Wandering Eyes

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost. Wow. Joao Moreira suspended again – @aussiereds72 The Brazilian was hit with his third ban from the past four meetings on Wednesday at Happy Valley, sidelined for another two days after causing interference aboard Nicconi Express. Moreira will complete his duties on Sunday, have two meetings off, two meetings on, two meetings off, two meetings on (including... View the full article

Nordic Lights did us a good turn last week continuing what has been an excellent Carnival so far for his trainer Charlie Appleby, and I think he’ll be in for a good night again this week. For our yard, we had a surprise winner of the UAE 2,000 Guineas in Estihdaaf, who looked a totally […] The post Kieren Fallon Dubai World Cup Carnival Blog appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

16:50 Fontwell It’s an obvious choice, so obvious in fact that perhaps even someone who’s never even seen a horse in their life would likely pick it out but sometimes when you’re on the hunt for a winner the obvious choice is the best choice. Blazer’s Mill finished a decent second in a point to […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 14th February appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Second-season sensation Frankie Lor Fu-chuen landed the quinella in last month’s Classic Mile with Furore and Mission Tycoon, but he thinks it is another one of his charges who is the one to beat in the second leg of the prestigious four-year-old series. Lor believes Dark Dream is the pick of his three runners in the HK$10 million Classic Cup (1,800m) as he steps up in distance in search of Hong Kong Derby glory next month. The Australian import put in an impressive fourth-placed... View the full article

Ho Ho Khan is an underdog in more ways than one heading into Sunday’s HK$10 million Classic Cup (1,800m) but that doesn’t phase his trainer David Hall, who says he is “looking forward to seeing how much the little fella has got”. The colt has hardly put a foot wrong while stringing together three consecutive wins but is attracting far less fanfare to the likes of Dark Dream and Furore after arriving from New Zealand without the success or price tag of some of his rivals... View the full article

Just like fans, handicappers, and pretty much everyone else who has observed Paradise Woods' racing career, trainer John Shirreffs doesn't know what to expect Feb. 16. View the full article

Several notable horses worked over a fast track Feb. 13 at Oaklawn Park, including multiple graded stakes winner Whitmore for co-owner and trainer Ron Moquett. View the full article

Lim’s Lightning bolting for a run View the full article

Be Bee to bring A-game on Sunday View the full article

Dorothy Matz's homebred Tequilita will try to pick up her third grade 3 score and first of 2019 in the $150,000 Royal Delta Stakes (G3) Feb. 16 at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium board approved funding of two tactical research projects with a combined price tag in excess of $250,000, as a continuation of its ongoing focus on detecting and eliminating illicit substances in racing. View the full article

Rockingham Ranch and Gelfenstein Farm's X Y Jet romped to a 7 3/4-length victory Feb. 13 in the featured ninth race at Gulfstream Park and punched his ticket to Dubai. View the full article

Arlington’s Secretariat Stakes (G1T) is being cut back to a one-mile distance on the turf with a bump to a $500,000 purse for this year’s running in response to the New York Racing Association’s creation of a Turf Triple Crown series. View the full article

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) board approved several measures and initiatives at its Feb. 11 meeting at Gulfstream Park. The board approved the funding of two tactical research projects that will cost more than $250,000. One project will be aimed at developing an inexpensive screening method for detecting potential blood doping. The project will be completed at the University of California-Davis Kenneth L. Maddy Laboratory along with another project approved in 2017 that has already helped to improve the detection of EPO products. “We are very excited about the potential of these advanced testing techniques to detect EPO administration,” said Dr. Rick Arthur, Equine Medical Director for the California Horse Racing Board. “With the 2017 RMTC grant, the Maddy lab has already greatly improved the industry’s EPO confirmation capabilities. Our expectations are that this second grant will enable the industry to close the circle and allow us to more effectively detect EPO micro-dosing.” The second approved research project will be completed at the University of Florida Racing Laboratory with a focus on the detection of the nerve-blocking agent liposomal bupivacaine. “The RMTC is excited to be spearheading efforts to fight the abuse of this nerve-blocking agent on the racetrack,” said RMTC Chair Alex Waldrop. “Each of the projects approved by the RMTC board this week represents significant advances that will benefit horse health as well as the integrity of racing. We anticipate no problem finding racing stakeholders who will help us fund them.” The RMTC board also heard an update on a research project examining LGD-4300–on of the substances known as SARMS–which can have anabolic-like effects in racehorses. “Preliminary results indicate that this research, funded by the RMTC as part of last year’s tactical research efforts, could lead to a broader method to control all anabolic-like substances in the horse,” said Dr. Dionne Benson, executive director of the RMTC. “The RMTC’s support of this and so many other tactical research projects is exciting, because each of them is crucial to the long-term health and vitality of horse racing. The RMTC board also created a new subcommittee to study and develop potential research projects related to bisphosphonates as little is known about their effects on young racehorses. Educational pamphlets on the subject are expected to be released in the coming months. The board also approved educational materials on the risks of compounded medication, nutraceuticals and cannabidiol (CBD). A bulletin on CBD is now available on the RMTC website and other pamphlets will be posted soon. For more information, visit www.rmtcnet.com. View the full article

In this continuing series, TDN’s Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. In this edition, Zapper Van Winkle (Ghostzapper), a grandson of the brilliant Capote Belle, is highlighted. Previous runners featured in this column include: MGISW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway) and MSW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). After missing the break on debut this past weekend, the well-bred Zapper Van Winkle (g, 3, Ghostzapper–San Miguel Belle, by Curlin) came charging down the Fair Grounds stretch like a horse with a bright future to finish an encouraging second. Off at 20-1 in the six-furlong affair for the patient Steve Margolis barn–responsible for just six winners from his last 93 first-time starters, per DRF Formulator–the blinkered bay had his work cut out for him while trailing the field of eight heading into the far turn. James Graham tipped the gelding to the center of the track about seven wide as they straightened for home and he finally arrived in the picture in deep stretch, rocketing home to cover his final eighth in :12.08 to finish within 3/4 of a length of the winner. A homebred for Robert E. and Lawana Low, Zapper Van Winkle was produced by an unraced daughter of Capote Belle (Capote), who scored a memorable win for these same owners in Saratoga’s GI Test S. back in 1996. He had posted 11 workouts for Margolis at Fair Grounds going back to early November prior to his unveiling. “I got the horse in early November from Tom McCrocklin in Ocala who breaks a lot of Robert and Lawana’s horses,” Margolis said. “I don’t know when Tom gelded him, but I think he was a little tough to deal with early on. It took him a little while to adjust to the track once we got him, so we just took our time with him. I saw as the horse kept working more, he handled everything real well. He never really lit the track up, but he was always very competitive in his works. Margolis continued, “It was a decent group of maidens. We hope he can move forward–it was definitely a solid effort first time out. I think we’ll sprint him back one more time here and then when we get over to Keeneland, there will be more options as far as middle-distance races. Hopefully, we can have some luck with him.” View the full article

Grade 2 winner Still Having Fun and win machine Late Night Pow Wow are among the standout horses entered in a pair of popular grade 3 stakes for sprinters Feb. 16 at Laurel Park. View the full article

Eclipse Award-winning NBC horse racing reporter Kenny Rice is hosting a new video podcast entitled The Horse Racing Show. Episodes now available include world renowned veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage, NFL Hall of Famer and horse owner Bill Parcells and prominent owner Mike Pegram. “We’re putting fun back into racing, that’s our goal,” Rice said. For more information, visit http://thehorseracingshow.com/. View the full article

WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden has confirmed the operation plans to possibly start three horses it co-owns in the March 30 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) at Meydan. View the full article

Undeated G1 Dewhurst S. hero Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will resume in the G3 Greenham S. at Newbury on Apr. 13, the same route taken by undefeated champion Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) prior to his G12000 Guineas conquest, the Racing Post reported on Wednesday. The John Gosden trainee has been cantering on Warren Hill’s all-weather this week. Off the mark at Sandown in August, Lord Lloyd-Webber’s homebred ‘TDN Rising Star’ added the G3 Solario S. on Sept. 1 and the G2 Champagne S. on Sept. 15 before his Dewhurst triumph. “Too Darn Hot is fresh and well and we are pointing towards the Greenham with him,” Gosden told Racing Post. “Newbury comes before the Craven meeting this year, which is unusual, but affords us a bit more time for recovery before the 2000 Guineas itself. It rarely goes that way but Easter is very late this year.” View the full article

After two years under contract with trainer Hugo Palmer, Josephine Gordon will ride as a freelancer this year, Racing Post reports. “I would like to thank Hugo for taking the plunge and appointing me two years ago which gave me so many opportunities including winning my first group race,” Gordon told Racing Post. “Also I was able to ride in my first Grade I race in the U.S. which is something I’ll never forget. “The plan now is to ride as a freelance this year and I’ve been riding out for a few new trainers lately including Ed Dunlop, who I’ve never ridden work for before. Hopefully I can also still ride for Hugo but it makes sense to keep my options open. It’s the start of the season and everyone is raring to go and it’s a good time to be in Newmarket.” In 2017, Gordon became just the second female jockey to ride a century of winners in a calendar year, her tally wrapping up at 106. That number dropped to 56 last year, however she was also out a month after injuring a hand. View the full article

Knicks Go (Paynter), the upset winner of last year’s GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity before finishing second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, was crowned Maryland-bred Horse of the Year and champion 2-year-old male for 2018 at the second-annual Renaissance Awards, held Feb. 12 in Baltimore in recognition of excellence in Maryland Thoroughbred racing and breeding. Knicks Go was bred by Angie Moore, who operates GreenMount Farm in Glyndon, Md. with her daughter Sabrina. Champion 2-year-old filly honors went to GI Frizette S. runner-up Brucia La Terra (El Padrino). Still Having Fun (Old Fashioned), upsetter of the GII Woody Stephens S. at Belmont, was named champion sprinter and champion 3-year-old male; while champion 3-year-old filly honors went to Sunland Park Oaks and GIII Comely S. heroine Blamed (Blame). Two-time stakes winner Laki (Cuba) was named champion older male. Champion older female and champion turf runner honors went to I’m Betty G (Into Mischief), heroine of the Lady Canterbury S. and Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf S. Top steeplechaser went to Dawn Wall (Not For Love). Richard Golden’s Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds was named breeder of the year; Northview Stallion Station’s Great Notion took home his third-straight stallion title; and Casual Kiss, the dam of Still Having Fun, was honored as broodmare of the year. For more information, visit www.marylandthoroughbred.com. View the full article

Tandem bills cross filed in both the Tennessee General Assembly and Senate within the past week are aiming to restore the state’s 20-years-dormant horse racing commission. The sponsoring legislators said this could be a first step in legalizing pari-mutuel betting in the state, which could in turn entice a developer to build a track there. Tennessee has a rich equine history, but the legislature banned horse race gambling in 1905. According to The Tennessean, in 1987 lawmakers approved the Racing Control Act, which legalized pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing and created the Tennessee State Racing Commission to oversee tracks. Several venues were proposed, but they either couldn’t survive local referendums or got knocked down in the courts by litigation, and none were built. Without any tracks to license or regulate, the racing commission–which consisted of just one individual for a number of years–was disbanded in 1998. In 2015 lawmakers repealed the Racing Control Act. In 2016 they launched an advisory committee to try and bring a version of it back. Horse racing in Tennessee currently consists of the non-profit Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville, which runs a well-attended, one-day, non-betting meet at Percy Warner Park each May. Farther beneath the radar, non-sanctioned Quarter Horse match races exist at Carril de Memphis, an “outlaw” track west of Memphis that openly advertises its schedule of race dates on Facebook. The money flowing across state lines to gambling venues in bordering Mississippi and Arkansas was cited as an impetus to resurrect horse racing in Tennessee. “What I’m trying to do is reactivate the horse racing commission, so maybe if we can induce people to start coming to Tennessee for horse racing, with the sports betting thing, I think it’ll help us,” Rep. Joe Towns, a Memphis Democrat, told the Daily Memphian. “If we do horse racing, we’ll be able to compete, and that’s a different quality of gambler.” A companion bill was filed in the Senate by Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari. Yet a third bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Frank Nicely, could also be in the works. The Daily Memphian reported that Nicely had initially tried to introduce his version of the bill in 2018, but that it “stalled because of concerns over the use of certain drugs in race horses and a portion of the bill delaying racing age until 3 years old in contrast to 2 years old in most states.” View the full article

Early nominations for the $1.25-million GI Longines Kentucky Oaks and $1-million Old Forester Turf Classic to be held at Churchill Downs on GI Kentucky Derby weekend May 3 and May 4, respectively, are due Saturday. The cost to nominate at this stage for the Oaks is $200 and $100 for the Turf Classic. Both prestigious events received purse increases for 2019–the Oaks purse was raised by $250,000, while the Turf Classic’s was doubled. Owners and trainers may nominate by calling the Churchill Downs racing office at (502) 636-3806. Forms are available here. A late nomination period for either race–which will require a $1500 payment–will open Sunday and continue through Apr. 13. View the full article

Wishful Thinker (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) holds an entry for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint up the six-furlong straight course at Meydan Mar. 30, but any realistic chance of making the field for that US$2-million event hinged on his performance the featured Class 1 Happy Valley Trophy H. (1200m) Wednesday evening. Sent off the $6.10 third favourite, the bay made life difficult on himself with a tardy dispatch, but he darted through from between rivals inside the furlong and was shoved across the line first by Alexis Badel for a nifty success. Dropping in grade off a third-place effort in the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy H. Jan. 6 in which he reared at the break and was bumped, then was short of room at a critical juncture (video), Wishful Thinker raced last but one for the opening half-mile around the city circuit. But the 5-year-old was stoked up by Badel 400m out and closed off in a race-fastest :22.82 to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (video). “It was a fantastic performance from the horse again,” winning trainer Richard Gibson told the HKJC’s David Morgan. “I thought he was the best horse going into the race but he’s pretty unsuited to this track, he loves a straight 1200, so with a bit of luck we’ll be on our way to Dubai.” Added Badel, who now sits on 10 winners and concludes his injury-interrupted winter contract this weekend: “He’s very talented and it’s impossible to say how much he might improve after this. He’s always moving a little bit in the gate, he’s just like this and there’s nothing you can do as a jockey–just try to relax him and focus him because he is his own enemy.” An A$80,000 purchase by Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock Agency out of the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast March Sale, he was bought back for A$120,000 out of the Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale later that year. Raced in Australia as Katsuro, he was a Ballarat maiden winner at second asking for trainer Mick Price and closed that portion of his career with a handicap tally at Moonee Valley in June 2017. View the full article

The New York Racing Association has announced the formation of what it is billing as the Turf Triple Series. The series will consist of three grass races each for 3-year-old males and 3-year-old females and will be worth a combined $5.25 million The series for males will be called the Turf Trinity, and will offer total purses of $3 million. The trio of races for fillies has been named the Turf Tiara and will be worth $2.25 million. “Obviously, American racing is moving in a direction where turf racing is becoming more and more important, said NYRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Martin Panza. “NYRA is fortunate to have the resources to do something like this. Before, there was not a set pattern of turf races for the 3-year-old colts or fillies, so I think this helps give those groups some structure and a pattern to follow. At those purse levels, it allows people to make investments in the types of horses that look like they’ll prosper in races like this, whether that means buying horses from overseas or going to the sales looking for horses where it appears they’ll be good on the turf.” The races for males will be run at the same distance as the American Triple Crown dirt races, starting at a mile and a quarter, followed by a mile and three-sixteenths and concluding with a mile-and-a-half race. The two series will begin July 6 at Belmont during the “Stars and Stripes Festival” and with races that had previously been on the NYRA calendar. The boys will run in the $1-million GI Belmont Derby Invitational, while the girls will compete in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational, which will carry a $750,000 purse. The purse of the Belmont Derby was cut by $200,000 and the filly race went from $1 million to $750,000. But the reduction in those purses will more than be made up by the addition of the extra races. The series will then move to Saratoga on Friday, August 2 with the inaugural Saratoga Oaks for the fillies. The race will be run at a 1 3/16 miles. The males will have their turn Sunday, August 4 with the inaugural $1-million Saratoga Derby. The series will then move to Belmont for the fall meet. Saturday, Sept. 7 will feature the $1-million Jockey Club Derby for males and the $750,000 Jockey Club Oaks for fillies. The Jockey Club Derby, though it will not be a graded race, will be a ‘Win and You’re In’ event for the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf. The Jockey Club Oaks will be run at 1 3/8 miles. Panza said one of the reasons the filly series will end at 11, instead of 12 furlongs, is because the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is typically run at 1 3/8 miles or shorter. All six of the races will be broadcast on national television, either on the NBC or Fox families of channels. Panza said there will be no bonuses given out this year, but held out the possibility one will be given to any horses sweeping the series in the future. He said the problem is that insurance companies are reluctant to provide coverage for bonuses attached to horse races when they have no data to go on to base the probability of a horse winning all three legs. NYRA will obviously try to attract as many European shippers as possible to New York to take part in the Triple Turf Series. Even though the New York races will be going up against some prestigious and lucrative Group I races in Europe, Panza believes they are well positioned to attract a number of foreign horses. “Usually, starting in July, the European 3-year-olds have to run against older horses and so, in the August and September races, if the European horsemen want to keep their horses running against straight 3-year-olds this will give them to chance to do so. With the Sept. 7 races, the Arc is a month away, so that should give them enough time to go back and run there if they desire. The British Champions Day is in mid-October, so our races are also a good fit for any European stables that want to point for that. We didn’t set these races up specifically to benefit the Europeans We thought with the way we laid the schedule out it was also the best way to go for U.S. based horses. It bodes well for both.” View the full article