Wandering Eyes

The Martyn Meade trained Eminent (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) has come through a series of tests in good shape and is back on course to target the G1 Prince Of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot next month. The 4-year-old was a hot favourite for the G2 Huxley S. at Chester recently but trailed in last under Oisin Murphy. A fibrillating heart was discovered soon after the race but Meade is confident that episode can be classified as a once off. “He’s fine, the conclusion is that it was a one-off and we will continue with the original plan of going to the Prince of Wales’s,” Meade said. Eminent went from traveling powerfully to running on empty in a matter of strides at Chester and it was obvious the colt did not give his true running. Explaining the basics of the diagnosis Meade said, “It was a terrible shock at the time. It was just one of those things when the electrical pulses that go to the heart and he got a bit excited and missed one of those cycles and that goes through the heart in an irregular rhythm. Looking at the all the reports and the ECGs, it is a complete one-off. If it is going to be a problem you can see if it had done any damage. It’s actually spot-on normal now.” With four weeks to go until Royal Ascot Meade has plenty of time to get Eminent back to his best in a quest to secure what would be a hugely valuable Group 1 win for the colt and is planing to leave nothing to chance. “We’ll give him a racecourse gallop before and take him him into that enclosed environment.” Another horse with Royal Ascot still on the agenda despite a disappointing reappearance is Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}). Henry Candy’s gelding finished a never dangerous 10th in the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. at Newbury on Saturday but Candy is inclined to put the tame display down to a bug in the stable after a number of his string underperformed over the last week. “I was very disappointed with the way my horses ran at York and I was disappointed how he [Limato] ran. I think they are just a bit off-colour,” Candy said. “We just have to sit tight with the horses and it will be a different scene in two or three weeks. I expect we’ll go to Ascot with Limato if he’s back in top form, more likely for the [G1] Queen Anne.” View the full article

Sergei Prokofiev benefitted for the experience of an Apr. 11 debut second going five furlong on Dundalk’s synthetic surface and demolished overmatched rivals by 7 1/2 lengths and more in an imperious ‘TDN Rising Star’ performance over the same trip at Navan last time Apr. 23, and he was as effective here to punch his Royal Ascot ticket in style. Racing under a firm hold in a prominent third from flagfall in this black-type bow, he eased to the fore when allowed an inch of rein passing the quarter-mile marker and powered clear under mild rousting in the closing stages to easily claim a career high by another daylight margin. Sergei Prokofiev is the lone performer out of Orchard Beach (Tapit), a half-sister to GIII Hollywood Juvenile Championship victress Necessary Evil (Harlan’s Holiday), and he is kin to a yearling filly by Hard Spun while his dam was bred to Air Force Blue last year. His third dam Danzig Til Dawn (Danzig), who produced Listed Dash S. scorer Forest Danz (Forestry), is a granddaughter of the smart and tough El Tigre Grande mare Full Tigress, whose 10 victories include the Listed Alma North S. and Egret H. and who made her claim to fame as the dam of GI Matron S. and GI Spinaway S. heroine Over All (Mr. Prospector), herself the dam of GII Raven Run S. victrix For All We Know (Stephen Got Even). SERGEI PROKOFIEV, c, 2, by Scat Daddy 1st Dam: Orchard Beach, by Tapit 2nd Dam: Song and Danz, by Unbridled’s Song 3rd Dam: Danzig Til Dawn, by Danzig ($1,100,000 Ylg ’17 KEESEP). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Anderson Farms (Ontario) Inc (ON); T-Aidan O’Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €38,350. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, €53,670. View the full article

Zac Purton added more spice to the race for the jockeys’ championship with a four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday, teaming up with Caspar Fownes for a treble that included wins by two very promising types. Purton’s haul brings him within four of Joao Moreira, who went winless, and leaves the Australian in a strong position with his main rival set to miss the meetings on June 6 and 10 through suspension. “It puts me in a good position now and we’ll just see what happens. It... View the full article

Multiple Group 1 winner, former horse of the year and sire TM Opera O (Jpn) (Opera House {GB}–Once Wed, by Blushing Groom {Fr}) has died in Japan aged 22, according to the Racing Post. The winner of seven races at the top level and 14 in all, TM Opera O set a world record for career earnings in 2000 when he won, among others, the G1 Japan Cup. That record remained for 17 years until Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) won the G1 Dubai World Cup last year and was also subsequently eclipsed by fellow Japanese horse Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}). Trained by Ichizo Iwamoto, TM Opera O was also crowned Japan’s Horse of the Year in 2000 after his five Grade 1 wins that season which ranged from ten to sixteen furlongs. He died of a heart attack at the Hakuba Bokujo Farm in Niikappu-cho, Hokkaido and speaking to the Racing Post his owner Masatsugu Takezono said, “I understand it was an instant death without any suffering. When I went to see him last autumn he was energetic and he had just finished breeding to two mares this year. It’s very sad. I’ll never forget his unbelievable success in 2000.” TM Opera O failed to scale such lofty heights as a stallion. According to statistics from the JBIS website he sired 139 winners but none of these winners scored in stakes company. View the full article

Alberto Sanna came into Sunday’s meeting wearing a frown, but he was looking good as he exited the Sha Tin jockeys’ room afterwards having collected a double. The Italian thought his best chance of the day was gone after promising sprinter Mr Lumieres was withdrawn on Saturday, but he made up for it with 851-1 brace. “It was a nice day,” Sanna said after guiding Bossiee (23-1) and Looking Good (37-1) to victory. “[Saturday] was very disappointing when I saw Mr... View the full article

Wesley Ward has become somewhat of a pioneer among his North American training colleagues by successfully targeting Royal Ascot on multiple occasions over the last five years or so and the trainer is eyeing an even bigger international target later this year in The Everest at Randwick in October. Ward has already nominated two candidates for the A$10m event in Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and Bound For Nowhere (The Factor) but the pair must first come through their annual trip to Britain for the Royal Meeting next month before plans for Australia begin taking shape. “The Everest is at the forefront of what we want to do,” Ward told racenet.com.au. “I got a call from one the owners of Lady Aurelia, Barbara Banke and she has her eye on it as well, so both Lady Aurelia and Bound For Nowhere are definitely candidates,” he added. Lady Aurelia is seeking a Royal Ascot hat trick next month when she bids for back to back wins in the G1 King’s Stand S. over five furlongs and her trainer believes the Everest trip of six furlongs won’t pose any problems for the 4-year-old, who finished second on her seasonal debut in a listed race at Keeneland last month. “Lady Aurelia has been out to six furlongs in the [G1] Prix Morny [at Deauville]. As convincing as she was in winning the Queen Mary over five she wasn’t as convincing in the Morny at six furlongs but that was as a two-year-old and that was coming off a big performance where she may have bounced a little bit. Also from what I gather from Australian racing it isn’t like Royal Ascot where it is a really stiff six furlongs,” Ward said. Bound For Nowhere, a $310,000 Keeneland yearling purchase, races in Ward’s own colours and he ran a respectable fourth to Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Ascot last year over six furlongs. He showed he could have developed into a potential top class sprinter with an impressive four length win in the GII Shakertown S. at Keeneland in April and Ward is hoping the colt can book his ticket to The Everest with a prominent showing at Ascot. “Bound For Nowhere will be in the [G1] Diamond Jubilee, the six furlong race. I think he was bit unseasoned when we went over last year, he had only had two runs and now that he’s got the seasoning underneath him and he’s got that explosive race in him I think he’s going to run a big race.” View the full article

John Moore hopes the talented Solar Patch can form part of his assault on next season’s four-year-old series after an impressive victory at Sha Tin on Sunday. The three-year-old now has two wins and a second from his three Hong Kong starts and the trainer is bullish about his prospects. “I’m an optimist, the way he is hitting the line and knowing the horse back from the yard and his demeanour and everything, I’d say there is a chance of [competing in the four-year-old... View the full article

In an intense, white fog at Pimlico Race Course, Justify and Good Magic, the top two finishers in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), dueled for the second prize in the Triple Crown. View the full article

OVER 100,000 racegoers flocked to the Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness Stakes today where they were greeted with an infield that resembled a tough mudder course. View the full article

Handle at Pimlico for the 143rd running of the G1 Preakness S. was $93,655,128, reported the Stronach Group and the Maryland Jockey Club Saturday. GI Kentucky Derby hero Justify (Scat Daddy) won by a half-length over the closing Bravazo (Awesome Again) before a crowd of 134,487, despite a sloppy track and dense fog. Both the attendance and handle were the third largest marks in Preakness Day history. “It’s amazing that under the conditions, the fact field size was 6.6 compared to 8.9 the year before and we lost four turf races, our handle was $93 million,” said Sal Sinatra, President and General Manager of the Maryland Jockey Club. “Justify and all our equine and human athletes put on a memorable show. I want to thank all of the fans who attended and wagered on our races Saturday. The Stronach Group is proud to be part of the history and tradition of Thoroughbred racing in Maryland. We’re committed to honoring the deep history and tradition of the Preakness while continuing to modernize the sport by offering unique entertainment and guest experiences.” View the full article

This is the hard part about being called a freak, the best horse in decades, a cinch to win the Triple Crown. Do anything less than win by 10, run an off-the-charts speed figure and scare everyone but the foolhardy and dreamers away from the GI Belmont S. and you look like a disappointment. Was Justify (Scat Daddy) a disappointment in Saturday’s GI Preakness S.? No. To say or write that would not be fair. He won the race. He did his job. He’ll be running for a Triple Crown in 20 days for the team of Baffert, Mike Smith, the China Horse Club, WinStar Farm, SF Bloodstock and the other entities that own a piece of the horse. But Justify didn’t look invincible, and that’s what was puzzling. We came for the second of three stages in what was supposed to be a Triple Crown coronation and instead we got a knock- down horse race where even winning trainer Bob Baffert admitted “he really had to work for it.” So who is this horse, the freak that looked so dominant and overcame the odds in the GI Kentucky Derby–or the horse who “really had to work for it” to win the Preakness? We don’t know, but after the Preakness, a Belmont win by Justify no longer looks like a foregone conclusion. After the race when appearing before the NBC cameras, Baffert was honest in his assessment, but didn’t seem the least bit bothered that this was, in his words, a “nail-biter.” That’s probably because he’s been through this enough times that he knows you can never take a win in a Triple Crown race for granted. He also seemed to believe that Justify’s race was better than it looked because he was hooked early by a good horse in Good Magic (Curlin). There is some truth to that. Aboard Good Magic, Jose Ortiz was not going to let Mike Smith and Justify get an easy lead. He sent his horse out of the gate and also seemed to want to float Justify out toward the middle of the track. The two were eyeball-to-eyeball from the start and were still going at it in the middle of the stretch. “They put it to us,” Baffert said. “It was like they were having their own private match race and someone had to give. I’m glad it wasn’t us. I’m so happy that he got it done. He’s a great horse to handle all that pressure and keep on running.” Agreed, Justify didn’t have the easiest of trips, but it wasn’t that tough. Justify would have been in a real bind if the pace were fast. It was not. The opening quarter was run :23.11 and the half went in :47.19. Compare that to the Derby. With speedball Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) leading the way and Justify on the attack just outside of him, they went in splits of :22.24 and :45.77. After enduring a pace fight that would have broken the spirit of just about any other horse on the planet, Justify pulled away and won comfortably over Good Magic. Yes, this was a different day and a different racing surface, but the Preakness pace was much more comfortable than the Derby pace and this time Justify “really had to work for it” to beat Bravazo (Awesome Again) and Tenfold (Curlin). Bravazo was coming off a sixth-place finish in the Derby and Tenfold was last seen finishing fifth in the GI Arkansas Derby. Neither is a bad horse, but nothing about their credentials told you they’d be able to put a scare into Justify in the Preakness. Justify beat Bravazo by a mere half-length. Bravazo finished a neck in front of Tenfold. “It took more out of me,” Baffert said when asked if he thought the Preakness had taken much out of Justify. Now that we know that the Belmont will not be the first walkover in the history of the Triple Crown series, Justify’s owners are facing an incredibly difficult dilemma. The China Horse Club and WinStar Farm and their various partners own several good 3-year-olds, and that’s actually a bit of a problem. They took on their own horse yesterday with Quip (Distorted Humor). That was a gamble that could have seriously backfired. What if Quip beat Justify by a nose and thus ended his Triple Crown bid? Fortunately, or, perhaps, unfortunately, Quip didn’t bring his A game to Pimlico yesterday. He finished last of eight. But WinStar and China Horse Club have another one waiting in the wings who is much better. His name is Audible (Into Mischief). He won the GI Florida Derby and ran a big race when third in the Derby. He’s trained by Todd Pletcher, whose Derby starters virtually always skip the Preakness and then enter the Belmont starting gate fresh and dangerous. Right now, he looks like obvious second choice in the Belmont and, on paper, it looks like he has every chance to beat Justify and keep him from winning the Triple Crown. Do you run him in the Belmont and risk beating Justify or do you sit it out and deny Audible a chance to win a Triple Crown race and greatly improve his own value as a stallion? I wouldn’t run Audible, but let’s leave that decision up to the people who call the shots for WinStar and the China Horse Club and, admittedly, know a lot more about this stuff than I do. That decision will come in time. In the meantime, the Justify team deserves a chance to sit back, relax and enjoy another win in the Triple Crown series by a really good racehorse. But how good a racehorse? That’s a question that was not answered yesterday. View the full article

Cutting through dense fog over a sloppy track at Pimlico Race Course, 3-year-old Ax Man led at every point of call to capture the May 19 $100,000 LARC Sir Barton Stakes and take home his third win of the season. View the full article

Gary Barber's Miss Mo Mentum chased down 8-5 favorite Dixie Moon in the stretch of the $125,000 Selene Stakes (G3) to win her first graded race by a neck May 19 at Woodbine. View the full article

Hat Creek Racing's Nootka Sound started strong and finished even better, going nearly gate-to-wire to notch her first career stakes win in the $100,000 Soaring Softly (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at Belmont Park May 19. View the full article

Cutting through dense fog over a sloppy track at Pimlico Race Course, 3-year-old Ax Man lead from gate-to-wire to snag the May 19 $100,000 LARC Sir Barton Stakes and take home his third win of the season. View the full article

KENTUCKY Derby winner Justify captured the Preakness Stakes at fog-shrouded Pimlico on Saturday, staying on course to become the 13th horse to sweep US flat racing’s Triple Crown. View the full article

Cousteau dives late to score first Kranji win View the full article

Skywalk makes it three-from-three ticks for Peters' Group 1 tests View the full article

Blue Danube scores stunning $362 win View the full article

Royal Ruler reigns again after overcoming injury View the full article

Peters and Powell combine for first win with Arc Raider View the full article

Horses' body weights May 20 View the full article

Track conditions and course scratchings May 20 View the full article

Early scratchings May 20 View the full article

KENTUCKY Derby winner Justify won the Preakness Stakes at fog-shrouded Pimlico on Saturday, staying on course to become the 13th horse to win US flat racing’s Triple Crown. View the full article