Wandering Eyes

More racing days, Bowie's rebirth as a "world-class training facility," and a Breeders' Cup at Laurel Park, perhaps in 2022. Those all could be part of the racing future in Maryland, the Maryland Senate Budget Committee heard Jan. 23. View the full article

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has canceled live racing Jan. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack due to high winds forecast to impact the New York City area throughout the day. View the full article

With the commercial breeding sector being so selective and polarised at present, now more than ever Thoroughbred breeders have to take great care with their matings. With buyers less willing to take unnecessary risks, the formerly popular focus on unproven sires is seeming to thaw, with the pendulum swinging back in favour of more proven stallions. Of course, the traditional issue for breeders that are involved at the lower end of the market is that “proven and affordable” tends to translate into “unfashionable” when it comes to selling the offspring of such sires. However, there is a sweet spot to be found in this segment of the market. They don’t work out every time, but focusing on stallions that showed enough promise with their early crops to attract increased support from breeders, thus having scope to improve their value and appeal when those stronger crops hit the track, can be a strategy that bears great reward for breeders. The ultimate example of a sire with this profile of progression is Kodiac (GB). Having stood for €5,000 or less in his first four seasons, the promise of his first couple of crops saw him attract a much higher quantity and quality of mares, with his fee rising to between €6,500 and €7,500 in his next three seasons. When those bigger and better crops hit the track, he really began to fly, with many of those that had sent mares to him in those fifth, sixth and seventh years reaping great rewards. The story has only continued to get better since then, with his fee having risen relentlessly to its current level of €65,000. It goes without saying that Kodiac is an exceptional example of just how well taking a chance on a young sire with the potential to progress in the years ahead can work out, and there have been plenty of other relevant examples. Indeed, back in 2015 when I first started writing for this publication I put forward two sires with similar profiles in Dandy Man (Ire) and Camacho (GB). While neither have taken off quite as dramatically as Kodiac, in the three years that have followed both subsequently sired Group 1 winners and have seen their nomination fees rise, with Dandy Man now standing at €12,500 from €8,000 in 2016 and Camacho now standing at €12,000 from €7,500 in 2016. So, enough of what has come before: who is the next young sire that could potentially come alive in the coming years? There were a couple of candidates on the short list, but the one that stands out from the rest is Elzaam (Aus) (Ballyhane Stud). A son of the leading Australian stallion Redoute’s Choice, he was bought for €280,000 as a yearling by Shadwell and was trained by Mick Jarvis and later Roger Varian. Beaten a nose in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot on just his second start, as a 3-year-old he won a listed race at Newbury by six lengths and finished close up behind the leaders in the G1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot and the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup. Having retired to Ballyhane Stud at a fee of €4,000 in 2013, he attracted enough mares in his first year to produce 73 live foals. A quieter second season followed that resulted in just 39 live foals, but after a few of his first foals sold notably well, he had an upturn in his third season that resulted in 58 live foals. It was when those first crops started hitting the track that people really began to take notice of him. For the sake of comparison, we run Kodiac’s numbers from the same stage of his career. As can be seen, Elzaam is slightly ahead of Kodiac’s equivalent curve at this stage of his career despite having a lower nomination fee in each of their first five years at stud. It must also be said that as well as Elzaam’s numbers read, he has arguably been slightly unlucky in that a number of his most talented offspring such as London Icon (Ire), King Electric (Ire) and Vincy (Ire) have been sold to race in Hong Kong. As well as that, his most promising 2-year-old from last year, Playa Del Puente (Ire), has already been sold to Hong Kong-based connections and is likely to be shipped out there in the coming months. Of course, there is nothing wrong with racing in Hong Kong, but purely from the point of view of advancing Elzaam’s reputation in this part of the world, he would have been better served by those horses staying put and winning big races domestically. That those horses were exported just as they were delivering on their promise has perhaps contributed to less appreciation for Elzaam’s achievements by the wider market as of yet, but the numbers don’t lie. Thus, the case for Elzaam is a very clear one. His first three crops have statistically fared very well indeed given the lowly standard of mare he would have received at the very bottom of the nomination fee ladder. Since those initial crops have hit the track, Elzaam has received significantly bigger and higher-quality crops of mares. He has 98 2-year-olds to run for him this year, at least 112 yearlings on the ground and he covered 115 mares in 2018. Those that send mares to him this year will be selling the resulting yearlings in 2021, by which point all three of those big crops will have raced for at least a season. Thus, he will have great numerical opportunities to advance his standing by the time the 2021 yearling sales come around. Elzaam stands for just €4,000 in 2019. That appeals as being the stand-out piece of value amongst affordable stallions anywhere in Great Britain or Ireland. View the full article

SF Bloodstock has been prominent at the top of the racing and breeding games in the U.S. as well as Europe and Australia, and the organization’s Tom Ryan revealed to TDN that SF will heavily support European stallions Almanzor (Fr) and Lope de Vega (Ire), in which they are shareholders, in 2019. Almanzor, the European champion 3-year-old of 2016 and winner of the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 British Champions S., stands his second season at Haras d’Etreham this year for €35,000. The horse returned last month from a shuttle trip to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. “We have some new mares for Almanzor in 2019,” said Ryan. “We have two well-bred maidens by War Front and Redoute’s Choice, as well as French stakes winner and Group 1-placed Danza Cavallo (Fr) (Sunday Break {Jpn}), stakes winner Nicky’s Brown Miss (Big Brown) and graded stakes producer Biswa (Kafwain). “Speaking with [Haras d’Etreham’s] Nicolas de Chambure, the demand is strong and should continue to grow as his first foals hit the ground. In speaking with Henry Plumptre from Cambridge Stud last week, it was very pleasing to hear how well he was supported in New Zealand during his first trip south. It’s a testament to his physical and race record.” While plenty of anticipation remains about what Almanzor’s stud career will blossom into, no such speculation is required for Lope de Vega. The Ballylinch Stud resident’s profile continues to grow, and last year he provided the likes of GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Newspaperofrecord (Ire), G3 Acomb S. scorer Phoenix of Spain (Ire), G3 Prestige S. winner Antonia de Vega (Ire) and Australian Group 1 winners Santa Ana Lane (Aus) and Vega Magic (Aus). He stands for €80,000 in 2019. “Lope De Vega stepped into a new stratosphere in 2018,” said Ryan. “Newspaperofrecord’s dominating performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf was just further confirmation that he’s the complete package. “We will send Celestial Woods (Forestry), herself the dam of two millionaires including Bobby’s Kitten. Her Kitten’s Joy 2-year-old sold last October as a yearling for 700,000gns at Tattersalls. “Black Dahlia will visit Lope de Vega again; she’s the dam of G2 Vintage S. winner Dark Vision (Ire) and a stunning €900,000 Lope de Vega 2-year-old sold last August at Arqana. Amongst others we will send Eversmile (Theatrical {Ire}), the dam of Grade I winners Coil (Point Given) and Chiropractor (Kitten’s Joy); Glittering Tax (Artax), the dam of Grade I winner Miss Temple City (Temple City), along with Shelbysmile (Smart Strike), a stakes-winning Smart Strike mare currently in foal to Medaglia d’Oro. Rounding out the group will be Star Of Bristol, a Speightstown half-sister to Mastercraftsman (Ire). Several of these mares are currently in foal to Almanzor, so we have plenty to look forward to.” View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost. Douglas Whyte will retire to become a trainer, congratulations and good luck – @Faydherberider On the face of it, this is a terrific decision for all involved – the Jockey Club gets a big-name expatriate trainer and the Durban Demon secures his future in his adopted home doing what he loves. He ticks all the boxes – he is an astute horseman, a hard... View the full article

13:45 Southwell We don’t have to wait long to see our bet of the day line up in the stalls at Southwell. The second contest on the card sees a group of lightly raced novices aim to show their worth and it’s going to take a hell of a lot for Hanati not to make […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 24th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Jimmy Ting Koon-ho has been a revelation in his first season as a trainer but until now he’s been working largely with horses that are hand-me-downs, however that is all changing for the 45-year-old. Until now only four of Ting’s horses were under his care when they had their first Hong Kong run, with Kasi Farasi the first of those to produce a victory at Sha Tin last weekend. The other 23 of Ting’s 24 winners – which have him sitting fifth in the trainers’... View the full article

Hong Kong superstar Beauty Generation sits alongside champion Australian mare Winx as the world’s best miler after the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings were announced in London on Wednesday night. John Moore’s six-year-old was given a mark of 127 for his stunning victory in December’s Hong Kong Mile, matching the rating given to Winx after her performance in the Group One Chipping Norton Stakes (1,600m). That number means Beauty Generation is ranked as the equal... View the full article

Fortune Bowl runner Lim's Magic sparkles at barrier trials View the full article

The long and short of it: JP Van der Merwe, a name to note down View the full article

Early scratching January 25 View the full article

Five stakes at mile or less help bolster the Pegasus World Cup Invitational program. One to watch early, race 3 sees Stormy Liberal and World of Trouble meet again going five panels at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

The NTRA announced Jan. 23 that Justify's dominant victory in the Belmont Stakes (G1) to become just the 13th Triple Crown winner has been voted the 2018 NTRA Moment of the Year based on results of 2,260 votes cast via Twitter and an online poll. View the full article

Five stakes at mile or less help bolster the Pegasus World Cup Invitational program. One to watch is early—race 3—as Stormy Liberal and World of Trouble, 1-2 in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), meet again going five panels at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA–a selection of the best-bred South African yearlings were assembled in the Convention Centre near Cape Town’s waterfront on Wednesday for the single-session Cape Premier Yearling Sale, and 217 yearlings came under the hammer with trade proving more steady than spectacular. Last year, a Frankel (GB) colt came out top when selling for R4-million ($289,205/£221,401/€254,049) and that figure was again the highest price achieved this time around when Anthony Stroud signed for a daughter of the late Captain Al (SAf) from Klawervlei Stud. At last year’s sale, 28 horses sold for R1-million or more but that number dropped to 17 on Wednesday, and that fact no doubt contributed to the 26% drop in turnover to R82,110,000 ($5,937,026/£4,544,930/€5,215,079). Overall, 191 of the 217 offered yearlings changed hands resulting in a clearance rate of 88%, down from the 2018 equivalent of 93%. The average dropped by 14% to R429,895 ($31,083/£23,795/€27,304), but the median of R300,000 ($21,691/£16,605/€19,053) was unchanged. Wehann Smith, chief executive officer of Cape Thoroughbred Sales, was keen to take the positives from proceedings while still acknowledging certain difficulties in the market. “There was such a positive vibe before the sale that perhaps our expectations were slightly high,” he said. “Taking everything into account, it was still a good sale; the standout horses made good money and there was a very diverse buying bench, particularly with regard to international buyers. The dream and concept of this sale is that it acts as the showcase for South African bloodstock and I think we are still on the right track with that. The majority of breeders seem fairly happy and that is a good sign and suggests the middle market is quite healthy, so that is a positive. I think the single session worked well. We will take a while to digest it but there seemed to be good momentum until the end.” The sale topper was offered as lot 192 and had the physique to match her world-class pedigree. Her dam Pagan Princess (SAf) (Fort Wood) has already bred two Group 1 winners from four runners who have all won. Her two standout performers are this filly’s full-brother William Longsword (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}), winner of the G1 Cape Guineas, and the G1 South African Fillies Sprint winner Real Princess (SAf) (Trippi). “She was bought for a longstanding client who has links to South Africa,” revealed Stroud. “She is a very nice filly and is going to the Snaiths to be trained. It’s great to be here and to be involved with the sale; CTS do a fantastic job and if they could just get the export situation sorted the whole thing would take off.” Stroud later contributed another R2-million to the aggregate when he bought lot 182. The colt by Var was offered by Maine Chance Farms and is a full-brother to the G1 South African Fillies Sprint winner Sommerlied (SAf) (Var). Amanda Skiffington always makes her trips to Cape Town worthwhile and in the space of 11 lots the agent struck for three yearlings headed by lot 49, a colt from the last crop of Captain Al (SAf). Skiffington was pushed to R2.2-million for the Ridgemont Highlands consignee who is the second produce of the winning Galileo (Ire) mare Exotic (Ire), who scored on debut for Aidan O’Brien at Galway in 2013. “I knew he wouldn’t come cheap because they are not making them anymore, but he’s a lovely horse,” said Skiffington, who was acting on behalf of Fiona Carmichael. Having signed for lot 56, a colt by Flower Alley for R275,000, Skiffington then engaged in a bidding skirmish with Peter Doyle as the pair traded blows for lot 60, a son of Global View. Skiffington eventually won the battle for the Klawervlei Stud-offered colt for R1.3-million. His sire, an American graded stakes winning son of Galileo (Ire), is represented by his first crop of yearlings. “I’m very happy as the three we bought were our first, second and third picks of the day. I saw the Global View colt last week at Klawervei Stud and I thought Fiona would really like him. He is a lovely horse, quite flashy with a lot of presence and all three yearlings will go to Brett Crawford,” Skiffington said. Later in the session Skiffington added a fourth yearling to her haul when she signed for lot 94, a colt by Soft Falling Rain (SAf) that cost R800,000. Drakenstein Stud’s filly (lot 183) by its resident stallion Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) is the first produce out of the minor winner Song Of Happiness (SAf) (Giant’s Causeway), but her physique and presence saw her come out the second-highest priced yearling of the day when she was knocked down to Nick Jonsson for R3.2-million. Jonsson is part owner of G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner Do It Again (SAf) (Twice Over {GB}), who is favourite to make it a Group 1 treble in The Sun Met on Saturday, and he commented, “She cost more than I expected but she is lovely and walks like a dream. She comes from a fantastic farm that breeds great horses and I think it is inevitable that Duke Of Marmalade will get a good horse in South Africa.” Jehan Malherbe of Form Bloodstock made his presence felt when successfully bidding R2-million for lot 152, an imposing daughter of G1 Prix de l’Abbaye winner Var. Offered by Avontuur Farm the filly is out of the prolific winner River Jetez (SAf) (Jet Master {SAf}), whose 12 wins included the 2010 running of The Met. As a broodmare she has produced the high- class stakes winner Rivarine (SAf) (Var), and Malherbe was delighted to acquire the relation to a former South African Horse of the Year in Pocket Power (SAf) (Jet Master {SAf}). “She is a lovely filly, she is a sister to a top horse and the dam was a champion; what’s not to like?” He said. The filly will go into training with Dean Kannemeyer and having signed for a number of lots throughout the day Malherbe was in a good position to give his opinion on the state of trade. “There is plenty of money out there for the good horses–it’s not quite as straightforward for the less popular ones but that is generally the case everywhere these days,” he said. For Pippa Mickleburgh, the manager of Avontuur Stud, the sale of lot 152 was a bittersweet moment. “It’s a bit of a shame that a farm has to part with a filly of that calibre but I guess we can’t keep them all. I actually thought she might make a little bit more but it was a fair price and she is going to a good trainer in Dean Kannemeyer,” Mickleburgh said. The first yearling to break the seven-figure mark was a daughter of Uncle Mo that sold to Linda Shanahan and Deryn Pearson for R1.5-million. Lot 23 was offered by Klawervlei Stud out of the Smart Strike mare Care To Dance. Another Coolmore stallion whose progeny were popular was Camelot (GB), and it took John Freeman’s bid of R1.6-million to land lot 46, a filly out of the well-related Fastnet Rock (Aus) mare Egyptian Sky (Ire). Grant Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock was instrumental in selecting the stock for the catalogue, and he bought one of the two Frankels on offer: lot 100, a chestnut filly from Klawervlei Stud, who was hammered down for R1-million. “I travelled around all the farms in September viewing their yearlings and it was a fascinating experience to meet all the breeders and I was most impressed with how they do things,” Pritchard-Gordon said. “It was also interesting to see how all the yearlings have developed in the meantime. The Frankel filly in particular has done very well since I first saw her and I was delighted to get her. She will stay here to be trained.” Peter Doyle and his wife Anna are also perennial visitors to Cape Town at this time of year and Doyle’s spending on Wednesday was headed by lot 123, a colt by Futura (SAf) that cost R1.2-million and was bought in conjunction with Diane Nagle. Another returning customer was Yorkshire native Chris Hirst, who is based in Thailand but has horses in training in England with Archie Watson and also in South Africa. Aided by John Kilbride, Hirst acquired two yearlings to add to his South African string. The pair got off the mark early when buying lot 2, a filly by Oratorio (Ire) for R350,000 and later on they added lot 90, a colt by Time Thief (Aus) that cost R225,000. View the full article

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued an additional 52 entries for its 2019 Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale supplemental catalogue. Those entries, catalogued as hips 477-528, may now be viewed online. They include stakes winners True Royalty (Yes It’s True), Frost Wise (Frost Giant), Spring Tempest (Spring At Last) and Way to Versailles (Tizway). The Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale will be held Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 4-5, in Lexington, Kentucky. The Supplemental Catalogue will be offered Tuesday, Feb. 5, following the conclusion of the main catalogue. Print versions of the supplemental catalogue will be available on-site at Fasig-Tipton. The supplemental catalogue is also available via the equineline sales catalogue app. View the full article

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL.–Though the temperatures were in the low 70s, it was a cloudy, blustery morning at Gulfstream Park with winds gusting between 20 and 30mph as Pegasus World Cup week began to rev up. Morning-line favorite Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky) arrived in Florida Tuesday evening and apparently was not jet-lagged after his trip from California, hitting the track early under the cover of darkness. In traditional D. Wayne Lukas fashion, MGISP Bravazo (Awesome Again) also put in his morning exercise before dawn. Also on the scene early was GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile hero City of Light (Quality Road). As the sun began to shine through, pushing away the clouds, around 7:45a.m., just after the renovation break, the Japanese runner Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune) caught the eye as she jogged the wrong way towards the gate. While the striking gray schooled in the gates, one of her inaugural GI Pegasus World Cup Turf S. competitors Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who will represent the powerhouse duo of Coolmore and Aidan O’Brien, passed by at an easy gallop. “It was [Aerolithe’s] first time with a gate boy, but we think it would be advantageous for her to have one, so she gets a nice clean start. If she gets one, she will have every chance in the world,” said Kate Hunter, Pegasus World Cup field representative and translator for the Japan Racing Association. After completing her gate schooling without incident, Aerolithe returned to the track, jogging the right direction through the stretch before picking up the tempo on the backside. With trainer Takanari Kikuzawa in the irons, the stunning dappled gray breezed an easy four furlongs in :51.15 (15/19) into a very strong headwind, finishing up well and with ears pricked (video). “Typically in Japan, we do breezes on Wednesday,” Hunter explained. “We gave her some rest and relaxation when she got here, so it was always the plan to breeze her on Wednesday. She has been going really well over the dirt so far. Her trainer commented about the horses going every which way, with everyone making their own decisions. That is not how they do it in Japan. It is a little bit more controlled there, so her trainer had to get used to that going out there in the mornings.” Several other contenders for both Pegasus races took their time getting to the track, putting in their morning gallops after the next renovation break around 9:30a.m., including Mexican sensation Kukulkan (Mex) (Point Determined) and Stronach Pegasus runner Something Awesome (Awesome Again). Also on track during that time slot was striking GI Shadwell Turf Mile winner Next Shares (Archarcharch), who successfully stretched out in the nine-panel GII San Gabriel S. and looks to repeat in the Pegasus Turf. The rest of the contenders for both Pegasus races based at training facilities around the Sunshine State made their way into Gulfstream after training hours concluded Wednesday in compliance with the 72-hour policy. Among them were GI Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Gunnevera (Dialed In) and last term’s GI Florida Derby hero Audible (Into Mischief), who also schooled in the paddock before the fourth race with stablemate and GIII Fred Hooper S. contender Copper Town (Speightstown). View the full article

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL.–The new $7 million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf S. has attracted a diverse international array of runners and Japanese invader Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune) may be one of the most intriguing of the group as a relatively unknown commodity on these shores. A three-time group stakes winner in Japan, including the 2017 G1 NHK Mile, the 5-year-old mare has never raced outside her native land. Aerolithe’s journey took a total of 21 hours and 25 minutes, traveling from Tokyo to South Korea to Anchorage to Miami. When asked how the mare handled the long ship and her new surroundings at Gulfstream, Kate Hunter, Pegasus World Cup field representative and translator for the Japan Racing Association, said. “Absolutely fabulous! She has never traveled this far. She has never traveled internationally, so we weren’t sure how she was going to handle it, but she was a natural.” Owner Sunday Racing Co. and trainer Takanori Kikuzawa had originally intended to run Aerolithe in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile Nov. 3, but travel issues derailed those plans. “The connections had been targeting the Breeder’s Cup Mile and once [The Stronach Group] announced the fact they were going to have this [Pegasus Turf race], they were actually thinking about racing her in both,” Hunter said. “Then airplane trouble happened and they weren’t able to get her to the Breeders’ Cup, but they kept this in mind. We were able to get the airplane sorted this time.” In her previous races in Japan, Aerolithe has run both clockwise and counter-clockwise, but her team feels counter-clockwise is her preferred direction, making her well-suited for American racing. “She really likes to run counter-clockwise,” Hunter said. “If you look at her last race, running clockwise, she finished 12th [in the G1 Mile Championships Nov. 18], but was only three lengths behind the winner. She prefers going the other way around, so she should really fit into American racing and she has really good speed. She could probably run on the dirt if we let her.” Aerolithe is one of just three fillies in the 10-horse field, but she has faced and defeated males before on many occasions, most recently when capturing the G2 Mainichi Okan S. in October. She also finished just a neck behind the highly regarded Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Yasuda Kinen S. in June. “Males are no problem,” Hunter said. “She has beat them in Group 1 races before and lost to them by heads in major races in Japan. We are not worried about her speed or her ability at all.” Aerolithe’s trainer Takanori Kikuzawa has been aboard the striking gray in the mornings since she was released from quarantine, but jockey Florent Geroux, who piloted last year’s GI Pegasus World Cup victor Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}), will take over for Saturday’s race. “There is a guy named Nobutaka Tada in Japan, who has been working in American racing for quite a while, and he knew [Florent Geroux’s] agent, so he set it up,” Hunter said. “We were looking for someone who could ride at around 112 pounds since Aerolithe is not on Lasix and is a filly, so she gets quite the [weight] allowance.” Given her track record in Japan, if Aerolithe travels over the Gulfstream turf course as well as she did on the main track in her half-mile breeze in :51.15 Wednesday morning, she will be a force to be reckoned with Saturday. View the full article

Four stakes at mile or less help bolster the Pegasus World Cup Invitational program. One to watch is early—race 3—as Stormy Liberal and World of Trouble, one-two in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) meet again going five panels at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

The six-month 2019 Diploma in Stud Practice and Management at the Irish National Stud Course began on Jan. 15. Thirty students from 12 different countries are taking part in the 22-week course which lasts until the end of June and aims to educate young people for a career in the Thoroughbred industry. The course combines practical stud work with an evening lecture program and it is enhanced by achieving accredited Level 3 Thoroughbred qualifications while attending a significant number of seminars and practical workshops featuring industry experts. “The practical opportunities and access to industry figures the Diploma students get during the course is, I believe, equivalent to about three years work in normal circumstances,” said Irish National Stud Director Tim Lane. “For those making the move to Thoroughbred work from other disciplines, this is really fundamental and it helps spring board their careers in the industry.” “The graduates from the Diploma and the TBA’s E2SE courses are such an important element for the National Stud to be involved with. Without quality stud staff, none of us are going to be able to see a sustainable future for the breeding industry,” said the Irish National Stud Chairman the Duke of Roxburghe. “We are very privileged and excited that the 2019 students will be the first cohort to partake in the Diploma course under the patronage of the Duchess of Cornwall.” View the full article

Justify (Scat Daddy)’s Triple Crown-clinching victory in the GI Belmont S. has been voted the 2018 NTRA Moment of the Year, based on the results of 2,260 votes cast via Twitter and an online poll, the NTRA announced Wednesday. The connections of Justify will be honored at Thursday evening’s 48th Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group at Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla. NTRA Moment of the Year voters chose from 12 occurrences illustrating a range of human emotions as well as outstanding displays of equine athleticism. Finishing second was Diversify (Bellamy Road)’s victory in the GI Whitney S. last August, his final win before the passing of his trainer Rick Violette, Jr. View the full article

There could be no splitting the Thoroughbred stars from either side of the equator as the 2018 Longines World’s Best Racehorse award was shared between Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}). The former has appeared in the classifications drawn from a gathering of international handicappers since 2015 and has been the highest-rated filly and mare on the planet for the last three years. Chris Waller’s Australian icon was placed second behind Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) 12 months ago when rated 133, and this year she was tied on 130, the same mark as Cracksman achieved when joint-third in 2017. She took her winning streak to 29 after her record-breaking fourth success in the G1 Cox Plate S, but earned her highest rating of the year in the G1 Longines Queen Elizabeth S. at Randwick back in April. Cracksman won three times at the top level during a lighter European campaign and achieved the mark when he rounded off his career with an emphatic second consecutive success in the G1 Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot. Last year represented something of a dip by recent standards, with both dual winner Arrogate and predecessor American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) achieving a rating of 134. The last time there had been a tie was when Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}) shared a peak of 130 back in 2013. John Sadler’s Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), who still has the chance to figure in the shake-up for 2019 when he runs for what is likely to be the final time in Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup Invitational, was placed third on 128 and hence the highest-rated dirt horse. The G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic S. hero hit that mark in the G1 Pacific Classic S. last April. Last year’s Pegasus winner, the now-retired Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}), tied for fourth on 127 alongside Hong Kong-based leviathan Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road To Rock {Aus}) and Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), the highest-rated 3-year-old now retired to Tweenhills Stud after securing four straight Group 1s. John Gosden, the trainer of Cracksman and Roaring Lion, managed to send out three of the planet’s top 10 from his Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket. His glittering dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe S. winner Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) placing joint-eighth on 125 alongside the Triple Crown victor Justify (Scat Daddy) and Sir Michael Stoute’s ultra-consistent Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Another “special” moment for Winx It was clear that the accolade meant a great deal to all those closely involved with Winx, given that they jetted in from a balmy Australian summer to a chilly British winter. Waller plus a handful of her syndicate of owners from the Tighe, Kepitis and Treweeke families were all at the event hosted at Marylebone’s Landmark Hotel by Longines and its long-time partner the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). “Just being on the stage with a horse like her, as a trainer it’s probably the pinnacle,” said Waller. “It’s a great way to recognise racing around the world with 25 or so handicappers putting their say forward, because in racing everybody’s got an opinion and it’s hard to get all the right horses in the right field on the same day. It’s a bit different to a World Cup in soccer or the Olympics with running. People can come together but for horses it isn’t easy, so it’s a very rewarding achievement. “Winx has become a special horse every time she goes to the races. In particular since she broke the world record for the amount of Group 1 wins. It’s one record after another, she’s up to 22 Group 1s, 29 in a row, there have been track records and winning certain races a number of times. She has changed all of our lives.” There was never likely to be any exclusive news as far as her future was concerned. The owners steadfastly defer to Waller in terms of decisions, and the trainer is pro-active in terms of releasing information about plans via his own channels. As we stand, the 7-year-old has already returned in a barrier trial ahead of an intended first start back in the G2 Apollo S. at Randwick on February 16. A European finale, or some kind of dream match race with Enable now look pie-in-the-sky. The charming Debbie Kepitis, who has already appeared in the British media this week, suspects she could have roughly four more runs and has said that decisions about possible breeding plans will have to be made some time in March or April. “We’ve been here three years in a row, we’ve been third and then second last year,” said Kepitis. “Two weeks ago we were in America, where she won a Vox Populi Award, that’s based on voting mainly in America so it just shows her appeal. “She doesn’t rate highly (on figures) because she’s not the kind of horse who goes off in front and wins by lengths, she just does what she has to do.” Waller added that the the Queen Elizabeth could once again fit in the agenda, adding: “There’s a four-race programme in Sydney, and then we could go back to the owners and work it all out. “We’ve never set a final date, we’re still taking it day by day, race by race. Her legs are good, and no-one feels that she’s slowing down.” Oppenheimer optimistic for Cracksman’s next challenge Brochures have already been published and bookings taken for Cracksman as he prepares to embark upon his first season standing at Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud but the accolade of joint best horse in the world will do him no harm in that regard. He is from the first crop of Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who was awarded this title in 2011 and 2012, and represents his crowning glory as a stallion to date. Cracksman is standing for £25,0000 and is another feather in the cap of his owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer, whose homebred Derby and Arc champion Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), officially the highest-rated turf horse in 2015, will have his first progeny hitting the track later this year. “He has certainly rewarded us and proved how brilliant he was in the Champion Stakes,” said Oppenheimer. “I must thank all the staff from our stud, as it would not have happened without them.” He continued: “I’m going to send four mares to him, three I’ve already decided on, the fourth one I’m waiting to see what the mare produces. I’m going to send him some of my best – Group winners, that sort of thing. “This does help tremendously, especially when you’re advertising the best horse in the world. People start to think. When I put his fee at £25,000, which is low for a stallion compared to some of the others, so we could choose the best mares for him. He has already lined up more than 130 and I don’t want too many. So it might close soon, even if we might still accept someone with a very good horse.” Oppenheimer will be luckier still if he can find another champion, but he gave a good mention to another daughter of Frankel set to appear in his black and white silks. “I’ve never won the Oaks, and this is what I’m after,” he said. “William Haggas has got quite a nice filly of mine, Frankellina, it’s whether she’s good enough. If she is, I want her to go for the Oaks, and he said he’d try his best.” Arc on top once again The ceremony also features the 2018 Longines World’s Best Horse Race and for the third of four times since the inception of the prize, it was unveiled as being the G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe S. The decision is based upon the ratings of the top four finishers, according to an international handicapping committee, and it was hard to fault given that Enable led the decorated G1 Irish Oaks S. winner Sea Of Class (Ire) {Sea The Stars {Ire}), Cloth Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) over the line. France Galop president Edouard de Rothschild accepted the awards along with chief executive officer Olivier Delloye, who joked in his speech that the new ParisLongchamp would be working hard to improving bar services for thirsty British racegoers next October after some well-publicised problems when the capital’s track reopened. “I think from an organiser’s point of view, the best horse of the race has won, so what else can we expect and what else can we hope,” Rothschild said. “The best mare won, the best filly was second, and following in the footsteps of Treve and Zarkava.” Enable will now aim to better even Treve by winning an unprecedented third Arc. Although no buttons have been pushed at home, owner Prince Khalid Abdullah’s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe offered some encouragement. “So far, all good,” he said. “There is no real plan apart from the Arc de Triomphe, but you’d be looking at all of the main mile and a quarter, mile and a half races.” Grimthorpe added that the decision to keep Enable in training at five, especially after she was sidelined by injury for much of the last campaign, had not been particularly difficult. “It always depends on three important things. Was she safe and well, and the answer was yes. Were there targets open, and the answer was yes. And was the owner keen, and when I spoke to Prince Khalid, he said yes.” View the full article

A number of our readers submitted feedback in response to the feature, “Sales Vetting: Agree to Differ, or Differ to Agree?” which appeared in the Jan. 23 edition of the TDN. Their submissions can be found below. With only about 5% of horses bred turning out to what can be reasonably considered elite runners, anyone working in this industry should understand the probabilities of outcomes. Setting aside that buyers routinely ‘fail’ a horse on the basis of a cursory visual inspection, this also explains why both buyers and sellers alike have ‘tales of woe’ when a horse that they liked is ‘failed’ by someone else in any way at a foal, yearling or 2-year-old sale. The known rarity of the event itself, an elite racehorse, makes it sting. Almost all of the questions that revolve around X-rays are concerned with probabilities, not absolutes. If the horse has an abnormality on X-rays, what is the probability that it is going to affect its racing ability? Will it be different if I train/race it on dirt, which through concussion is a much less forgiving surface than turf or synthetic surfaces? Will the same issue be a different outcome if we have a lightly made filly or a big strong colt? While we would like to think otherwise, currently most of the answers to these questions are largely built on subjective, experience based opinion. As humans, the opinions of veterinarians are often colored by confirmation bias (we tend to remember the horses we thought had a problem and subsequently didn’t race, and discount the ones that did) and a tendency to anchor on one piece of information when making decisions. This is compounded distance in time from when the X-Rays are interpreted at yearling stage, to when racetrack outcomes (or lack thereof) are known. The industry has available three datasets that could be utilized to provide some of the answers to these questions, taking much of the subjectivity out of the equation: 1) The thousands of digital images that veterinarians take each year of yearlings across North America and Europe for the past decade. 2) The Jockey Club Information Systems, which has the data on these yearlings as to if they started, when they started, what surface they started on and how many starts they had on each surface. 3) The Equine Injury Database, which identifies the frequency, types and outcome of racing injuries using a standardized format. Deep learning-based Artificial Intelligence has shown its abilities across multiple medical domains. It particularly shines at well-defined clinical tasks where most of the information necessary for the task is contained in the data, especially imaging. In 2016, researchers associated with Google published a paper on detection of Diabetic Retinopathy from retinal photographs. (click here) where an AI network achieved 90.3% sensitivity–e.g the percentage of sick people who are correctly identified as having the condition, and 98.1% specificity–e.g., the percentage of healthy people who are correctly identified as not having the condition. In 2017, Rajpurkar and colleagues published the paper CheXNet: Radiologist-Level Pneumonia Detection on Chest X-Rays with Deep Learning (click here) to considerable commentary in the medical and artificial intelligence community, where they trained 112,120 frontal-view chest X-ray images individually labeled with up to 14 different thoracic diseases, including pneumonia. When testing the trained neural network against four practicing radiologists, CheXNet outperformed the radiologists in determining if pneumonia was present on the X-Ray. If labeled correctly and accurately, and with enough data, every clinical finding could be identified on X-Rays and a probability assigned for each finding of it appearing on any new X-Rays. Additionally with the data from TJCIS and the Equine Injury Database models could be built that gave the probabilities of each of these findings having an impact on racing outcomes, removing a lot of the objectivity out of the process completely. Rather than relying on the experience of veterinarians with inherent human biases to interpret X-rays and assign probabilities, we would have more objective knowledge of outcomes. Before veterinarians throw away their board certifications and look for jobs as Uber drivers, a few comments on what a well trained neural network could and could not do. Any algorithm would only be able to give initial probabilities of an issue being present and the probability of any combined issues affecting the outcome, but it would reduce any current variation between veterinarians’ opinions as to whether an abnormality is present, and what it means for future soundness. A reduction in objectivity in this area should be welcomed by buyers and sellers alike. It would still however require interpretation and understanding of those probabilities. If an algorithm said there was a 60% probability of a chip being in the knee and a 30% chance of it having an effect on its chances of the horse ever racing, it would still require some professional judgment on the data that the algorithm has not seen. Does that 30% chance reduce with surgery; does it reduce if the horse is a small correct light filly as opposed to a large heavy colt with offset knees? Rather than being bound in the sales repositories around the world, it would free veterinarians to do what many do best, interact with the horse in a clinical setting and work with their clients to make better objective decisions about potential purchases. The data is there, the algorithms are built and can be easily transferred to operate in the Thoroughbred world, its just going to take the parties involved having the will to do it. –Byron Rogers, Performance Genetics LLC In the 1/23 TDN article about vetting, Carrie Brogden notes that, “And to me, the ones [farms] that raise a lot of runners don’t raise them like sales horses. They raise them tough and strong.” It caused me to recall interviewing actor Jack Klugman for the Thoroughbred Record after his Jaklin Klugman won the 1980 California Derby. Amidst all the celebration Jack paused and offered a serious note about Jaklin Klugman. “When he hurt himself that time at Hollywood Park,” Klugman said, “it took the bloom off the rose, and we stopped trying to treat him like something that was in a bubble. He was a race horse, who races, who will win, who will lose, who will be good enough or bad enough for whatever reason comes up.” As Ms. Brogden will appreciate, letting a horse be a horse and not an equine version of Project Runway for a sale is a key to success that is not always appreciated by breeders who raise horses in “a bubble.” –Ron Parker, Paris, KY View the full article

New racing regulatory standards have just been published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) as part of a continuing process to adapt standards to current integrity threats as well as new technologies and innovation. View the full article

Peter Brant’s BLOWOUT (GB) (f, 3, Dansili {GB}–Beauty Parlour {GB}, by Deep Impact {Jpn}), a €450,000 purchase as a foal out of the Wildenstein Dispersal at the 2016 Goffs November Sale, became the latest first-time starter winner for Chad Brown with a battling victory Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs. Favored at 19-10, the second foal out of the 2012 G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) victress settled a path or two off the fence from midfield and with some cover behind a moderate tempo. Advancing into fifth for the run into the second turn, Blowout was pulled out into about the six path at the entry to the stretch, hooked up with her chief market rival Chancetheracer (Quality Road) at the furlong grounds and narrowly outfinished that rival to graduate. Tiple (Ire) (Requinto {Ire}) was third. Blowout was bred by the Wildenstein Family’s Dayton Investements and is out of a full-sister to Barocci (Jpn), a stakes winner in France and multiple graded placed in this country. Blowout’s third dam was broodmare of the year Benediction (Ire) (Day Is Done {Ire}), the dam of 1999 Australian Horse of the Year and seven-time Group 1 winner Might and Power (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}). The third dam also includes Hong Kong champion miler Lucky Owners (NZ) (Danehill). Brant is also the owner of Beauty Parlour, having paid €1.4 million for the mare in foal to Kingman (GB) out of the dispersal. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O-Peter M Brant; B-Dayton Investments Limited; T-Chad Brown. View the full article