn a big figure top next time on the grass. Selection: #11 Dunph (20-1). El Camino Real Derby – I guess I used up all my creativity in the Risen Star, because I had a hard time getting past Anothertwistafate in here. His two local routes were extremely impressive. Obviously the waters get deeper this time, but he’ll either have to regress significantly or someone will have to jump way up to beat him. He seems like one who shouldn’t have much trouble stalking if need be, and nine panels shouldn’t pose a problem with all that Juddmonte pedigree on the bottom. Selection: #4 Anothertwistafate (5-2). Click for Risen Star & El Camino Real Derby Ultimate PPs from Brisnet.com. View the full article

The 2019 meeting at Saratoga Race Course will feature 76 added-money events across the 40 days of racing worth nearly $21 million. The recently announced meet will open eight days ahead of its usual position on Thursday, July 11 and will feature five days of racing each week, with Mondays and Tuesdays dark. The stakes schedule features no fewer than 16 Grade I races on the flat, six of which form the backbone of the Travers Racing Festival Saturday, Aug. 24. The marquee race of the summer, the $1.25-million GI Runhappy Travers S., anchors that program, which also includes the $850,000 GI Sword Dancer Invitational, the $700,000 GI Personal Ensign S., the $600,000 GI Forego S. and the $500,000 GI Ketel One Ballerina S. Excepting the Travers, each of the other events offer the winners fees-paid berths into the Breeders’ Cup as part of the “Win and You’re In” series. Handicap horses also get their chance in the ‘Spa’ spotlight, with the $1-million GI Whitney S. Saturday, Aug. 3 and the $750,000 GI Woodward S. on closing weekend Aug. 31. The Aug. 3 program also features the GI Longines Test S. for the sprinting 3-year-old fillies. As announced earlier this week, Saratoga will host the middle leg of the Turf Trinity-the $750,000 Saratoga Oaks Aug. 2 and the $1-million Saratoga Derby Aug. 4. Two-year-old racing is always front and center at Saratoga, and opening week will include–as usual–the GIII Schuylerville S. for the fillies on July 11 and the GIII Sanford S. for the boys July 13. The GII Adirondack S. Aug. 4 and the GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 10 serve as the final local preps for the GI Spinaway S. Sept. 1 and the GI Hopeful S. Sept. 2, respectively. Additional upgraded races for the Saratoga summer meet include the $100,000 GIII Quick Call S. marked for July 11; and the $150,000 GIII Forbidden Apple S., set for July 12, which moves to Saratoga from Belmont. New York Breeders’ Showcase Day is scheduled for Travers Eve, with six races restricted to horses bred in the Empire State will offer a total of $1.15 million, including the $250,000 Albany S. for state-bred 3-year-olds. Saratoga will also honor the memory of one of the state’s beloved trainers with the inaugural running of the $100,000 Rick Violette S., a six-furlong event for state-bred juveniles Wednesday, July 17. The Violette was previously run downstate as the Rockville Centre S. Click here for the complete 2019 stakes schedule. View the full article

Bump Bailey (c, 3, Fed Biz–One Hot Senorita, by Sharp Humor) certainly looked like a ‘Natural,’ airing in his debut in the Santa Anita slop Thursday afternoon. The Rockingham Ranch colorbearer, trained by Peter Miller, broke like a shot and was pressed through an opening quarter in :21.44. He began to let it out a notch on the far turn and never gave them a chance in the stretch, splashing home a geared-down, 3 1/2-length winner. Bump Bailey earned an eye-catching 91 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. “He’s a nice colt that we’ve taken our time developing,” Rockingham Ranch’s Brian Trump said. “Peter Miller has done a tremendous job gearing this horse up for his debut and we are excited for what the future will bring him.” Bump Bailey was acquired for $190,000 from last year’s now- defunct Barretts April 2-Year-Old Sale out of the Excel Bloodstock consignment after breezing an eighth in :10 1/5. He was also a $90,000 KEENOV weanling and a $175,000 KEESEP yearling. Bump Bailey, bred in Kentucky by Lynn Jones, is the 18th winner for young sire Fed Biz. His unraced dam One Hot Senorita–a half-sister to the talented sprinter Nicole H (Mr. Greeley), GSW & GISP, $811,144-is also responsible for a Paynter colt of 2017 and a Fed Biz filly of 2018. She was bred to the latter for the 2019 season. As for the promising sophomore’s name? A tip of the cap goes to owner Gary Hartunian for that one. “As you know, we have named many horses in the past after characters in some of our favorite baseball movies, including Nuke Laloosh [Bull Durham] and Pedro Cerrano [Major League],” Trump said. “Gary’s favorite baseball movie of all time is The Natural, so quite fittingly, we had to pay homage by naming one of our horses after one of the characters [Bump Bailey was played by actor Michael Madsen].” View the full article

I’m curious if anyone has researched the significant flaw that currently exists within the system for awarding black-type status to non-listed stakes races? Here is how the current system works. The performances of the top four finishers of a race (for the preceding three years) are given a speed rating from BRIS, DRF, Equibase and Thorogragh. These are averaged or combined to provide a Quality Rating. If the Quality Rating of the race meets a minimum standard the race is awarded black-type status for the following year. Seems simple enough, and I understand that this is the current international standard. However consider the following scenarios. Scenario 1 – A stakes race is considered black-type. The top four finishers deliver a performance so poor that the following year the race is stripped of black-type status. The horses in question, delivering said poor performance, are awarded black-type because “the race” was so designated as black-type. Hmmm poor performance awarded an important industry credential. Scenario 2 – A stakes race is considered non-black-type. In the current year the top finishers knock it out of the park. They deliver performances among the best ever for the historic runnings of the race. As a result of the stellar performance of the current year’s top finishers the race will now be recognized as black-type the following year. The following year? Hmmmm again, exceptional performance isn’t awarded an important industry credential. Why?? Scenario 3 – Same stakes race (as Scenario 2) but now considered black-type because of the performance of the horses the preceding year. The horses in the current year again deliver a poor performance. A performance that will knock the race down to non-black-type the following year. But because the race was designated black-type again because “the race” was so designated as black-type. Scenario 1 – Horse delivered substandard performance, but were awarded black-type. Scenario 2 – Horses delivered exceptional performance, but were denied black-type. Scenario 3 – Horses again delivered substandard performance, but were awarded black-type. If the goal of the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee is to ensure that the information that is presented on a sales page is accurately reflective of the quality of bloodstock presented on the page then the current system is not only flawed but is in fact a fraud. Many many horses have been presented as black-type quality when in fact they were not. And many many horses were shown to be of lesser quality when in fact there were superior (to many others). How in the current age of technology and AI developments is this allowed to continue? We often read about the state of our industry. Top end of the market is good, the lower levels more challenged. Maybe the middle and lower levels of our industry are more challenged because we treat those that participate there so poorly. Recently, elements of the industry have begun to talk about and recognize the value of smaller, feeder tracks. That there’s more strength to our industry if we don’t just revolve around the big three (CDI, TSG and NYRA). Maybe the same is true for our breeders. Of course everyone wants to breed a Classic winner, a Breeders Cup winner, Dubai World Cup winner, etc., but for many small and medium tier breeders winning their local track (or track circuit) stakes race is often as meaningful to their program. Their mare or stallion or both achieving black-type is an exciting and important achievement for many small and medium tier breeders. Not everyone has 300 foals in every crop of runners. The response that I received from Andy Sweigardt at TOBA was as follows. “I spoke with Carl Hamilton, chair of the NAICSC, and the committee reaffirms its previous response to you regarding your question: The process of assigning non-listed black-type status to races is as it is because the system of assigning races black-type status for the coming year, and not on a retroactive basis, is an international practice designed to allow owners and trainers to plan schedules for their horses and tracks to publicize their races in order to attract runners of suitable quality. A system where the status of a race is not known until after it is run would make it more difficult to plan a race schedule for a horse and publicize a race and introduce unneeded guesswork into the process.” This response fails to recognize three important elements. First, there is no denial that a flaw in the current system exists. Saying that it’s done wrong because it’s always been done wrong, and everyone else does it wrong is a poor response. And lacks credible logic. Secondly, many non-listed black-type races are THE stakes races of note in these regional markets. Trainers are targeting these races on the calendar regardless of black type/non-black-type status. We’re not talking about graded stakes races (largely the province of the big owners, stables, trainers) where trainers are carefully targeting races for their owner’s horses. Lastly, as an industry are we breeding horse races or race horses? A race is designated black type regardless of the current performances of the runners in it, not because of the current performances of the runners in it. Wow! How many horses worthy of black type weren’t awarded it? How many runners not worthy of black type were awarded it, and because of it carried inferior (or less superior) genes forward? My closing question is quite simple. How does it advance our breed to reward (with important industry credentials) horses not delivering a black-type performance standard and refusing to recognize horses that deliver, at or better than, the defined standard the same credentials and/or recognition? View the full article

Winner of Saratoga’s GI Hopeful S. last summer, Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) is being pointed to the GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct Mar. 9. The Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables colorbearer is unraced since he took down the one-mile Jerome S. Jan. 1, also at Aqueduct. Prior to that, he had gotten a brief freshening after encountering trouble at the start of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and faltering to finish seventh. “It always helps the horse to have time between races, it’s just the way it worked out,” trainer Greg Sacco said. “We skipped the [GIII] Withers S. to run in the Gotham. We’re happy where he is with his training and where he’s at physically. The two months is beneficial and we’re coming in with a fresh, strong horse for the Gotham.” Mind Control has been steadily working at Belmont Park, including a four-furlong move in :49.25 this past Monday. “Knock on wood, he’s right on schedule and we can’t be doing any better,” Sacco said. The Gotham is an official race on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” and will award 50 points to the winner, 20 points to the runner-up, 10 points for a third-place finish, and five points for a fourth-place finish. Mind Control has already secured 10 points with his Jerome victory. View the full article

The Saturday, Feb. 9, Lexington Herald-Leader featured a front page story on “False X-rays Made Horse Sales a Gamble, Suit Says”. In a lawsuit filed by Lexington attorney, Mason Miller on behalf of Illinois trainer Tom Swearingen, Mr. Miller alleges that actions of certain veterinarians at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates by backdating a small number, maybe 10%, of radiographic images of yearlings offered for public auction at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale over the past several years was “the functional equivalent of playing Russian roulette” for buyers purchasing such misrepresented yearlings. Out of 4,538 yearlings offered for sale 2,916 were sold in the 2018 sale. Some of those horses not sold were the result of repository X-rays and reports indicating the likelihood that certain horses had defects which would greatly decrease the likelihood of attracting buyer interest. Others were either withdrawn from the sale close to their sales dates because of a lack of interest that buyers were perceived to have in these horses or RNA’d. For the horses that did sell, the majority, if not all, had most likely been radiographed and had their throats endoscoped by veterinarians for the repository at Keeneland and had Repository Reports issued to the owner/breeder/consignor stating what defects, if any, that the examining veterinary surgeon felt needed to be disclosed because of the type of abnormality observed. Every consignor likes to get a report back that is “clean,” meaning “no significant abnormalities” for each joint radiographed. The window of timing for these September Sale yearling X-rays is 21 days prior to the date of sale for each horse (and 15 days for weanlings and “short yearlings” in Keeneland’s November and January sales). However, Keeneland requires that all repository X-rays and corresponding reports be placed in the repository four days prior to each catalogued horse’s sale date. That gives veterinarians a 17-day period to get X-rays done for these 4,538 September yearlings with 32 X-rays required for each individual horse. This means that the X-rays must be taken, then reviewed by one of Hagyard’s surgeons with a report written on these X-rays for the consignor, a copy of which is submitted to Keeneland’s repository and stamped for verification for the consignor. This is a very daunting task for Hagyard-Davidson-McGee to X-ray these yearlings for the sale. I feel sure there is pressure on other veterinary firms as well that perform this work. It is also a big logistical problem for owners and consignors to the September Sale because of the many days a consignor’s horses may be catalogued over a 14-15 day sale and the time that goes into preparing to take these horses to the sale. As both a consignor and a buyer at the sale, I appreciate what these veterinarians do. However, the 21-day limit is not that significant to me as a buyer so long as the X-rays are accurate and current within a 30-45 day period prior to purchasing a yearling. What I worry about are conditions that are not going to change if the X-rays are taken a week earlier than required. These conditions are abnormalities such as “luciencies” or “OCDs” which involve cartilage and joint articular surfaces or old apical fractures that may involve suspensory ligaments or old chips that may involve a joint and an articular surface. These problems are not going to be different depending on a one-week difference in the X-rays. These problems take months to develop and months to resolve. Therefore, I have a hard time seeing this charge by the plaintiff and his attorney being a material issue. The X-rays, if done properly, are going to give any reviewing veterinarian acting for a buyer all the information he needs to make an informed decision. All of this is very subjective to begin with and each veterinarian reviewing the digital X-rays may come up with a different opinion. A lot of buyers of the later catalogued horses that do not bring the big prices simply ask for the consignor to allow him/her to review the repository report that the consignor/owner is given by the veterinarian reviewing the X-rays for his/her use and is that veterinarian’s opinion on what he/she believes may or may not be a problem for the consignor/owner. These are not opinions for the general buying public even though they are used as such. Prospective buyers are deemed to have knowledge of all information placed in the repository for each sale horse submitted whether the buyer has it reviewed or not. Prospective buyers or their agents, for the most part, examine the yearlings at their sales barn and watch them walk while looking for physical signs of problems. They may also request additional throat endoscopic exams as well as doing heart scans, DNA checks of tail hair, biomechanical evaluations, etc. There is no shortage of means to evaluate these yearlings. There are also transparency requirements for owners and consignors. Even though it is still “caveat emptor” for the buyer, there are so many options currently available that a one to two week difference in when sales X-rays are taken appears to me to be very immaterial and insignificant as long as the X-rays are accurate when taken. As I previously stated, almost all problems are going to be chronic, not acute. Things happen to horses after arriving at the sales grounds due to the stress and change of environment that are not going to show up in the X-rays and reports. Horses at the sales ground can die before, during or after their sales. I have personally seen this occur. If the plaintiff and his attorney are worried about “Russian roulette” in the Thoroughbred horse industry, maybe they should try what breeders do: plan a mating three years in advance of selling the product of that mating; foal that mating 11 months after the conception takes place without losing the mare, foal or both; raise the resulting foal for over a year without the resulting foal dying, injuring itself or having some type of deformity. This is what breeders do every year. In my opinion this is real “Russian roulette”. The prospective buyer has had all of the hard work done for him/her when this yearling steps into the Keeneland sales ring. The timing of the X-rays is a sales company issue which, along with the use of repository reports, needs to be addressed by them in conjunction with consignors and veterinarians. In my opinion, a week difference in X-rays is not going to affect my judgment of an individual horse. –Alfred H. Nuckols, Jr. of Hurstland Farm in Midway, KY View the full article