Wandering Eyes

After its popularity last year, Young Guns returns with all new questions and young professionals. Today we speak with Valentin Adam, who works on the bloodstock team at Arqana TDN: Tell us about your career to date. VA: I have always been around horses. My grandparents had a farm with National Hunt mares, which my father took over. At the age of 13, I started riding racehorses in a training centre close to the farm in the west of France, and later had various experiences in England as an exercise rider for Gary Moore, Tom George and Roger Varian. In 2016, I came back to France with the firm intention to work in the industry and I had the chance to meet Eric Hoyeau. I did a first internship at Arqana as a project manager for the 2016 edition of the Arc sale at Chantilly. This started my collaboration with the auction sales agency and I was then sent to the U.S. for work experience. This is how I did a couple of months at Santa Anita as a work rider and pupil assistant for Leonard Powell, before heading to Kentucky where Tony Lacy welcomed me at Four Star Sales. I also had various experiences in sales prep at Three Chimneys, and at Hagyard Equine Hospital. I ended my trip at Saratoga where I met Christophe Clement, who gave me few rides in the morning and I was able to follow Mike Ryan in the afternoons for the selected sale inspections. I then came back to France to finish my degree in business development and worked as a trainee with Arqana before being employed. TDN: If you could be one person in the industry for a day, who would it be and why? VA: It would probably be a jockey, like Ryan Moore, on a day he rides a few Group 1s on the best horses in the world, or Ruby Walsh during the Cheltenham festival. Being a rider myself, I always watch the jockeys with a lot of admiration and envy. TDN: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? VA: When I first got on a Thoroughbred, someone told me that to learn with horses, you just have to observe the animals; they’ll tell you what to do. Since then I use it as a leitmotiv: you can learn from everyone, either on what to do or what not to do, so open your eyes. TDN: What is the best aspect of your current job? VA: As part of the bloodstock team, we are selecting the future horses that will go through the ring, and it is very interesting to be able to go and look for the best around our network of clients. I am relatively new in this exercise but if we look at the results of Arqana’s graduates in recent years, I feel that I’m in the right spot to learn. I like the fact that we are working side by side with the breeders in order to bring to the market good horses for our buyers and for the competition; it’s a win-win situation. The job is very diverse. I do a lot of tracking, attending meetings, organising tours of inspections, supervising the logistics of pop-up sales like the Arc or the Auteuil sales. Public auction is very theatrical and you feel the energy–I like it. TDN: If you weren’t working in the horse racing industry what would you be doing? VA: I would probably be a cook in a restaurant somewhere around the world. I could barely see myself working outside the horse racing industry at the moment but I keep my mind open. TDN: If you had 24 hours to get someone interested in the horse racing industry, how would you do it? VA: First I would wake them up early to see the horses in the morning. Then I would take them to the races and introduce them to some friends to let them explain what they do in the industry. I would take time to explain and answer the questions and would propose to stay after the last for a few drinks. Usually when they stay until the last step, they are happy to come back. It has to be fun. This is what the Association Aux Courses les Jeunes does in France, which I was a member of in 2018. We did a lot of immersion days and brought a lot of young novices to the races. TDN: What was your biggest achievement in 2018? VA: It was a busy year. First I finished school, which can be considered an achievement, and I had a lot of interesting projects to work on at Arqana. TDN: Who was your horse of 2018, and why? VA: It has to be Enable. Winning the Arc twice in a row is obviously something special, but even more so, she went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf at the end of an intense fight with Magical, and between the two best jockeys in the world. A beautiful race to watch. View the full article

The Picks From The Paddock team look to end the week on a strong note as they provide their tips and best bets for the 3 meetings in the UK and Ireland. 14:00 Ayr Dan Skelton had a quieter than expected Christmas period in terms of winners but has put this right in recent weeks, sending […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Sunday 20th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Over the last three weeks, we have dissected sire lists aplenty in an effort to uncover some hidden gems in our value sires series. After first speculating on those young pretenders whose progeny have yet to see a racecourse, last week we dug into those sires who have handed us some solid clues with their first crop or two on the track. Today, we pay homage to the older battlers who, despite changes in fashionability and fee fluctuations, with books rising and falling, continue to reward breeders and deliver. In order to highlight less-obvious horses at the lower end of the fee scale, we’ve capped this installment at horses standing for under £/€20,000 BATED BREATH (GB) (Dansili {GB}) (Banstead Manor Stud, £10,000) Juddmonte clearly priced Bated Breath well from the start; the G2 Temple S. winner who was agonizingly second in three Group 1 sprints at four opened at £8,000 at Banstead Manor in 2013, and he has stayed between that and £10,000 ever since. Though a solid and admirable racehorse himself, Bated Breath wasn’t the star turn joining Juddmonte’s roster in 2013; he had to make his start alongside none other than Frankel (GB). And while that luminary has predictably gone on to dominate their sire crop, Bated Breath has continued to productively ply his trade, turning out winners in high numbers. In fact, his 112 lifetime winners sits second only to Frankel’s 114 among their sire crop. Bated Breath has sired three stakes winners, two of those graded, but the fact that he has nine group horses indicates he could yet have some good ones knocking on the door. While he still lacks that crucial Group 1 winner, his runners have been thereabouts in some important races; Beckford (GB) won the G2 Railway S. and was second in both the G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. and G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., while G3 Prix Minerve winner Worth Waiting (GB) was fourth in last year’s G1 Prix Vermeille, and stays in training this year. Al Johrah (GB) was second in the G2 Queen Mary; Gavota (GB) was third in the G2 Rockfel S.; Landshark was second in the G3 Round Tower S., etc. Bated Breath has continued to be popular with breeders, covering 142 mares last year, and his yearlings last year averaged £42,575/€47,982, which was 4.3x the £10,000 fee they were conceived at. EXCELEBRATION (IRE) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) (Coolmore, €8,000) While Excelebration’s fee hasn’t gone the direction that a stallion owner would want-a slide from €22,500 in 2013 to €8,000 this year–the brilliant miler is actually carving out a similar profile to Bated Breath, and could yet solidify a reputation as a solid source of winners. Also a member of the Frankel/Nathaniel/Bated Breath sire crop, Excelebration actually sits fourth on that crop’s cumulative sire table by earnings. That is largely thanks to Barney Roy (GB) who, incidentally, won the G1 St James’s Palace S. over Excelebration’s half-brother Lancaster Bomber (War Front) and is just the type of top-class miler one could have expected Excelebration to throw. Excelebration’s three other stakes winners in the Northern Hemisphere are the G3 Phoenix Sprint S. winner Speak In Colors (GB) and the listed winners Rebel Assault (Ire) and Tilly’s Chili (Ire), and he has a total of 99 winners. MAYSON (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (£6,000, Cheveley Park Stud) By sire of sires Invincible Spirit out of a daughter of standout broodmare sire Pivotal (GB), Mayson delivered what his genes seemed destined to do when winning the G1 July Cup in 2012. He started at £8,000 in 2013, had slipped down to £5,000 the year his first crop debuted and has stayed at £6,000 since 2017. He has five stakes winners, all listed, but his rate of stakes horses to named foals (8.2%) is higher than anyone bar Frankel of this sire crop. DREAM AHEAD (Diktat {GB}) (€12,000, Haras de Grandcamp) Two of Dream Ahead’s five Group 1 sprint successes came in France, and while he started out in Ireland at Ballylinch Stud in 2012, many of his progeny seemed to share his affinity for France, and so in 2017 he was relocated to Haras de Grandcamp. Dream Ahead was famously rated the equal of Frankel at two before sticking to the sprint ranks at three, and he rewarded connections with wins in the G1 July Cup and G1 Sprint Cup over Bated Breath, and the G1 Prix de la Foret over Goldikova. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that Dream Ahead’s best runners are showing pace. His 15 stakes winners include the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Al Wukair (Ire), whose first foals arrive this year; G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte winner Donjuan Triumphant (Ire), who was also placed in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and the G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint S.; and last year’s G2 Vintage S. winner Dark Vision (Ire). Dream Ahead has 7.5% black-type horses/named foals, highest among his sire crop, and at a career-low fee of €12,000 he looks a reliable source of class for not a ton of money for French breeders. EQUIANO (FR) (Acclamation {GB}) (£6,000, Newsells Park Stud) While Equiano’s Newsells Park barnmate Nathaniel (Ire) may prove to be one of the value sires of the century at £25,000, the horse in question fits the bill as well. Equiano has been somewhat quietly plying his trade since 2011, and like Bated Breath he appears to always have been well-priced–while he is at a career-low £6,000 this year, he has never stood for higher than £8,000. A two-time winner of the G1 King’s Stand S., Equiano has certainly supplied one in his own mould in his flagbearer The Tin Man (GB), the winner of three Group 1 sprints. His 11 stakes winners also include the G2 Railway S. winner Medicine Jack (GB) and the G3 Hackwood S. winner and G1 Sprint Cup second Strath Burn (GB), and he has had a number perform well in America, including Belvoir Bay (GB), who has won four group races over three seasons in California and on Jan. 12 won Santa Anita’s Listed Las Cienegas S. Equiano may not be overly fashionable at the European foal and yearling sales, but the fact that his progeny adapt well to America shouldn’t be overlooked by breeders; those types of horses can draw huge price tags from overseas markets. FAST COMPANY (IRE) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) (€12,000, Darley Kildangan) Fast Company started at Rathasker Stud in 2011 for €5,000, and he hit the ground running with his first crop in 2014, supplying the G2 Norfolk S. winner Baitha Alga (Ire). He really made headlines the following year, however, with from the same crop the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jet Setting (Ire) and the G2 Ridgewood Pearl S. scorer Devonshire (Ire). By that point Fast Company had moved to Overbury Stud, and the breeders that had used him that year for £4,000 must have been pleased when his yearlings last year averaged £16,986, 4.2x his stud fee. The crop bred on the back of Jet Setting and Devonshire’s successes for £7,000 are two this year, and continued success in the interim-13 total stakes winners including South American star and last year’s GI Arlington Million winner Robert Bruce (Chi)-means Jet Setting’s fee has climbed to €12,000 at Kildangan. STARSPANGLEDBANNER (AUS) (Choisir {Aus}) (€17,500, Coolmore) Starspangledbanner’s brilliant but stop-start stud career to date due to subfertility has been well documented, especially in these pages, and after producing Group 1 winner The Wow Signal (Ire) and three other pattern-race winners from a first crop of just 33 foals in 2012, the dual hemisphere Group 1-winning sprinter finally gets another shot this year, with his first substantial Irish-conceived crop since having just turned two. That group numbers 72, and the 37 sold at auction as yearlings last year underscored the excitement surrounding the horse; they averaged £75,562/€85,255 off a €15,000 stud fee, and his 17 foals sold averaged £39,933/€45,096. Let’s revisit why: his eight stakes winners give him a strike rate of 15.4% black-type winners to named foals. Twenty-one percent of his named foals are stakes-placed, and 13.4% group-placed. First-crop representative Home of the Brave (Ire) has continued to fly the flag for Godolphin in both Britain and Australia, and during the interim years when he did not shuttle Starspangledbanner continued to thrive Down Under, siring horses like G3 Blue Diamond Prelude winner Of The Brave (Aus) and listed winner Thrillster (Aus). Starspangledbanner’s newfound fertility has been remarkable-he has covered 97 and 152 mares the last two years-so now it’s time to see if he can uphold his staggering figures. WHIPPER (Miesque’s Son) (€3,300, Haras de Treban) Whipper popped up on our radar thanks to his 2018 Group 1 winner Recoletos (Fr), but closer inspection reveals that the 18-year-old is still good value for money for French breeders. He has left 26 stakes winners in total at a rate of 4.3% of named foals, and last year in addition to his headliner he had three other stakes winners (4.7% of starters) and two other group winners: the G3 Strensall S. and G1 Queen Anne second Lord Glitters, and the G3 Prix de Lutece victor Jackfinbar. Not bad for €3,300. HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR (IRE) (Danehill) (€15,000, Coolmore) Holy Roman Emperor sits 13th on the TDN‘s Lifetime Cumulative Active Sires list, and he showed little sign of slowing down last year, notching eight stakes winners including three Grade/Group 1 winners of three very different profiles: the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Romanised (Ire), the G1 Preis der Diana scorer Well Timed (Ger) and the 7-year-old Glorious Empire, winner of the 2400 metre Sword Dancer S. at Saratoga and two other Grade IIs. He has sired 60 lifetime stakes winners (5.9% of named foals) and 113 stakes horses (11% of named foals-excellent figures for his price level). The success of his progeny in Australasian markets, particularly Hong Kong, has been well-publicized, and as outlined with Fast Company there is plenty of money on the table for the sale of horses-in-training to foreign markets. MANDURO (GER) (Monsun {Ger}) (€7,000, Haras du Logis) Manduro displayed versatility at the highest level on the racecourse, winning Royal Ascot’s G1 Prince of Wales’s S. before dropping back to a mile next out to take the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, and his progeny have since displayed an ability to win at the highest level in a variety of conditions. His headliner is the dual Group 1 and 10-time group-winning stayer Vazirabad (Fr), but he is also responsible for his now stud-mate Ultra (Ire), the fastest-ever winner of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Mandaean (GB), as well as G1 Prix Jean Romanet victress Ribbons (GB) and G1 Premio Lydia Tesio and G2 Oaks d’Italia scorer Charity Line (Ire). Manduro has sired 27 total stakes winners, and his seven last year alone indicate that he isn’t yet slowing down at the age of 17. MYBOYCHARLIE (IRE) (Danetime {Ire}) (€7,500, Haras du Mezeray) Another attractive option for French breeders is Myboycharlie. He is up to a career-high fee of €7,500 in 2019, but when he can consistently produce top-class fillies like Sistercharlie (Ire), Euro Charline (GB) and Camprock (Fr) that still looks like good value, doesn’t it? Also keep on eye on Noblesse Oblige (Ity), who was one of Italy’s top 2-year-olds last year before being sold to Martin Schwartz for €520,000 at Arqana December to race on in America, like the Breeders’ Cup winner Sistercharlie with trainer Chad Brown. Myboycharlie has also been a success in Australia, his shuttling days yielding the champion filly Jameka (Aus) and Group 1-winning 2-year-old Peggy Jean (Aus) in addition to a handful of other group winners. Myboycharlie’s strike rate of winners sits at a respectable 39% of named foals, and he has proven time and again an ability to produce winners at the highest level across the globe. CAMACHO (GB) (Danehill) (€12,000, Yeomanstown Stud) Camacho has been grafting away in the four-figure stud fee range since his first crop hit the track in 2009, but he jumps into the five figures for the first time at 17 this year, his fee rising to €12,000 from €7,500 after a banner year. He enjoyed a dream run in the spring when Teppal (Fr) became his first Group 1 winner in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, and Signora Cabello (Ire) has a fair shot to give him another Classic winner in 2019 after taking the G2 Queen Mary and G2 Prix Robert Papin and finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix Morny. As such, his yearlings were sought after at the sales, realizing an average of £37,979/€42,938, 5x the fee they were bred on, with high prices like 325,000gns, 270,000gns and 200,000gns. Those using him this year and selling his yearlings in 2021 will be hoping that he throws out a few more good ones in his later years and justifies a relatively steep fee hike, but nonetheless he is a sire that has historically turned out good numbers of winners (39% of named foals) for his price. Value Sires Podium Gold – Holy Roman Emperor (€15,000): a sire proven at the top level all over the world that just keeps on producing. Silver – Myboycharlie (€7,500): a consistent record for producing real top-class fillies. Bronze – Mayson (£6,000): while he hasn’t yet broke through at pattern level, he is a reliable winner and black-type getter. View the full article

As long as illegal gambling exists at multibillion-dollar levels, sports across all spectrums are ripe for corruption. That is the only way to read the Asian Racing Federation anti-illegal betting taskforce’s paper, which highlights the consequences of the scourge. While there are associated social costs – in terms of lost revenue and the human expense – the real message is that illegal gambling compromises the integrity of sports themselves. The numbers the report throws up... View the full article

Trainer John Moore will not be scared off by a possible ratings battering from the handicapper with his young sprint star Styling City as he steps up to Group One company for the first time. The master trainer surprised many earlier this month when he took his three-year-old from Class Two to Group Three in just his eighth start, but was justified when he ran a strong second in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1,000m). The runner-up performance saw Styling City’s rating jump to 99, but it is... View the full article

Silvestre de Sousa will go back to the future on Pakistan Star as both he and trainer Tony Cruz attempt to unlock the powerful gelding’s best form. The Brazilian will jump aboard the dual Group One winner for the first time since April 2017 in Sunday’s Stewards’ Cup (1,600m), where he will meet champion Beauty Generation. After travelling keenly in all four of his races this season, Pakistan Star has not shown his customary big finishes, but De Sousa believes he can change... View the full article

Vincent Ho Chak-yiu helped Mark Johnston become the most successful trainer in British racing history during the summer and the leading local jockey will be trying to boost his connections to that country in Sunday’s Group One Centenary Sprint Cup. Ho took the opportunity to get some extra experience in Europe over the break and he made an immediate impression by winning his first ever start in the country on 6-1 shot X Rated at Haydock Park. He said of his first taste of a British... View the full article

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has partnered with Centennial Farms to present the Best Turned Out Horse Awards during the Pegasus World Cup Invitational card Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. bided his time, but at the top of the turn in Gulfstream Park's ninth race Jan. 18 he began to guide Bourbon War towards the lead and once clear the Tapit colt had no competition. View the full article

The claimer-turned-stakes-winner story is a familiar one. It happens all over the country, every year and the reason for the change of fortunes for any horse is almost never a single, identifiable thing. View the full article

The supplemental catalog for the Horses of Racing Age portion of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s 2019 Winter Mixed Sale is now online at www.obssales.com. A total of 17 horses of racing age were supplemented, including Noble Commander (Forestry) (hip 198), a last-out winner of the Woodchopper S. at Fair Grounds; two-time South Florida winner Yes Factor (The Factor) (hip 247); and recent Aqueduct maiden special weight graduate Midnight Curfew (Midnight Lute) (hip 294). An under-tack preview for horses of racing age will be held Monday, Jan. 28 at 10:00 a.m. The sale will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Jan. 29 with a Preferred Session of breeding stock, immediately followed by the now 117-horse Racing Age session. The sale concludes with its Open Session starting at 11:00 a.m. Jan. 30. View the full article

Mexican sensation Kukulkan (Mex) (Point Determined), undefeated in 14 lifetime starts including the Dec. 8 Clasico del Caribe at Gulfstream Park, arrived in Miamiat 11:30 a.m. Friday to finish preparations for the $9-million, GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational to be held at Gulfstream Jan. 26. Frankie Dettori has the mount for the 1 1/8-mile event. Owned by Cuadra San Jorge, Kukulkan shipped back to Mexico following the Clasico del Caribe and most recently worked seven furlongs in 1:29 on Wednesday for trainer Fausto Gutierrez. He galloped out a mile in 1:42. “He did it easy,” said Gutierrez. “I’m very pleased. The last two furlongs he did very, very easy. Everything is good.” Post positions for the Pegasus will be drawn at Gulfstream Jan. 22. View the full article

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has partnered with Centennial Farms to present Best Turned Out Horse awards plus cash prizes and gift bags to grooms of six races on Gulfstream’s GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational card Jan. 26. “We are honored to partner with and support the great work of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, an outstanding leader in aftercare for our industry,” said Don Little, President of Centennial Farms. “Everyone at Centennial feels very strongly about the lifelong commitment to our horses and ensuring they have a secure home when their racing days are over. As fans watch some of the world’s best horses compete on the Pegasus World Cup Invitational card, we are thrilled to help shine a well-deserved spotlight on the grooms who work so hard each day to help these magnificent athletes reach their potential.” View the full article

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY will open its Photo Finish photography exhibition on Saturday, Jan. 19. The Museum received 159 photos from 82 photographers after a call for submissions was announced last summer. A panel of judges selected 45 photographs from 33 photographers for the exhibition. All exhibited photographs plus an additional 26 photos will be available to view at racingmuseum.org/ starting Saturday. Note that the NMRHOF will be closed on Sunday, Jan. 20 but will resume its normal winter schedule Jan. 23. View the full article

The New York Racing Association has canceled live racing scheduled Jan. 21 at Aqueduct Racetrack because of dangerously low wind-chill temperatures forecast in the New York City metropolitan area for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. View the full article

5th-SA, $55K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f T, 5:03 p.m. ET Godolphin’s FLOR DE LA MAR (Tiznow) makes her career bow for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in this spot. The $500,000 FTSAUG buy is a daughter of GSW Sacristy (Pulpit). Jerry Hollendorfer also unveils a pricey firster with a talented dam in $475,000 KEESEP purchase Chocolate Speights (Speightstown), a daughter of GSW & MGISP More Chocolate (Malibu Moon). TJCIS PPs. —@CDeBernardisTDN View the full article

Tickets for the 2019 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, to be held June 6 through June 8, will go on sale to the public Thursday, Jan. 24 at 10:00 a.m. Pre-sale opportunities will be offered starting on Jan. 22. “Last year, a sold-out crowd celebrated as Justify raced into the history books by winning the Belmont Stakes to become just the 13th Triple Crown winner in history,” said NYRA CEO and President Chris Kay. “The 2019 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will offer all the thrills of the very best in thoroughbred racing combined with world-class entertainment, premium hospitality and tremendous food and beverage offerings all with a distinctly New York vibe. This is a must-see event and we encourage fans to secure their tickets now for three of the best, most exciting days on the sports calendar.” For more information, visit www.bemontstakes.com. View the full article

After its popularity last year, Young Guns returns with all new questions and young professionals. Today we speak with Tom Hobbs, stud manager at Pattles Grove Stud TDN: Tell us about your career to date? TH: I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to work and learn at some top farms including Juddmonte, Newsells Park Stud and the National Stud. A personal highlight was working for Sir Patrick Hogan at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, and I jumped at the opportunity to develop Pattles Grove in January 2016. TDN: If you could be one person in the industry for a day, who would it be and why? TH: I think I’d have to experience the thrill of being a top-level jockey. I’d probably want to be Oisin Murphy, perhaps on one of his Roaring Lion wins. I think he’s a superb rider, he’s had a fantastic year after putting in a lot of hard work and it would be a great experience to be in his shoes for a day. TDN: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? TH: ‘Be a sponge.’ Take every opportunity to learn new things, and different methods from everyone you work with and deal with in the horse industry. It’s a fantastic industry where you never stop learning from vets, to farriers, to agents and trainers. TDN: What is the best aspect of your current job? TH: The best aspect of my job is simply dealing with the horses on a daily basis. I’m lucky enough to work with some wonderful equine athletes and it’s really rewarding seeing particular horses do well for their break, or to come back from an injury or illness. You can’t really beat foaling either, it never gets old delivering the newborns. TDN: If you weren’t working in the horse racing industry, what would you be doing? TH: I was very interested in property and property development straight out of school and set away working in the family property business. I would like to think I would have followed in my father’s footsteps into the family business and property development. TDN: If you had 24 hours to get someone interested in the horse racing industry, how would you do it? TH: It would be a long day but I don’t think you could start without a morning on the gallops at Newmarket coupled with several tours of trainer’s yards, meeting their superstars. Next would be a trip to Tattersalls to see the buzz and excitement of the sales. For me, nothing beats the buzz of being at the sales. I think it would be such a great experience trying to get someone interested in the horse racing industry by allowing them to see first hand such a big part of our industry and the care and attention given to the horses by all the staff. Finally, I would finish the day with some quality evening racing and give them the thrill of being an owner and seeing their horse run, and hopefully winning. Meeting the trainer and the jockey would top off the day. TDN: What was your biggest achievement in 2018? TH: We were delighted to offer the first Pattles Grove sales consignment at Tattersalls this year. It was a goal I had very much been working towards and I hope the first of many. Another highlight was completing the infrastructure at Pattles Grove; a lot of hard work and time has gone into building the farm, its facilities and thereafter its upkeep. We’re very lucky to have such a hard-working team. TDN: Who was your horse of 2018 and why? TH: I became quite fond of most horses I got to look after, but a horse of 2018 would be James Street (Ire), a Gale Force Ten (GB) colt owned by M M Stables and in training with Hugo Palmer. He was a stunning yearling, bought by Armando Duarte, and it was fantastic to see him win so well recently with a double penalty. For the bigger picture, Enable (GB) has got to be up there. It was a superb training performance to complete what she’s done and it’s great to hear that she’s remaining in training for 2019. TDN: What is your New Year’s Resolution? TH: To continue to work with our quality horses and clients and keep pushing Pattles Grove to offer the best services we are able to. View the full article

Moretti, a $900,000 purchase from the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale by Mike Repole and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, is set to make his stakes debut in the Feb. 2 Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

There is a smorgasbord of stakes action across the nation Jan. 19. Older sprinters are in the spotlight at Santa Anita Park, where Roy H makes his seasonal debut in the six-furlong Palos Verdes (G2), and also at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

In this series, we ask agents and others who book a lot of mares for their clients which sires might be flying slightly under the radar in this breeding season. Who might be getting overlooked in the rush for the new, hot thing? Read on. Cooper Sawyer UNIFIED, Lane’s End, $10,000 A stallion that we have a lot of faith in is Unified at Lane’s End. He was super fast, got a 99 Beyer on debut, he’s a gorgeous physical, and has a monster walk. I was blown away by how much he had let down when I went to see him during the open house in November. Unified is a stallion that we used a lot last year, and we plan on supporting him again this season. He’s really fit our program, and he’s got a good group of shareholders behind him. He had a full book last year, breeding over 150 mares, so you are going to fall back on that as well. I think he would fit a commercial breeder or someone looking to race. Unified is a medium sized physical, and has Dixie Union and Carson City on the bottom side, so he fits a wide range of mares. Especially mares you might want to get a bit of speed into. Lane’s End has done a fantastic job at making stallions for a very long time now, so that’s a big plus. I think Candy Ride will go on to become a sire of sires, not too many would argue against that. Twirling Candy has done it, Gun Runner and Mastery have every chance, and Game Winner will enter stud over the next year or two at a big fee. So you’ll have all these sons of Candy Ride standing for $25,000+, and then Unified at $10,000. You would have to think Unified’s babies are going to be dynamite. I’m really looking forward to seeing them. View the full article

TAA, Centennial Farms to Present Best Turned Out Horse Awards at Pegasus World Cup View the full article

Undefeated Mexican superstar Kukulkan arrived in South Florida Jan. 18 in advance of his next scheduled start in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park. View the full article

Co-owners Chuck Zacney and Glenn Bennett and trainer Butch Reid have reached an agreement with Jose Ortiz to ride the top GI Kentucky Derby contender and ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief) in the Feb. 2 GII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream Park. He will replace Frankie Pennington, who has ridden the colt in all of his previous three starts and is the top jockey at Parx Racing, where Maximus Mischief is based. “We love Frankie and he is still our number-one guy when it comes to running horses at Parx, but we just looked at the races, they’re at Gulfstream, where Jose rides regularly, and if we are lucky enough to get to the Derby we wanted a more seasoned jockey,” Zacney said. “With regards to Frankie, Jose is a little more battle tested. At this point it is race to race, but Jose will be on him Feb. 2 in the Holy Bull.” The TDN was not able to reach Pennington for comment. Zacney admitted it was a tough decision. “It was a decision made by Butch, the trainer, Glenn Bennett and myself and we had the discussion and the three of us believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we wanted someone who is more familiar with Gulfstream Park and Churchill Downs than Frankie is. He really just rides at Parx,” the owner said. If all goes well in the Holy Bull, Maximus Mischief’s next start will be the GI Florida Derby Mar. 30. The colt broke his maiden at Parx and then won an allowance race at the same track. His big test came in the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct. With Pennington aboard, he cruised to a 2 1/4-length win. While not well known outside of Parx, Pennington has been one of the most successful jockeys in that track’s history. In 2018, he won his fifth-straight yearly riding title at Parx, a feat no other jockey has accomplished at that track. However, he has never ridden in the Kentucky Derby and he has never won a Grade I race. The Remsen was his lone career Grade II win. Pennington may not want to give up hope on getting back on Maximus Mischief as there is precedent when it comes to Zacney replacing a lesser-known rider and then going back to him. Zacney replaced Jeremy Rose in favor of John Velazquez when running Afleet Alex (Northern Afleet) in the GIII Rebel S. at Oaklawn in 2005. After the horse finished sixth in that race, the stable went back to Rose, who was aboard for Afleet Alex’s wins in GII Arkansas Derby, the GI Preakness and the GI Belmont. View the full article

A suspected salmonella outbreak that killed three horses and sickened three others has resulted in the temporary closure of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal Import Center in Miami. But the shutdown of that quarantine facility does not appear as if it will drastically alter shipping plans for international contenders in the Jan. 26 pair of GI Pegasus World Cup dirt and turf events, Gulfstream Park general manager Bill Badgett told TDN Friday. “I haven’t heard anything about that affecting us,” Badgett said. “There’s another [private] facility they could go to if that was the case. The lockdown is on the quarantine at Miami, and that’s a USDA facility. The Mexican horse, Kukulkan (Mex) (Point Determined), goes to a private quarantine. The European horses have already done their quarantine before they’ve arrived in the United States, so we don’t have to worry about them going through the quarantine in Miami. All they do is get on a van and come here to our [separate] quarantine here at Gulfstream which is [administered by] the USDA. It’s 42 hours. “We have a quarantine facility here at Gulfstream that’s already set up,” Badgett continued. “As a matter of fact, the Japanese horse, Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune), got here two days ago and is already in it. The USDA is here with it. We used that for the Caribbean Classic also.” According to a USDA press release, the agency “is conducting environmental testing at the [Miami] facility and the samples will be sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories for diagnostic testing. Before reopening, the facility will undergo a complete cleaning and disinfection.” View the full article