Wandering Eyes

Jerry Durant's B. B. Dude made his first start a winning one and also became the first winner for Spendthrift Farm's Shakin It Up when he took a Churchill Downs maiden race June 1. View the full article

Trainer Todd Pletcher was a busy man the morning of June 1, as he shuttled between Belmont Park's main track and training track to fit in a number of scheduled works for next week's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in between the raindrops. View the full article

Undefeated Dual Classic winner Justify (Scat Daddy) schooled in the starting gate and galloped 1 1/8 miles Friday morning at Churchill Downs. He will gallop Saturday and Sunday and breeze Monday. Click here for video. “He’s just breathing fire out there,” trainer Bob Baffert’s assistant Jimmy Barnes said. “You can tell he’s feeling full of himself. He’s happy with what he’s doing and that’s most important. He is getting fitter and fitter each day. He has a solid foundation under him now and I think he’s ready to take the big step forward.” Todd Pletcher breezed both of his Belmont contenders, ‘TDN Rising Star’ Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy) and Vino Rosso (Curlin) in the rain over the Belmont training track Friday morning. GII Louisiana Derby winner Noble Indy worked in company with Hyndford (Street Cry {Ire}), covering five furlongs in 1:01.22 (1/11) with Javier Castellano aboard (video). With John Velazquez in the irons, Vino Rosso went five furlongs in 1:01.55 (3/11) in company with popular GI Stephen Foster H. contender Patch (Union Rags). “I thought they both worked very well,” said Pletcher, who won last year’s Belmont with Tapwrit (Tapit). “We got the type of [Belmont] work we were hoping for, kind of a long steady five-eighths with a big gallop-out. I got them both in around 1:42 for the mile which was what I was looking for. Both of them showed they were in good form.” Pletcher also breezed some of his other Belmont week runners: GII Brooklyn Invitational S. runners Hard Study (Big Brown) and Outplay (Bernardini) (:48.69); GI Ogden Phipps S.-bound Ivy Bell (Archarcharch) (:49.11) and Unbridled Mo (Uncle Mo) (:49.09); GII Jaipur S. hopeful Blind Ambition (Tapit) (:48.89); GI Manhattan S. contender Hi Happy (Arg) (Pure Prize) (:48.89); and Tremont S. runner Outshine (Malibu Moon) (:49.87). Heavy rain Friday morning caused trainer Chad Brown to call an audible and move Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus})’s breeze to Saturday. He will likely work on the main track after the break. “I was going to work and I waited until after the break, I wasn’t comfortable going today,” Brown said. “It’s just bad luck. I was moving it up a day anyway because there might be some rain. I prefer to work Saturday anyway, but I was prepared to work today.” View the full article

European champion Cracksman (GB) completed a group 1 hat trick and extended his winning sequence to five in the Investec Coronation Cup (G1) at Epsom on June 1, but not before giving his supporters a major fright. View the full article

As the racing world awaits Justify's Triple Crown bid next week, another flashy unbeaten 3-year-old runs at Belmont Park in the June 2 $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3T). View the full article

5th-CD, $57K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, post time: 7:57 p.m. ET Willis Horton’s AWE EMMA (War Front), a 3-year-old daughter of GISW Awesome Maria (Maria’s Mon), gets her career started in this seven-horse affair. The $2-million KEENOV weanling hails from a deep E. Paul Robsham family, including GISWs Pretty Discreet, Discreet Cat, Discreetly Mine, etc. Awesome Maria brought $4 million from M.V. Magnier at the 2013 KEENOV Sale. Awe Emma is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. TJCIS PPs View the full article

In this ongoing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses. The latter plays host to Sunday’s G1 Yasuda Kinen, which has attracted US-breds Dashing Blaze (Kitten’s Joy) and the progressive Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}), but this weekend also features the first 2-year-old races of the season in Japan, with young Coolmore stallions well represented: Sunday, June 3, 2018 5th-Hanshin, ¥13,400,000 ($122k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT PEACE PRAYER (c, 2, Declaration of War–Namaste’s Wish, by Pulpit) is the latest to make the races for his talented dam, a full-sister to GISW Purge, who was a stakes winner and Grade III-placed on the grass. Third dam Bid Gal (Bold Bidder) produced MGSW Valid Wager (Valid Appeal) and was a half-sister to Mepache, the dam of the talented Valid Expectations (Valid Appeal). A half-brother to SP Light the Night (Street Cry {Ire}), Peace Prayer was the most expensive of nine of his sire’s offspring to sell as foals at KEENOV in 2016, hammering for $200K. B-Jack Sims (KY) 5th-Tokyo, ¥13,400,000 ($122k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT VOICE OF JOY (f, 2, Magician {Ire}–Sisheba, by Silent Name {Jpn}), a $9,500 KEENOV weanling and $35K FTK turf yearling, is bred on the reverse cross responsible for Saturday’s G1 Investec Derby favorite Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and is out of a half-sister to French SP Polysheba (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}). His third dam is Gana Facil (Le Fabuleux), herself the dam of 1990 GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Unbridled, who also won the GI Secretariat S. on turf. B-Bryan Connors (KY) View the full article

Derby day. Okay, Epsom Derby day, to you guys. But to an Englishman it remains the venerable template for all the many and marvellous variations round the world. Most years, you would be too preoccupied with the Belmont–but there is a week between the two this time, and hopefully you can catch the race. Not just to revisit the crazy demands it makes of the runners. Epsom is notoriously the very last thing from a level playing field, though paradoxically it is precisely its idiosyncrasies that identify the diverse assets in a stallion prospect you would want to replicate in the breed. But also because this year’s race should invite any international horseman of imagination and enterprise to take a step back, and recognise that the most Old World race of all once again stands in need of help from the New. And that spells opportunity, whether you are in Kentucky or Kildare. Fact is, European bloodstock has painted itself into a corner. On the one hand, commercial breeders have washed their hands of the Derby, and other races that require Classic quality, claiming that they can’t afford to compete with the big owner-breeders who duly dominate today’s field. They will point to the fact that only three of the runners ever went to auction, and that one of these appears to have been expensively retained by his breeders anyway. While Galileo “only” accounts for three this year, he is the grandsire of another three, and damsire to another two. Eight out of 12, then; and of the remainder one is by his half-brother. On the other hand, there is a self-fulfilling element to this defeatism. So many mares are nowadays sent to what are perceived as “commercial” sires–i.e. fast, precocious runners who are affordably unproven-that competition at the Classic level is diluted. Send all those mares to Galileo’s allegedly uncommercial son Nathaniel (Ire), and how many other Enables might he have? The sire of Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), equally, ended up at €20,000. Instead everyone throws hundreds of mares at rookie sprint sires on the assumption that they are getting aboard on the ground floor with the next Dark Angel (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). That’s the best case scenario and, of course, extremely unlikely. And, with all due respect, even then you are not going to get yourself a Derby horse. So what happens next? The answer could be right there in today’s field, albeit it may not turn out to be very legible in the unusually soft conditions. For the two dominant colts, going into the race, are both by sires based outside Europe. Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is the result of Coolmore’s own difficulties with the saturation of their stock by their champion sire. Not everyone, of course, could afford Japan’s phenomenal champion as an outcross option. Some of us suspect that he will ultimately prove only the headline Japanese source of class and stamina for European breeders who discover they have sold off their genetic family silver. For the time being, however, only he could really justify such the logistical and financial challenges involved. From what remains a fairly small sample in Europe, he also has the chance in the Prix du Jockey-Club tomorrow [see Sid Fernando’s column in Friday’s TDN], with Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}); and it may yet prove that the sidelined September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) would have been able to win the Investec Oaks yesterday, too. And then there is Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), bought at Keeneland for $160,000 (video with his consignor, Mark Taylor). His sire hardly qualifies as the most outrageous gamble for a horse to export to European grass. Again from limited opportunities, he has already shown that his hegemony on American turf is a legitimate indicator of his worth as an elite international sire. Deep Impact, likewise, has largely made his reputation through stock racing on turf. But he is a son of Sunday Silence, out of a daughter of Alzao (Lyphard)-himself, with Northern Dancer and Sir Ivor as his grandsires, condensing the regeneration in European pedigrees credited to dirt-running Kentucky stallions in the 1970s and 1980s. Certainly it would be highly fitting if a Keeneland yearling could win the Derby on the 50th anniversary of Sir Ivor’s ground-breaking success [see Tuesday’s piece in the TDN]. For we could be embarking on a new turn of the wheel in more ways than one. Just as Vincent O’Brien lit a new path for the European breed with Sir Ivor, the first Epsom Derby winner bought at auction in America, so his son-in-law (and partner in the Northern Dancer revolution) John Magnier has already made the reputation of War Front (Danzig) and the late Scat Daddy (Johannesburg) as cosmopolitan, crossover sires. He is fortunate, naturally, that he can afford to fly Group 1 mares to Deep Impact. But what both Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion demonstrate is that commercial neglect of eligible Classic stallions in Europe is leaving the field open to prospectors who are either based or prepared to shop elsewhere. Okay, so it’s a two-way street. Recent graded stakes success by European migrants to California (Euro-breds Reign Over SoCal Turf) attests to the gaps in given racing environments. But nobody needs reminding of the sensational impact of American stock at Royal Ascot in recent years. While those of us who cherish the St Leger as the most historic of all races would be delighted to see Saxon Warrior proceed to a Triple Crown, it would be disappointing if that made him less likely to wind up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. But who knows? Perhaps we might yet see two Triple Crown winners, from either side of the ocean, square up in that race. Justify (Scat Daddy), for his part, would have been perfectly eligible as a Classic prospect in Europe. Grandsons of Sunday Silence and Johannesburg respectively, and you’re going to tell me they were each born for one surface and one surface only? Be that as it may, the bottom line is that the insularity, myopia and avarice of European breeders is giving the American Thoroughbred a fresh chance to run up the blindside. The crowning idiocy is that you still hear European horsemen dismissing American blood not just with lazy generalisations about medication, but also as being bred in a single dimension of speed. If they bothered to study the keynote Kentucky rosters-and this applies both to the established sires, and to the young guns-they would be forced to recognise that the median fantasy, for breeders using them, is to breed a Triple Crown horse. Just scroll through the Kentucky lists and ask yourself how many of them would be more likely to get you a Classic type than the fast-buck speed icons of the European marketplace. Today’s race need not be the moment that forces more Europeans to think about these things properly. Conditions, as already noted, may lead to an old school slog and another crown for Galileo or his ilk. That would not alter the overall trend. Edifying efforts are being made in Britain to improve the commercial feasibility of horses bred to stay. But progress, in that regard, will take a few years at least. And for now, if the Derby remains the pinnacle for a European 3-year-old, then anyone breeding or buying in Kentucky should be aware that there is room at the top. View the full article

A trying breeze-up season for European consignors reached a satisfactory plateau in the BBAG Sale at Iffezheim on Friday, with indices recovering from a tough session last year. The sale of 52 lots from 77 offered almost exactly replicated the clearance rate in 2017, at 67.53%, but both average and median inched forwards to €10,052 (up 4.6%) and €10,014 (up 1.5%) respectively. With only 43 lots sold last year, however, much the biggest gain was in turnover of €522,700, up 26.5%-albeit still not quite back to the levels of the three preceding years. At €55,000, the top price of the day was paid by Blandford Bloodstock for a Maxios (GB) colt. Consigned by Philip Prevost Baratte as Lot 22, he is out of the listed winner Sarabia (Ger) (One Cool Cat)–previously responsible for a scorer at the same level in Simba (GB) (Teofilo {Ire})–and had changed hands in the same ring last September for €28,000. The top filly was Lot 84, by Camelot (GB) out of an unraced daughter of Pivotal and G1 Golden Jubilee S. runner-up Danehurst (GB) (Danehill). Presented by Huggan Bloodstock, she raised €49,000 from Adelresort. Andreas Lowe meanwhile gave €43,000 for Lot 39, a colt by Adlerflug (Ger) out of Burning Heart (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). And if the majority of the other lots sold made just four figures, then their purchasers will all know that subsequent Arc winner Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}) changed hands here for just €9,000 in 2010. View the full article

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Forever Together (IRE) broke her maiden in style at Epsom June 1, powering clear in the straight to land the 240th running of the Investec Oaks (G1) by 4 1/2 lengths from Godolphin's Wild Illusion (GB). View the full article

Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Justify schooled in the starting gate and galloped about 1 1/8 miles June 1, as he prepares for a sweep of the Triple Crown in the June 9 Belmont Stakes (G1). View the full article

B. B. DUDE (c, 2, Shakin It Up–Purrfect Song, by Unbridled’s Song), the less fancied of a pair of Steve Asmussen-trained firsters at 5-2, held off stablemate Carter Cat (Tale of the Cat) late to become the first winner for his freshman sire (by Midnight Lute). Perched three deep off of a :22.45 opening quarter, the dark bay ranged up to take over at the top of the stretch and kept finding to don cap and gown by about a length. B. B. Dude was a $40,000 KEENOV weanling purchased by owner Jerry Durant for $105,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton July sale. He was bought back for just $15,000 at the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s 2-year-old sale in April. Dam Purrfect Song is a hallf to GSW/GISP Santa Catarina (Unbridled). She produced another Shakin It Up colt in 2017. Shakin It Up, whose signature win came in the 2013 GI Malibu S., stands at Spendthrift Farm. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Jerry Durant. B-Sally Thomas & New Dawn Stable LLC (Ky). T-Steven M Asmussen. View the full article

Tom Law of ST Publishing and Bob Ehalt of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary earned top honors at NYRA’s Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Contest, which recognizes the best print and internet coverage of the 2017 GI Belmont S. Law won for his follow-up piece entitled “Perfect Script,” which examined Tapwrit (Tapit)’s journey from a promising $1.2 million yearling purchase to a Grade I winner. Ehalt won for his examination of the international circumstances surrounding the 149th Belmont S., brought by Japanese stakes winner Epicharis, who, despite scratching, made the Belmont the first U.S. Triple Crown race available for simulcasting wagering in Japan. The awards will be presented at Citi Field Tuesday prior to the Belmont post position draw. View the full article

The site of Tapwrit's peak career moment is, appropriately enough, going to be the venue when he launches his long-awaited 4-year-old campaign as he is slated to end a 10-month hiatus on June 3 in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Belmont Park. View the full article

If Aidan O’Brien wins Saturday’s G1 Investec Derby at Epsom, he will equal the record of seven wins in the blue riband while still very much in his prime, and will just edge out the great Fred Darling in one respect. That Beckhampton legend spread his septet over 19 years from 1922 to 1941, but the current helmsman of Ballydoyle can do it in 17 having begun in 2001 with what has become in many ways the cornerstone horse of his career in Galileo (Ire). Everyone is looking to ‘TDN Rising Star’ Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) to provide Derby number 13 in total for the world’s most famous training centre, with the late great Dr Vincent O’Brien carving out the initial six between 1962 and 1982. One of those to have immortalised himself and his trainer was Britain’s last Triple Crown hero Nijinsky II, and now there is another with the “look of eagles” whose momentum is set on that particular path. Like that deity who stands timeless in statue form now at the gates at Rosegreen, he is by a sire of which Europe has had very little exposure, and faces the same doubts about his stamina. He also has to run exposed for the first few hundred yards from his lowest draw, manage the terrain and at some point try his impressive stride on unique camber on sinking ground which will submerge some of his natural talent and disturb his rhythm. O’Brien has worked his sorcery and influence at Ballydoyle over the last four weeks, aided by the reins-work of some of the finest riders in racing and the painstaking attention and diligence of his stable staff. “Complacency is the one thing that will come and get you one day, so we do our best every second of every day,” he recently said. “It’s all about now and tomorrow.” The now is up to Ryan Moore, surely one of the greatest riding minds of recent times with an unerringly accurate sense of pace and steel will and nerve, so Saxon Warrior is in safe hands. O’Brien gave an insight into the way the likely odds-on favourite will be ridden in the big race now that the draw has effectively forced him to run direct to the left-hand rail after the first right-hander. “I haven’t spoken to Ryan about the draw, but I’d imagine he would have been taking his time on him anyway,” he revealed. “He didn’t have any problem with the dip at Newmarket and he wears his head low, so we’ll see what happens at Epsom. There are so many variables in races that you cannot control, such as horses around you and position. Obviously, if we are lucky enough to get him to Epsom in good shape, hopefully the rest will fall into place.” Saxon Warrior has the 1992 Derby hero Dr Devious (Ire) in his pedigree, but Godolphin’s G1 2000 Guineas third Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) has the aforementioned Galileo and Sea the Stars (Ire) in his. His third dam Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra) also came here for the Oaks with one race behind her in the millennium year and finished like a train under Chris McCarron to be third, while his sire prevailed in 2008. This is simply the best Epsom pedigree in the line-up by far and the descendant of Urban Sea is better than anything Godolphin have brought here since the non-staying Dubawi (Ire) in 2005. The colt he beat comfortably in Sandown’s G3 Solario S. in September, Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), gave him extra kudos on Saturday and he is two-from-two in encounters with the second favourite Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy). Connections are notably upbeat, with Charlie Appleby delighted with the way Masar has come out of the Guineas. “I think he has the right mind to go to Epsom,” he said. “As we all know, it’s a big stage there and it can be a challenge to a lot of horses. But what I’ve seen in Masar of late is a colt who is much more grown up. On pedigree, he should stay, and he is now mentally where you would like a horse who is stepping up in trip to be.” Harry Dunlop was just a toddler when his father John’s first Derby winner Shirley Heights (GB) prevailed in 1978 and his time to be part of the build-up has come around now with Neil Jones’s homebred Knight To Behold (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). His comprehensive defeat of Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the May 12 Listed Lingfield Derby Trial was a throwback to the impressive winners of that once-important prep such as Teenoso, Slip Anchor (GB) and Kahyasi (Ire) and there is much to work on from the homebred whose relations are long-term projects. “I know Aidan O’Brien always holds all the aces and I know things will be different with pacemakers and things, but the main thing is to try and enjoy it,” he said. “It is fantastic to have a horse considered to have a chance in the race. I’ve worked for dad, and he has had two winners, and Henry Cecil, who I also worked with, had an incredible strike-rate in it, but to be doing it yourself is very special and obviously having a horse good enough to do it.” Over at ParisLongchamp, the Wertheimers’ G3 Prix du Calvados winner and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Polydream (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) bids to get back on track after an unplaced effort in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches in the seven-furlong G3 Prix du Palais-Royal, where she meets the smart Godolphin duo Inns of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Jimmy Two Times (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}). View the full article

European champion Cracksman (GB) completed a group 1 hat-trick and extended his winning sequence to five in the Investec Coronation Cup (G1) at Epsom June 1, but not before giving his supporters a major fright. View the full article

Arqana have released the catalogue for their two-day Summer Sale slated for July 3-4. The sale consists of both flat and national hunt prospects and the opening session’s flat offerings consist of 71 catalogued unraced 2-year-olds who will canter up the Deauville all-weather the previous afternoon. Among these that could be likely types on pedigree include lot 4, offered by The Channel Consignment and a son of Mastercraftsman (Ire) out of triple group winner Nasty Storm (Gulch), who is already the dam of Group 3 winner Actress (Ire) (Declaration Of War); while Thomond O’Mara’s Knockanglass Stables offer lot 30, a son of Acclamation (GB) and G2 Debutante S. winner Campfire Glow (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Day two of the sale features a selection of breeding stock as well as horses-in-training and some of the choice pedigrees available in the breeding stock section include lot 229 Soltada (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), a half-sister to G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and offered from Haras d’Etreham in foal to Wootton Bassett (GB). Lot 245, Rydale Mist (GB) (Equiano {GB}) from Haras de Castillon also has plenty going for her. The 6-year-old is a half-sister to Group 2 winner Finjaan (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) and is offered in foal to Shalaa (Ire). The largest section in the catalogue is the HIT part with 183 catalogued and these include drafts from many of the leading trainers in France such as Alain de Royer Dupré, André Fabre, Carlos Laffon-Parias, Fabrice Chappet, Francis-Henri Graffard, Freddy Head, Henri-Alex Pantall, Henri-François Devin, Jean-Claude Rouget, Mikel Delzangles, and Nicolas Clément, et cetera. View the full article

Still a maiden entering Friday’s G1 Investec Oaks at Epsom, Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) left that tag at the start as she powered to a 4 1/2-length success from Wild Illusion (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) under the 2000 Guineas-winning jockey Donnacha O’Brien. Settled in a share of third early along with that 5-2 favourite, the 7-1 shot who had been second in the May 9 Listed Cheshire Oaks was brought stand’s side and had the Godolphin rival’s measure approaching the two-furlong pole. Staying on stoutly to the line, the bay provided her trainer with a seventh renewal in the process as stablemate Bye Bye Baby (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) trailed by another 3 1/2 lengths in third. “She was very impressive and I got a beautiful trip through the race,” her rider commented. “I got onto the rail and she was very genuine and galloped out to the line very well. She’s a proper staying filly and I should have been a lot closer at Chester. When the rain came I was a bit worried, but she handled it well. I didn’t expect her to do that, but it all played out perfectly and the stand’s rail seems the place to be. Dad’s an absolute genius and does things I don’t understand. He tweaks little things and brings out massive improvement in them.” FOREVER TOGETHER (IRE), 126, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Green Room, by Theatrical (Ire). (€900,000 Ylg ’16 GOFORB). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Vimal & Gillian Khosla (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien; J-Donnacha O’Brien. £283,550. Lifetime Record: 4-1-1-1, £301,614. *Full to Together Forever (Ire), G1SW-Eng & SW-Ire, $318,729; and 1/2 to Lord Shanakill (Speightstown), G1SW-Fr, MGSW & MG1SP-Eng, $908,475. View the full article

Things may be getting so easy for Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) that he is taking it upon himself to make it more exciting and he overcame some self-made adversity on Friday to gain a last-gasp success in the G1 Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom. Never in his smooth rhythm, Anthony Oppenheimer’s G1 Champion S. and G1 Prix Ganay winner was several lengths off the pace set by Salouen (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) and being niggled at by Frankie Dettori despite his odds of 2-7. Taking all of the straight to get to that surprise package, the homebred managed it once he was switched to the stand’s rail in the final yards. At the line, there was a head between them as they pulled clear of Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) in third. “He was a bit sleepy today and I couldn’t really lay up,” Dettori explained. “He doesn’t really enjoy running downhill and I wanted to close the gap but couldn’t. We had to work for this one, but he’s a better horse than he showed today and his class showed through. Any other horse would have downed tools.” John Gosden added, “It’s hard to pick them up when they are that far ahead on this ground and he was not in love with the track. He showed his class to get there in the end and we’ll look at Royal Ascot now [for the G1 Prince of Wales’s S.].” CRACKSMAN (GB), 126, c, 4, by Frankel (GB) 1st Dam: Rhadegunda (GB) (SW-Fr), by Pivotal (GB) 2nd Dam: St Radegund (GB), by Green Desert 3rd Dam: On the House, by Be My Guest O-Anthony Oppenheimer; B-Hascombe & Valiant Studs (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £238,182. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 3yo-Eur at 9.5-11f, G1SW-Fr & G1SP-Ire, 9-7-1-1, £1,894,584. *1/2 to Fantastic Moon (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), GSW-Eng. View the full article

The Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale came to a quiet close on Friday with a single-session Book 2 that added A$767,000 to the four-day sale’s gross. A total of 104 fillies and mares were sold at a clearance rate of 86% that was up on last year, while the average stayed steady at A$7,375, and the median jumped 37.5% to A$5,500. Top lot for the session was the 6-year-old High Chaparral (Ire) mare Montrer Dame (Aus) (lot 1500), who was bought by Edinburgh Park for A$45,000. Offered off the track by Bruce Hill Racing, Montrer Dame descends from the excellent producer Procrastinate (Aus) (Jade Hunter). Her dam, Michaux (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), is a half-sister to stakes winners Zodiac Ruler (Aus) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Almighty Girl (Aus) (Beneteau {Aus}). Magic Millions’s National Sale Series picks up again on Tuesday with the three-day National Yearling Sale. View the full article

If Fiona Carmichael had her own stallion operation she’d have quite a roster by now. The Jersey-based owner has only been involved in racing since 2011 but she has already raced, through various partnerships, the Group winners Toronado (Ire), Havana Gold (Ire) and Ivawood (Ire), all of whom are now in the nascent stages of their stud careers. All three of those Richard Hannon-trained colts ran in Classics. Toronado and Havana Gold had already been sold on to their respective Qatari owners by that stage and went on to win Group 1 contests later in the season, but Ivawood fared best of the trio in that early test of 3-year-old prowess when finishing third in both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas. Tomorrow, Carmichael is represented by another colt who will certainly be in demand for a stallion career if all goes to plan in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club for Intellogent (Fr). The first-crop son of Intello (Ger) is trained by Fabrice Chappet, who handles the owner’s French-based horses, while Hugo Palmer, William Haggas and Jane Chapple-Hyam are employed in Britain, Jessica Harrington in Ireland and Brett Crawford in South Africa. Such extensive international racing interests have come about from a chance conversation on a riding holiday, as Carmichael explains. “I was in Spain with some girlfriends and one of their husbands had a racehorse so I came home and said to my late husband, ‘Do you fancy a racehorse?’, and he said, ‘No’. So that was it really.” During a meeting with her financial adviser Douglas Pryde—the co-owner of 2013 Grand National winner Auroras Encore (Ire)—after the death of her husband, the subject of racing was raised again when Pryde asked permission to use her husband’s nickname Mark Carmers for a colt he owned by Mark Of Esteem (Ire). “My daughter and I went over to Deauville to watch him race but in the end he didn’t run and I ended up being invited to the sales by the husband of my friend from the riding holiday,” says Carmichael. “I went along for the morning and by lunchtime I’d asked if I could take a leg in the horse they were buying.” That morning was also the first time she met her bloodstock agent and racing manager Amanda Skiffington, who has been instrumental in the success Carmichael has enjoyed. The initial partnership between Carmichael, Roger Simmons and Chris Humber didn’t celebrate instant triumph but it wasn’t long in coming, and when it did, it was notable. Shaken but undeterred by her first horse fracturing a pastern on course at Windsor after she and her daughter had taken a helicopter from the Glastonbury festival to watch him run, Carmichael had clearly been sufficiently bitten by the bug to pursue her burgeoning interest in the turf. “Amanda thought we wouldn’t get back into it again as it was a bit of a shock,” she says. “But we did regroup and we got Rockinante (Fr), who won a listed race in Deauville and then we took him to Italy for the Guineas which was quite exciting. Then the next year we had Havana Gold and Toronado and I’ve never looked back.” With competition now fierce for stallion prospects from the early stages of their racing careers, both Havana Gold and Toronado were the subject of lucrative offers after becoming Group-winning juveniles for Carmichael and Humber, and they completed their racing days for other people. It’s not a situation Carmichael is keen to replicate, despite having had plenty of interest in her G3 Prix de Guiche winner Intellogent, bought by Skiffington for €320,000 at the Arqana August Yearling Sale. She says, “My love is the racing first but I do follow their stallion careers. I bought an Ivawood foal and I’ve been trying to get a Havana Gold and a Toronado but we haven’t quite found the right one yet. Amanda has strict rules when it comes to buying and I guess that’s why she’s so successful. It can be frustrating when you set your heart on a horse and she turns around and says, ‘That’s it Fiona, we’re walking away’. We all have dreams to win the Derby or the 2,000 Guineas and that’s really one of the questions I ask when we’re buying a horse—what race is he going to win?” She continues, “Intellogent had such presence when we saw him at the sales. To be going to the Prix du Jockey Club with him is what dreams are made of. We’ve had a few attempts at the 2,000 Guineas before but never a chance at something like this. That’s why I go on my own now, after what happened with Toronado. I wanted to keep him and I couldn’t but it’s a learning curve so I race on my own now. My dream is to win one of these big races, that’s why I do it.” Intellogent passed the strict test imposed by Skiffington with flying colours. The agent, who buys six horses each year for Carmichael, says, “He was a stand-out individual. I never worry about first-crop sires because sometimes people have a limit on first-crop sires. I know I can’t buy a really beautiful Galileo so I just buy the best Individual that I can. “Fiona is fantastic to work with as she just loves her racing and is so enthusiastic. After I’ve seen everything in a sale, she likes me to compile a short-list of ten—never more—and we go off and see them together. She likes to be involved but equally she’s wonderful because if I go off a horse late on, which I can do, she’s fine and we’ll walk away. She absolutely fell in love with Ivawood as a yearling and last year for the first time I bought her a foal, an Ivawood colt who was the image of his father.” The most significant single outlay on a youngster was the €1.1 million paid for Signe (Ire), a Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister to Lord Shanakill (Speightstown) and Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), at the Goffs Orby Sale of 2014. The filly made a belated debut at four but won her first three starts and is now one of two broodmares owned by Carmichael, who boards Signe where she was born, at Ballylinch Stud. “It hadn’t been my intention to go down that route but it’s very interesting and I’m learning about it,” says Carmichael of her fledgling breeding operation. “I have two broodmares now. I used to have a yacht and my accountant kept saying I had to sell it because I was never using it as I didn’t know whether I was going to be at the races or not. So when I sold it I happened to be at the sales and I asked Amanda to buy me the best pedigree I could afford, so we bought Signe.” Now five, Signe is carrying her first foal by Siyouni (Fr) but Carmichael will have plenty to engage her interest until the mare’s offspring start racing, not least a Classic date on Sunday. “I’m suddenly having to get my act together. It’s very exciting. When you get in at the beginning you’ve no idea what racing is all about really, so to have Toronado and Havana Gold, bang, bang, like that was incredible. I thought it was quite normal,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve only had horses with Fabrice this year but I’ve been over to see him a few times and it’s a beautiful set-up. He’s doing a great job.” In fact, Chappet has done such a great job in recent seasons that Intellogent will be one of three runners he has to saddle for the Prix du Jockey Club. And if that particular colt’s owner’s run of luck since starting in racing is anything to go by, Carmichael shouldn’t have to wait too long to cheer home a Classic winner in her own colours. Perhaps only until tomorrow. View the full article

Sunday’s G1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo offers the opportunity for colts, geldings and fillies from 3-years-old and up to do battle for Grade 1 honours over a mile and while there are no 3-year-olds in the line up in this year’s edition three of the 14 strong field represent the fairer sex, including the 4-year-old filly Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}). There would be few more deserving winners than the Yoshito Yahagi trained filly after four runner up efforts at the top level already, including last time out when beaten a nose into second by Jour Polaire (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Vcitoria Mile at Tokyo three weeks ago. She had Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune {Jpn}) behind her in fourth on that occasion and while that race was confined to fillies and mares her trainer is more concerned over turning her out relatively quickly again as opposed to taking on the males. “I don’t think it makes much difference to her if she’s racing against males or females,” Yahagi said. “The Victoria Mile was our big goal for the spring and so she was really ready for it. It was a tough race and, to be honest I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to maintain her condition but she came out of the race better than I’d thought she would,” he added. Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is an established international top level competitor but he has yet to win a Grade 1 in his native Japan and Sunday again gives him an opportunity to add to his CV that is highlighted by a victory in the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan in 2016. He returned to Dubai this year to finish third in the same race in March and connections will be hoping for a better display than his 11th place finish in the Yasuda Kinen two years ago. “He’s ready. He’s gotten the same rotation as he had the year before last but things have gone more smoothly this time. He’s also more in tune with the jockey now,” said the trainer’s assistant Takahide Ando. Suave Richard (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) will probably go off favourite on Sunday and his last time out beating of Persian Knight (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) in the G1 Osaka Hai in April is undoubtedly top class form but that event was over ten furlongs and his ability to successfully drop back two furlongs in this company is open to debate. His trainer Yasushi Shono is conscious of the task at hand and said, “He’s grown and filled out. I think the Tokyo course will suit him. But it is his first mile and there are a number of specialists in the lineup, so I don’t think it will be an easy race for him.” Persian Knight has a Group 1 victory over the trip already to his name when successful in the G1 Mile Championship at Kyoto last year and his rider Yuga Kawada is hoping the drop back to that distance will be more in his favour than the favourite’s. “He is the Mile Championship winner, he put in a great performance over the mile and I think Tokyo is perfect for him. He’s a clever horse and he listens well to the rider’s signals, so I think he’ll be able to adjust to the sudden change in distance this start,” he said. View the full article

Classic action is coming thick and fast as the flat season really hits top gear. Epsom is the venue on Saturday for the race ever flat jockey and trainer wants on their CV, the Derby! It may be a totally different type of race in every aspect bar none but the Derby seems to hold the same gravitas to flat jockeys as the “Grand National” has for their jump counterparts. The quality action at the infamous undulating Surrey track starts on Friday with two mouth-watering Group Ones to feast on before the main event on Saturday. Epsom Oaks The Group One contest for three-year-old fillies over one mile four furlongs has attracted a field of nine quality fillies, with the only major absentee being Magical. Aidan O’Brien is responsible for five of the runners(Magic Wand, Forever Together, Bye Bye Baby, Flattering, and I Can Fly) with the home team represented by Wild Illusion, Give And Take, Perfect Clarity and Ejtyah. Wild Illusion Dubawi ex Rumh Trainer: Charlie Appleby Owner: Godolphin Those in attendance at Yarmouth last August had to be impressed when Wild Illusion won on debut by an ever-increasing two and a half lengths. Although what is surprising is that the second horse that day Give and Take who has since won the Musidora now re-opposes in the Epsom Oaks. On her third and final start last season, Wild Illusion won the Prix Marcel Boussac at Chantilly when sporting first-time blinkers. These blinkers were replaced by cheek-pieces for her seasonal debut in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, where she finished a very creditable fourth behind shock winner Billesdon Brook. The form of the 1000 Guineas already has a strong look to it with the runner-up Laurnes winning the Group One Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp last Sunday. However there are question marks about her stamina over this markedly longer trip and with the predicted softer going likely to fully test this stamina, I would be happy to take her on. Magic Wand Galileo ex Prudenzia Trainer: Aidan O’Brien Owner: Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier & M J Jooste This thrice raced daughter of Galileo broke her maiden in typical Aidan O’Brien, two educational runs in good maidens at Leopardstown and then a trip to Chester to lose the maiden tag in the Listed Chesire Oaks. Fillies just seem to improve with each run for Aidan with a perfect example being Magic Wand’s half-sister Chicquita, who also broke her maiden for Aidan but this time in the Irish Oaks. The extra furlong at Epsom will really suit Magic Wand and a very strong showing can be expected. Perfect Clarity Nathaniel ex Clarietta Trainer: Clive Cox Owner: Dr Bridget Drew & Mr David J Keast The lightly raced and unbeaten Nathaniel filly has only graced the racecourse on two occasions prior to the Oaks. She made her debut in a Nottingham maiden when winning well as a well-supported second favourite. Clive Cox then put the filly away for the season with a three-year-old campaign to the fore of his mind and his patience was rewarded when she won the Oaks trial at Lingfield in taking fashion. The stoutly bred filly is very much the dark horse in the race and it would be no surprise to see her maintain her unbeaten status. Selection: Magic Wand Outsider: Perfect Clarity Coronation Cup This Group One contest is run over the same distance as the Derby and has been won by some fantastic horses in recent times. Aidan O’Brien has won six of the last ten renewals of the race, with St Nicholas Abbey responsible for three of these. The last three winners of the race have all been five-year-olds which may help find this year’s winner. Cracksman Frankel ex Rhadegunda Trainer: John Gosden Owner: Mr A E Oppenheimer Cracksman was a brilliant winner of last season’s Champion Stakes at Ascot and returned to action this season with an impressive victory in France in the Prix Ganay. The son of Frankel was placed in two Derby’s last year and will be looking to have a very productive four-year-old campaign. Hawkbill Kitten’s Joy ex Trensa Trainer: Charlie Appleby Owner: Godolphin The 2016 Eclipse winner has already had a great 2018 in Dubai. He won a Group Two and then beat Poet’s Word by three lengths in the Dubai Sheema Classic. The consistent group performer seems the most likely candidate to test hot-favourite Cracksman. Others to note in the race are the Aidan O’Brien trained Idaho who is a full brother to last year’s winner Highland Reel and the German runner Windstoss. A dual Group One winner in his homeland, the Markus Klug trained representative is likely to be competing for place money. Selection: Cracksman Outsider: Idaho The Derby This is the race that defines the classic generation, a true test of speed, stamina, balance and temperament. The race is steeped in history going back all the way to 1780, with the most recent renewal going the way of 40/1 shot Wings of Eagles. Who’ll win this year is obvious question amongst racegoers so we asked RaceBets brand ambassador Luke Harvey to give us the winner. New Customer Welcome Offer Bet £20 on the Derby and get your money back as a free bet if it doesn’t win Diomed Stakes The Diomed Stakes has a really open look to it this year, in truth, none of the right runners could be ruled out with any great conviction. David Simcock’s Arod looks likely to start favourite for this Group Three contest on the back of a listed victory at Windsor. Arod has very solid course form with a fourth-place finish in the Derby behind Australia and a previous victory in the Diomed Stakes in 2015 the result of his only two visits to the course. True Valour also runs in this for Qatar Racing and the Kodiac colt just may be the surprise package. After taking four runs to win his maiden, Johnny Murtagh’s inmate finished third in a listed race at Epsom and rounded off the season with two very good runs in Group Two affairs. A pipe-opener at Leopardstown a little over two weeks ago should have left True Valour cherry-ripe for the Diomed Stakes. As I said a case could be made for all the runners with the good yard sticks Breton Rock and Sovereign Debt sure to run their races. Simon Crisford will also be hoping his progressive Century Dream can land the spoils. Selection: Arod Outsider: True Valour Epsom Dash This five-furlong contest for speed junkies is in truth a bit of a lottery, so I’m just going to put one horse for it and hope he gets the breaks, that horse is Boom The Groom. Tony Carroll’s seven-year-old hasn’t won a race in 652 days but don’t let that put you off the Kodiac gelding as he is a victim of his own consistency. He finished sixth in the race last season beaten less than a length and a half, off a mark of 104. Boom The Groom is now running off 93 which would have been higher had he not been squeezed out last time out over course and distance to finish a running on fourth. Everything now looks in place for a big run in the Epsom Dash. Don’t forget to check out all of RaceBets fantastic promotions this weekend here. The post Will it be a classic Classic? The Epsom Derby Weekend preview appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

International participation in this year’s G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup is sure to be even stronger with the news that a record A$7.3m in prize-money will be up for grabs at Flemington in November. This boost represents a rise of just under A$1-million and will see the winner take home A$4-million while those who finish between 6th and 12th will win A$150,000 each. European runners occupied eight of the top ten placings last year, headed by the Joseph O’Brien trained Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and 2018 represents the 25th anniversary of the first overseas winner of the race, the Dermot Weld trained Vintage Crop (GB) (Rousillon), who landed the race under Mick Kinane in 1993. Commenting on the prizemoney boost VRC chairman Amanda Elliott said, “The Lexus Melbourne Cup is the race that stops a nation. It is the world’s richest staying handicap and is backed by 158 years of history and tradition. 2018 is a milestone year for the VRC. Anticipation builds for the opening of our new world-class Club Stand and we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first internationally trained winner of the Cup in Ireland’s Vintage Crop. This year’s Lexus Melbourne Cup will have more eyes on it than ever before with the recent launch of the global digital platform, World Horse Racing, as we continue to expand our reach internationally. We simply can’t wait.” Significant increases in prize-money were also announced on Friday for a range of races across Victoria including the G1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate and the G1 Stella Artois Caulfield Cup, which have both received a 40% hike up to A$5-million. Australia’s oldest classic, the G1 AAMI Victoria Derby is also a beneficiary and will be worth an extra A$500,000 this year when run for A$2-million. Racing Victoria’s chief executive officer Giles Thompson commented, “The prize money increases announced today serve to reward our owners, trainers and jockeys while ensuring that Victoria remains a destination for the world’s best as we celebrate 25 years of international competition. Our vision is ‘Racing for All’ and there is something for all owners, trainers and jockeys within these prize money increases which stretch from the Melbourne Cup to the Burrumbeet Cup.” View the full article

Undefeated colt Saxon Warrior is poised to deliver Aidan O’Brien his seventh victory in the Group One Epsom Derby on Saturday. The son of Deep Impact looked terrific winning the 2,000 Guineas last month and he is clearly the one to beat in Great Britain’s richest race. Saxon Warrior is one of five runners for O’Brien and is the pick of leading jockey Ryan Moore, but being the stable elect does not guarantee anything, as last year’s race showed when 40-1 hope Wings Of... View the full article