Wandering Eyes

One week before the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1), Churchill Downs opens April 26 with a nighttime card to kick off its 43-day spring meet.View the full article

The dynasty that is Gestut Schlenderhan, Germany's oldest stud farm that was founded in 1869, will be represented April 27 by Goliath in the QEII Cup (G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.View the full article

Last May, Joe Ramos was recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident, hoping to return to the job he loves and visualizing the places that racing could take him. A year later, this rising star is back in the saddle and dreaming of roses. View the full article

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The European Athletics Championships of 1966 constituted the first major international sporting event where human athletes were officially drug tested. Driving this watershed moment was growing alarm that more and more athletes were turning to performance-enhancing drugs with near impunity and no small amount of personal risk. Several amphetamines were found in the system of Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen after he collapsed mid-race at the 1960 Rome Olympics, fracturing his skull. He later died in hospital. Seven years after that, British cyclist Tommy Simpson collapsed and died during the Tour de France. A post-mortem revealed that Simpson had taken a cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol, a lethal combination in the extreme heat and duress of the mountainous race. At the time, drug testing in sports was rudimentary compared to today's standards. It wasn't until a German biochemist and former competitive cyclist called Manfred Donike appeared on the scene in the 1960s and '70s that drug testing really started marching towards modernism. Donike was instrumental in developing one of earliest sports laboratories for drug testing research ahead of the 1972 Munich Olympics. By the 1983 Pan American Games, he had helped develop a portable laboratory which detected 19 positives and caused a score of athletes to flee the event. At the 1994 Asian Games at Hiroshima, Japan, his laboratory confirmed the presence of a relatively rare anabolic steroid in 11 Chinese athletes. Human athletes were tested at the 1966 European Athletic Championships in Budapest | Getty Images While Donike's lab was getting pretty good at catching drug-abusing athletes, other international laboratories charged with the same objective were struggling to play catch up–a precursor to where horse racing finds itself today. “And that was really the beginning of the impetus to talk about harmonization of the lab results on the human side,” said Dr. Larry Bowers, who sits on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) advisory council, courtesy of a 25-year career in anti-doping. International Standard for Laboratories Bowers initially served as the director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-accredited laboratory at Indiana University. He later became the chief science officer at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Bowers was also instrumental in developing the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) “International Standard for Laboratories,” which first went into effect in 2002. The ISL built off a broad global set of laboratory standards, gearing it specifically towards anti-doping efforts in the human sports world. In terms of Bowers's work for HIWU, this particular entry on his resume has proven valuable indeed. That's because Bowers's efforts to bring performance parity to all international drug testing labs in human sports parallel in many ways HIWU's more contemporary efforts among its contracted laboratories–efforts that have encountered several high profile snags. Over the past year or so, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) suspended accreditation of both the University of Illinois Chicago's (UIC) Analytical Forensic Toxicology Laboratory and the University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (UK-EACL). The former's suspension was due in part to failures in identifying intentionally spiked samples–the latter's reportedly due to a long list of operational and managerial failures under former lab director Scott Stanley. Earlier this year, the RMTC fully revoked its accreditation of the Chicago lab. After an unusually high number of total carbon dioxide (TCO2) cases emerged out of the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory (PETRL), the facility was required to upgrade its TCO2 testing equipment, bringing it up to par with the other labs. Many of those initial cases were ultimately dropped due to the questions marks surrounding the results. Dr. Larry Bowers | Paul Gilham/Getty Images What these issues relay is the story of a sport years behind its human counterparts in bringing all its different drug testing facilities onto the same performance page. Earlier this year, however, HIWU took a major step forward when instituting its new HISA Equine Analytical Laboratory (HEAL) accreditation standard program, which builds off the work of Bowers and others decades ago to ensure different laboratories were finding what they were supposed to, when they're supposed to, how they're supposed to. No easy feat. “The proficiency testing program is really the hard part to implement,” said Bowers. “There's quite a bit of work to do administration studies, then process the samples, divide them up into various and sundry things and get them out. So yes, it's a bit of a challenge,” Bowers added, with no small understatement. Single, Double-Blinds In a single-blind test, a substance has been added to a sample and the lab is required simply to identify it. The single-blind sample is known to the lab (but not of course the substance). In a double-blind test, a substance has been added to a sample that is included among a batch of routine samples, and the labs have no idea which of them is the culprit. “It's supposed to come into the lab as part of the sample flow and treated just like any other sample,” said Bowers. Prior to the implementation of WADA's international laboratory standards, the IOC typically issued just the one single-blind test a year among its stable of global labs, said Bowers, and no double-blinds–hardly the highest bar to clear. “Laboratories have self-interest at heart and they don't want to lose their accreditation. So, if you just send them a single-blind, the day that you send them that sample, they're probably performing the best that they can possibly perform,” said Bowers. “If what you want to know is the best the lab can do [that day], the single-blind is a good assessment,” said Bowers. “If you want to know what the lab does routinely, then a double-blind is a much better assessment of lab performance.” Under Bowers's new set of standards, proficiency tests were significantly ramped up. The issuance of single-blind tests increased from once to typically three times a year. For the first time in human sports testing, international labs were sent double-blind tests. But just as double-blind tests offer a much tougher bar to clear for laboratories, they're just as hard to administer properly. For example, “how do you insert a sample somewhere into the line where they normally get samples from so that they don't realize it's a proficiency testing sample?” said Bowers. Another problem was just what to spike the tests with? Athletes were abusing all manner of new and unusual drugs that regulators didn't always know how to get, how to test, nor understand how they behaved in the human body. “As you know, you put a drug into an animal and it can metabolize into other things,” said Bowers. Part of the problem was that some cheats approached the manufacture of performance enhancing drugs like DIY enthusiasts. BALCO building | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images “Not all the drugs that are being used by people who are doping humans-and I suspect horses as well–come from the pharmaceutical industry. Some of them are made in rogue labs and things like that,” said Bowers. Just take the infamous and widespread doping operation through the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO). “The guy [Victor Conte] that was supplying the drugs to the athletes was actually synthesizing them or making them in his garage,” said Bowers. As such, “It was much more challenging than what I had anticipated when we started in order to get a good set of samples for both single and double-blinds. What happens, however, when a human sports testing lab can't meet its performance goals? It turns out the loss of accreditation isn't confined to horse racing's stable of laboratories. Suspensions Just as Bowers and his team were adapting to the challenges of administering a new quality assurance program, the labs themselves had to adapt to a much more rigorous set of requirements. Easier said than done. “Having a lab is a huge financial investment. And so, you don't want to willy-nilly say, 'You made one little mistake, you're done.' But on the other hand, if you continually make mistakes, we used to say, `We don't want to falsely accuse people,'” said Bowers. “If you do that, that makes people have doubts about the program.” As lab performance standards evolve, however, so must the laboratories themselves. Over just the last decade or so, WADA has issued accreditation suspensions to several laboratories around the world, including ones in Rio de Janeiro, New Dehli and Bloemfontein (in South Africa). As per WADA's press releases, it's not always clear for what the labs were suspended–often for vaguely worded “non-conformities” with international lab standards. But occasionally, more detailed accounts slip out. In 2015, WADA revoked full accreditation of Moscow's laboratory following the exposure of Russia's institutionalized doping program to ensure a medal bonanza during the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics. Sydney Olympics in 2000 | photo by Joe McNally/Getty Images As part of Russia's doping scheme, Russian officials conducted a clandestine nighttime exchange, swapping out through a mouse hole drilled into the lab's wall the tainted urine samples from their athletes and replacing them with clean samples. Despite these serious infractions, the lab was still allowed to perform the necessary processes related to its Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) program because it's “practically impossible for laboratories to interfere with the blood variables of [these] samples,” according to WADA. But then in 2020, WADA suspended the lab again, barring them from performing the ABP tasks as well on account of the “intentional alteration and deletion of laboratory data prior to and during the time it was being forensically copied by WADA,” which was “a serious violation of the Code of Ethics of the ISL.” Interestingly, just as Bowers sought to bring performance uniformity between the labs, he still needed individual facilities to maintain a certain amount of drug testing latitude. “It became clear that we couldn't require labs–at least on the human side–to use the exact same methods because that would give us all exactly the same blind spots and so on,” said Bowers. Which is where the BALCO scandal comes in. BALCO Between the late 1990s and 2003, businessman and former musician Victor Conte funneled to dozens of successful athletes including baseball players (like Barry Bonds), footballers (like Bill Romanowski) and track and field stars (like partners Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones) a new designer anabolic steroid called tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). Conte's confidence and brazenness came from the fact the commonplace testing procedures among the labs made THG highly difficult to detect. “And that's why [Conte] was able to get away with it, knowing this major approach of all the laboratories,” said Bowers. WADA, however, worked with Don Catlin, who was developing a new way to test for THG out of his lab at the University of California, Los Angeles-one that could be replicated across all the labs. “It was only after we switched to this different technology that it became very easy to detect the compound and then the BALCO scandal ensued,” said Bowers, who explained that THG was fairly stable, meaning that it was excreted in the urine in the same form that it was administered. “That made detection a lot easier than having to work through a lot of metabolites and then make those compounds,” said Bowers. “We saved ourselves a few steps there in trying to move things forward, shall we say.” The BALCO scandal, said Bowers, was a learning curve for regulators for many reasons, perhaps none more so than in learning the legal, ethical and practical finer points of trying to unravel a large and far-reaching doping network. “It was a very interesting time. We were trying to be very careful because as you can imagine, we really didn't know who might be involved in the whole thing, other than Conte. It was a whole question of, 'who could you tell?'” said Bowers. Crossover, Human and Equine Sports To some extent, said Bowers, “HIWU has benefitted from the BALCO scandal in trying to figure out where the lines get drawn on investigations, with testing and everything else.” In other ways, “They're working through the same stages that WADA was in 2003 or so,” Bowers added. This includes the establishment of an independent group of lab experts to help oversee the HEAL accreditation process and program. Horse headed to the test barn | Coady Photography Under HEAL, the remaining four labs used by HIWU are now sent a minimum 15 single-blind tests and five double-blind tests. They're also running a sample exchange program “whereby samples that are reported as negative in one laboratory are sent to other laboratories to be re-analyzed,” according to HIWU's latest annual report. Bowers's work with HIWU isn't his first instance of professional overlap with horse racing. “When I first got involved in the lab in Indianapolis, I used to talk with the [British] horse racing lab all the time about steroids and steroid metabolites they were seeing,” said Bowers, who added that Equipoise–otherwise known as boldenone–is an anabolic steroid that made its way from the sport horse world to human athletics. “It's really good to share information across the spectrum,” Bowers added. “And I think that's happening more today than it has in the past.” The post In Lab Variability, Horse Racing Playing Catchup With Human Sports appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

7th-Keeneland, $110,000, Msw, 4-25, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.74, sy, 3/4 length. WILL TO PREPARE (c, 3, Game Winner–Hessie's Girl, by Giant's Causeway), a $185,000 Keeneland September purchase, was dismissed at 21-1 in what looked a fairly hot maiden on paper, including the $800,000 KEESEP grad Il Cavallino (Into Mischief), a half to MSW Botanical (Medaglia d'Oro), and Lifes Reward (Into Mischief), a homebred full-brother to MGISW 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good. The chestnut colt was beaten for speed and dropped out to race near the back of the pack early on, with only the slow-starting, but patiently ridden Lifes Reward behind him. Working his way into the race nicely approaching the stretch, Will To Prepare came five or six wide into the lane and was joined in the final furlong by Lifes Reward, who came with a barnstorming run of his own even wider out. The two may have brushed lightly with a sixteenth of a mile to run, but Will To Prepare managed to hold off the 12-5 second favorite by three-parts of a length. Il Cavallino argued the early fractions while down inside, but weakened to finish sixth at odds of 37-10. A half to Fearless Soldier (City of Light), SP, $288,003, Will To Prepare is related to nine winners from 12 to race, including GISW Bullsbay (Tiznow) and GSW Our Khrysty (Newfoundland), herself the dam of GISW Grace Adler (Curlin) and GSW & MGISP Pyrenees (Into Mischief). Hessie's Girl is represented by the 2-year-old filly Chambersburg (Charlatan) and most recently visited Flightline and Quality Road. Sales history: $185,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $65,643. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-Belladonna Racing LLC, Twin Brook Stables, Griffin Thoroughbred Stables, Woodford Racing LLC, BCWT Ltd & Taylor Creek; B-Farfellow Farms Ltd (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux. #6 WILL TO PREPARE ($44) rallies between horses to win race 7 at @keenelandracing. The son of Game Winner (@LanesEndFarms) was ridden by @Jose93_Ortiz and is trained by @reredevaux. The $350,000 Bewitch Stakes (G3) is up next! Wager here https://t.co/ybo2UACnE6 pic.twitter.com/eiWJWMtKEx — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) April 25, 2025 The post Game Winner Colt Will To Prepare Causes Debut Upset at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

9th-Keeneland, $139,423, Alw (NW3$X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 4-25, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.60, sy, 3 1/4 lengths. UNMATCHED WISDOM (c, 4, Cairo Prince–Glide On By, by Pure Prize) earned his 'TDN Rising Star' tag with a 6 1/4-length win at Aqueduct just over a year ago and stayed undefeated through a win in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga July 19. Off the board however in both the GI Travers Stakes and the GI Pennsylvania Derby, he went to the sidelines for the rest of the year and just resurfaced off the seven-month layoff Friday. Drawn inside as the 4-5 favorite, Unmatched Wisdom was let go on the lead and showed the way alone through fractions of :23.76 and :47.43. Couth (War Front) stayed closest to him into the turn but faded to leave only Will Take It (Tapit) as a challenger down the stretch. Kept to task inside the sixteenth pole, Unmatched Wisdom turned back any potential late challenge to win by ,3 1/4 lengths with Will Take It a further 9 1/4 lengths clear of third. The winner has a 2-year-old half-sister by Classic Empire and a yearling full-brother. Sales History: $25,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $450,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: SW, 6-4-0-0, $310,110. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Estate of Harvey A Clarke, Paul Braverman, Sebastian Murat & Steven (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. #1 UNMATCHED WISDOM ($3.74) goes gate-to-wire to win race 9 at @keenelandracing. The son of Cairo Prince was ridden by Flavien Prat and is trained by Chad Brown. Watch more on @FanDuelTV. pic.twitter.com/gmDFEpunsc — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) April 25, 2025 The post ‘Rising Star’ Unmatched Wisdom Gate To Wire In Return To Races appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced Friday that it has reached an agreement with Woodbine after it conducted an investigation into a rash of equine fatalities in the fall of 2024. Woodbine did not contest the AGCO findings. Between Oct. 28 and Dec. 15, 19 horses sustained injuries while racing and training over Woodbine's synthetic surface. Ten of those horses had to be euthanized. Two horses died on Nov. 9 and the remainder of that day's card was cancelled. The breakdowns were not expected as Woodbine's Tapeta surface had enjoyed a reputation as one of the safest racing surfaces in North America. The AGCO investigation concluded that Woodbine's track maintenance practices were inadequate and inconsistent with manufacture guidelines. The AGCO investigation also concluded that there were substandard grooming practices and irregular surface depth measurements and that Woodbine was using undertrained ad inexperienced personnel. It also discovered that there was an absence of standard maintenance protocols and improperly maintained track equipment. As part of the settlement Woodbine has agreed to adopt some new measures, including independent oversight. They will be required to retain two internationally recognized track safely experts for two years to conduct quarterly safety assessments of the Tapeta surface. They will also form a Track Surfaces Committee to monitor track safety and make recommendations for improvement throughout the racing season. Failure to comply with these measures by Woodbine will result in regulatory measures, including a $200,000 fine. As part of the agreement, Woodbine Entertainment will also make a $200,000 donation to support equine aftercare and welfare in Ontario, with equal contributions to the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society and the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Prior to reaching the agreement with the AGCO, Woodbine had already taken several steps on their own to enhance track safety. The list includes recruitment of a full-time track maintenance specialist and renovation of the track near the five-and-a-half furlong pole to improve consistency and drainage. The AGCO will take measures of its own, including strengthen veterinary oversight, increased scrutiny of horses returning from the vet's list and new guidelines around racing frequency and the use of certain therapeutic treatments. In December, it was announced by Woodbine that horses which raced in the previous 14 days are no longer eligible, nor are those who had an intra-articular fetlock injection, during that same time frame. The post Woodbine and Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Reach Settlement Regarding Track Safety appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With a sweeping move around the final of three turns in the 1 1/2-mile closing day feature, FOREVER AFTER ALL (m, 6, Connect–Julia Tuttle, by Giant's Causeway) took over from a pair of embattled pacesetters and romped home by daylight in the GIII Bewitch Stakes. Facing a scratched-down field over a course listed as yielding, the 9-5 shot, who was last fifth in the GIII The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream, let two horses to her inside show the way for much of the running before making a confident outside bid under Irad Ortiz, Jr. Youknownothing (Candy Ride {Arg}) was home a clear second ahead of Immensitude (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}). O/B-Dixiana Farms LLC; T-Brendan Walsh. Sales History: $290,000 RNA ylg' 20 KEESEP. Forever After All dominates in the G3 Bewitch at Keeneland for trainer @brenpwalsh with @iradortiz aboard! TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/iItMbfmI08 — TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) April 25, 2025 The post Forever After All Romps In The Bewitch, Keeneland’s Closing Day Feature appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jockey Florent Geroux will ride Simply Joking in a race for the first time in the May 3 Kentucky Oaks (G1). He shares what he's learned in the mornings about the filly after she breezed a half-mile in :47 3/5 April 25.View the full article

Trainer Whit Beckman says Flying Mohawk is a dirt horse following a breeze in company with Kentucky Oaks (G1) contender Drexel Hill April 25 at Churchill Downs .View the full article

Opening day at Finger Lakes, a rite of spring in the Finger Lakes region since 1962, is set for April 28. The 64th season of Thoroughbred action at "The Thumb" features 91 racing days through Nov. 26.View the full article

With a suspension from Churchill Downs lifted, trainer Bob Baffert has two chances for a record-breaking seventh win in the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1). The disqualification of Medina Spirit in 2021 for a medication infraction leaves Baffert with six.View the full article

The lightly raced Clever Again (American Pharoah), a sharp, front-running winner of the Hot Springs Stakes going a mile at Oaklawn Mar. 30, is pointing to the GI Preakness Stakes May 17 at Pimlico. Clever Again, a $500,000 Keeneland September Yearling, has won two of three career starts for Winchell Thoroughbreds, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “He's a talented horse,” Asmussen said. “Obviously, the measurements or rulers that we're using, the company that he's kept, which is Tiztastic (Tiz the Law), Publisher (American Pharoah), Magnitude (Not This Time), they've all been good company for a long time, so you're very confident in what level they belong.” The post Asmussen Pointing Clever Again to Preakness appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Devil's Marble (GB) (Territories {Ire}) topped Friday's Auctav April Sale when selling for €50,000 to Haras des Chataigniers. Also consigned by that outfit, the 3-year-old filly is out of Listed Further Flight Stakes heroine Deuce Again (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is also the dam of G1 Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy heroine Golden Ace (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}). Second on the buyers' sheet was Lady Chatterley (Fr) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) (lot 12), who sold for €21,000 to George Baker Racing. Offered by Racing D, the winning 4-year-old filly is a granddaughter of stakes winner Visoriyna (Fr) (Dansili {GB}) and from the same family as crack stayer Vazirabad (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}). Of the 18-horse catalogue, 17 were offered with seven sold for an aggregate of €105,000 (41%). The average was €15,000 and the median was €2,000. The post Territories Filly Tops Auctav April Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

As a fan of horse racing and someone that holds the Hall of Fame in esteem as the highest honor in our sport, I would like to implore the Hall and their Board of Trustees to take a hard look at both the nominating process for applicants to the Hall of Fame, and at the system through which the horses and people are elected. For the past few years, we have had a number of very good nominees on the equine and human side, and to not even know how close or how far they are from being actually put into the Hall of Fame is one mystery that would be nice to know. In the Eclipse Awards, for example, they tell us at the end of the day how many votes each nominee received. In the Hall of Fame, those numbers are not released. Contrast this to the baseball Hall of Fame, where I can tell you how many writers voted, how many votes players needed to get in, how many votes each player received, and which players got so few votes that they will drop off future ballots. The second part that I think requires some review is who is voting for these people and horses to get into the Hall of Fame? We work in a very tight-knit industry. If you go to the website for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, you will see that the voting procedures describer the voting panel as “active and former racing writers, editors, broadcasters, historians, and commentators on the sport of thorough racing.” But even in this relatively small, close industry, I have spoken to a number of very prominent current racing writers who don't have a vote. I know people I consider to be great historians of the game who don't have a vote. I've spoken to people that I respect as commentators who don't have a vote. The people who have a voice in this process should have extreme knowledge of the sport, and maybe they do, but we don't even know who the voters are. We need to improve this process, and make it more transparent. One suggestion I would make for the Trustees to consider is that any living person in the Hall of Fame gets a vote. Let's face it; if you're good enough to make it into the Hall of Fame, you're good enough to get to vote on your contemporaries. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, but for some reason, people are afraid to speak up about it. I implore the Trustees of the Racing Hall of Fame to take a hard look at the system and look for ways to improve it before next year's ballot comes out. The post Letter to the Editor: `Hall’ Needs More Transparency appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Making her first appearance since a midpack fifth to the commonly owned Pounce (Lookin At Lucky) in the GIII Lake George Stakes at Saratoga last July 20, Resolute Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' SWEET REBECCA (f, 4, American Pharoah–Sweet N Discreet, by Discreet Cat) led home a 1-2 finish for her Coolmore-based stallion in a salty allowance on closing day of the Keeneland Spring Meet Friday afternoon. Off at a penny shy of 4-1, the $250,000 Keeneland September yearling was given a positive ride by Flavien Prat and was content to track the pace into and around the second turn. Asked to come after pacesetting She's A Tempest (Connect) in upper stretch, Sweet Rebecca opened a bit of daylight with a good turn of foot and got home a long neck to the good of favored Deep Satin. The latter, last seen winning the Listed Virginia Oaks last Sept. 7, enjoyed the run of the race and slipstreamed the eventual winner down the backstretch. She went on the attack entering the final furlong and was getting there but the wire came a couple of strides too soon. The final time for the one-mile distance over ground rated as yielding was 1:38.58 and the victory took Prat to a meet-leading 19 winners with five races to go. Sales history: $250,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW, 5-3-0-0. O-Resolute Racing; B-Mt Brilliant Farm & Ranch LLC (KY); T-Chad Brown. Flavien Prat takes the lead in the @keeneland spring meet standings with his 19th win aboard SWEET REBECCA ($9.98) in the 5th race over a yielding turf course for trainer Chad Brown and owner @resracingky! pic.twitter.com/ea2wGQwDMn — Equibase (@Equibase) April 25, 2025 The post ‘Rising Star’ Sweet Rebecca Leads Home American Pharoah 1-2 at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The likely lineup of riders for the 2025 Markel Magnolia Cup in support of The King's Trust International's Project Lehar, was announced by Goodwood on Friday. RIXO will design the racing silks carried by 12 women, who will ride on Thursday, July 31, during the Qatar Goodwood Festival. The race will support The King's Trust International's Project Lehar. The initiative operates in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with a focus on empowering adolescent girls through vocational training, skills development and promoting gender equality within their communities. The 15 riders that have a chance of contesting the 5 1/2-furlong race down Goodwood Racecourse's straight are: Charlotte Emery – chief marketing officer at Entain Group (Coral) Christy Cashman – author, writer and actor Elizabeth Hiscox – owner of sustainable fashion brand E.STOTT and part of Hiscox insurance company Jaimee Broadley -pPolice officer Jasmine Watts – construction loss adjuster in the insurance world Kate Hutchins – social media and fashion influencer Lauren Griffiths – Cool Ridings Equestrian member and nurse Lois Logan – up and coming Show jumper Madeleine Bunbury – equine artist, Bunbury Equine Art Matilda Alexander – graduate lawyer based in Melbourne Nina Barbour – managing director at Bolesworth Country Estate Philippa Hartrick-Morris – new mother and HR business partner at Markel International Sabaya Verger – partner at Tedworth Property Sienna Anderson – Riding A Dream Academy graduate Sophie Forsyth – underwriter at Markel International. The above list of 15 will be whittled down to 12 after the British Racing School standard riding and fitness assessments, which are scheduled for May. Goodwood Racecourse director, James Crespi, said, “Every year the inspirational women who take part in the Markel Magnolia Cup become part of our incredible story and it's something we're immensely proud of.” The post 2025 Likely Markel Magnolia Cup Lineup Announced appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners president and founder Aron Wellman confirmed April 25 that Built will enter the May 3 Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) instead of the Kentucky Derby (G1), moving Neoequos into the Derby field.View the full article

Equibase has enhanced the foreign past performance data with internal points of call information and short comments for the expected Japanese runners in the Kentucky Derby (G1). View the full article

Several Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) contenders hit the work tab across Kentucky April 25 for their final breezes ahead of the May 2-3 races, including Grande and Chunk of Gold.View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a bevy of bluebloods at Leicester. 2.35 Leicester, Mdn, £8,000, 3yo/up, 10fT SKIMMER (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is one of a pair of Juddmonte newcomers in this line-up, with Harry Charlton in charge of the half-brother to the G1 St Leger hero Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Joining him is the Andrew Balding-trained Tarriance (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a son of the dual Group 3 winner and dual Grade I runner-up Visit (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), while others of note are Godolphin's Urban Warrior (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and Naval Command (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), half-brothers to the Classic winners Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) respectively, and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Revelio (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a Richard Hannon-trained son of the 1,000 Guineas runner-up Cloak Of Spirits (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). 4.55 Haydock, Novice, £10,000, 3yo, f, 7f 212yT BINTALINA (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) debuts for Salhia Stud, with the 500,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase being a half-sister to the G1 St James's Palace Stakes hero Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) and a full-sister to the G3 Criterion Stakes winner Noble Dynasty (GB). Roger Varian introduces the Salhia Stud colour-bearer, whose rivals include Shadwell's fellow newcomer Althawaqeb (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), a Kevin Philippart De Foy trainee who was another big player at October Book 1 at 400,000gns. The post Kingman Half To Logician Debuts At Leicester appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

2nd-Keeneland, $84,357, Msw, 4-25, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f (off turf), :52.62, sy, 5 lengths. STORM CLOUD RISING (f, 2, Runhappy–Demigoddess {SP, $150,840}, by First Dude), already experienced over a muddy track when third in her debut over course and distance Apr. 11, was meant for the turf here but took plenty of money as the race got rained off onto the main track. Down to 3-1 from her 20-1 morning line as a result, the outside draw flashed early speed and was intent on the lead, dueling early with first-time starter Mother of Pearl (Tom's d'Etat) through the opening quarter in :22.75. Kept just off the rail into the stretch, she splashed home a clear winner, coming in five lengths ahead of a closing Diva Calling (Dialed In). Demigoddess, who has already produced this runner's full-brother in Prince of Power, SP, $176,513 and another winning full-sibling in She's Jersey Tuff, has a yearling colt by Vekoma and was barren back to that same stallion this season. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $61,560. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O/B-Bryan M. Carney (KY); T-Jesus Esquivel. (12) Storm Cloud Rising powers down the stretch in race 2! (10) Diva Calling follows in second and (7) Mother of Pearl takes third. pic.twitter.com/Mp2b4ZtHcW — Keeneland Racing (@keenelandracing) April 25, 2025 The post Aptly-Named Storm Cloud Rising Splashes Home A Winner At Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The nominations for the 2025 Canadian Triple Crown, consisting of The King's Plate, Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes, were released by Woodbine Entertainment Friday. A total of 88 3-year-olds, all foaled in Canada, have been nominated to this year's Canadian Triple Crown. The 166th running of The King's Plate will launch the Canadian Triple Crown Saturday, Aug. 16 at Woodbine Racetrack. The Prince of Wales, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9 at Fort Erie Race Track, and the Breeders' Stakes, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 28 at Woodbine, complete the Triple Crown. The Canadian Triple Crown is contested over three different racing surfaces, all-weather (The King's Plate), dirt (Prince of Wales) and turf (Breeders' Stakes). To view the list of nominees to the 2025 Canadian Triple Crown, click here. The nominations for the 70th running of the Woodbine Oaks have also been released. A total of 65 3-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada, have been nominated to the Woodbine Oaks. This year's Woodbine Oaks will be run on Sunday, July 20. To view the list of nominees to this year's Woodbine Oaks, click here. The post Canadian Triple Crown Attracts 88 Nominations appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

No G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner has ever won the G1 FWD QEII Cup over 2000 metres at Sha Tin, but on Sunday, Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) will attempt to become the first. And with the absence of three-time QEII Cup hero Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), there is no better time to try. Co-owned by Resolute Racing's John Stewart, the likeable Goliath was a 2 1/4-length victor over subsequent G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}) at Ascot in July. Given some time on the sidelines, he returned to take the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris by a half-length on October 20, and ran with credit to take sixth in the G1 Japan Cup in November. The QEII Cup has been pencilled in on Goliath's dance card for some time, and trainer Francis-Henri Graffard is confident his charge will be ready to go from stall nine with Christophe Soumillon booked to ride. “It was the plan to drop him back in distance here for the beginning of the season,” said Graffard. “Obviously we will be seeing him step up in trip again, but we thought we'd try and get a good pace. When he has pace, he's a very impressive horse. When things go his way during a race, as everybody saw in the King George, he's an amazing horse.” On the competition, he added, “It sounds like everywhere we go in the world now the main opposition is Japanese horses. They are an unbelievable breed and fantastic horses, but I have a lot of belief in my horse and I know when he's at his best and things go his way he's a very, very good horse.” The aforementioned Japanese contingent is loaded with talent, and a trio will take part in the QEII Cup. Two-time runner-up (2023/24) Prognosis (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is back for more from stall six. Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) and 2023 G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Tastiera (Jpn) (Satono Crown {Jpn}), second and third in the G1 Hong Kong Cup, have also returned with purpose to Hong Kong. Tastiera is the mount of Joao Moreira, who told the South China Morning Post, “I saw Tastiera this morning and he looked stunning and shining. On my pick, I think he will be the horse to beat, but racing is racing and you never know what is going to happen.” Group winner Ensued (Lemon Drop Kid) leaves from stall four under Brenton Avdulla for John Size. The 5-year-old gelding was second in the G1 Hong Kong Gold Cup over this course and distance in February, and is looking to rebound after an eighth in the G2 Chairman's Trophy behind Straight Arron (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in March. The race also features four-time New Zealand Group 1 winner El Vencedor (NZ) (Shocking {Aus}) from the rail. Another Historic First For Gai? If Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) wins the G1 FWD Champions Mile, his co-trainer, the First Lady of Australian Racing herself, Gai Waterhouse, would break new ground as the first woman to train a winner in Hong Kong. Waterhouse, who trains with Adrian Bott, has not sent a runner overseas for a decade–excepting New Zealand–and made several earlier forays to Hong Kong without hitting pay dirt. A winner of the G1 Canterbury Stakes in March, the former British-trained runner ran fourth in the G1 George Ryder Stakes later that month. He was only a short head behind Stefi Magnetica (Aus) (All Too Hard {Aus}) in the G1 Doncaster Mile on April 5 and appears to hold the strongest hand among overseas chances. He will be ridden by Tim Clark from stall three. “I think we're coming off the back of the right races and no doubt bring the right form, we've got the right horse,” Bott told RSN on Thursday. “If he can produce that [form] here, that'll see him being very competitive.” The 6-year-old entire faces a stiff test, from both the Hong Kong locals and other foreign raiders. Nine-time Group 1 winner Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullsbars {Aus}) has flown in from Australia as well, and was second last out in the G1 All-Star Mile in March. Only beaten once this season is local hope Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}), who has taken four races on the bounce, his last three at the highest level with victories in the Hong Kong Mile, Stewards' Cup, and the Gold Cup. Beauty Eternal (Aus) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) got the better of Red Lion (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) in the 2024 Champions Mile, and they will leave from gates five and 12, respectively. 'Rising' A Fait Accompli In Sprint Prize? He's the world's highest rated sprinter, and the fourth highest-rated horse in the world this year. Hail Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}), who is riding an 11-race winning streak into the G1 FWD Chairman's Sprint Prize over 1200 metres at Sha Tin on Sunday. One of 13 in the race, the David Hayes-trained sprinter was last seen taking the G2 Sprint Cup over this course and distance with Helios Express (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) second on March 30. Regular rider Zac Purton will be aboard and the duo will leave from stall four. “He is a pleasure to do anything with and if you could order a horse, you would order him,” Purton said. “He has got the best attitude, he goes home and he eats and he recovers and he does everything you want. A big teddy bear. He is eager to get out and do his work. He is excited to do that and once he gets out there, he drops his head, cruises around and does everything right.” Also part of the local brigade is the multiple Group 1 winner Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {NZ}), who will be making his 2024/25 seasonal bow after taking the Sprint Cup in early April of 2024, with Invincible Sage (Aus) (Thronum {Aus}) filling the runner-up spot. He won the Chairman's Sprint Prize in 2023. Japan holds a four-strong hand in this race, with the strongest contender on ratings at least, Satono Reve (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}). Successful in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over the Chairman's Sprint Prize distance at Chukyo on March 30, the 6-year-old will attempt to follow in his sire's footsteps and add a Hong Kong Group 1 to his collection. Lord Kanaloa was a two-time winner of the Hong Kong Sprint in 2012 and 2013. He leaves from gate six under Joao Moreira, a former multiple champion jockey in Hong Kong. Last year's G1 Sprinters Stakes hero Lugal (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), and group winner and G1 Al Quoz Sprint fourth Danon McKinley (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) are also set to line up. The latter was out for a spin on Wednesday, clocking :21.4 over 400m on grass. Stable representative Kazuo Fujiwara said, “He had a great grip on the turf and moved exceptionally well. Everything is going smoothly.” The post Goliath Takes On Japan In QEII Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article