Wandering Eyes

The New Orleans’ route to the Kentucky Derby kicks off with the GIII Lecomte S. at Fair Grounds Saturday and a competitive field of 14, plus one also-eligible, has been entered for the one-mile-and-70-yard race. Imperial Racing’s Plus Que Parfait (Point of Entry), who will break from post 12, is the tepid 9-2 morning-line favorite. The Brendan Walsh trainee graduated going 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland Oct. 7 and was closing late when he came up a neck short of Signalman (General Quarters) in the Nov. 24 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. over a sloppy track last time out. “It looks like he’s good enough,” Walsh said of Plus Que Parfait. “He seems to like this track. He’s worked well on it and I believe that the long stretch will suit him. Just like any of them this time of year, he still has a lot of questions to answer, but I think he’s a pretty nice horse. There’s plenty of stamina in his pedigree.” Allied Racing Stable’s Mr. Money (Goldencents) broke his maiden going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs Sept. 28 before running a creditable fourth as a 41-1 outsider in the Nov. 2 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last time out. The bay colt will break from post four and is 5-1 in the Lecomte. Trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle a pair of Winchell Thoroughbreds homebreds in the Lecomte. Wicked Indeed (Tapit), a 12-1 shot, won on debut at Fair Grounds Nov. 30 and was third behind the reopposing Tackett (Limehouse) over a track-and-trip optional claimer Dec. 22. Tight Ten (Tapit), 8-1 on the morning line, was a debut winner at Churchill June 28. Second in the Aug. 12 GII Saratoga Special and again in the Sept. 15 GIII Iroquois S., the bay colt is coming off a troubled ninth-place effort in the Nov. 2 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. View the full article

Tweenhills Stud has added a trio of intriguing additions to its roster in 2019, and one of those is Australian shuttler Zoustar (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}). The Group 1-winning sprinter has got off to an excellent start Down Under with just a year and a half with runners, with highlights including a trifecta in last year’s G1 Coolmore Stud S., a Magic Millions 2YO Classic victory and juvenile group-race wins by Lean Mean Machine (Aus) and Zousain (Aus). Tweenhills hosted a media day to show off Zoustar on Thursday, and the TDN‘s Alayna Cullen spoke with farm owner/manager David Redvers about the horse. AC: You’ve brought up Zoustar, who is already well proven Down Under, from Australia. Tell us a bit about the horse. DR: We met Zoustar for the first time immediately after he won the Coolmore Stud S. himself, and we were immediately taken by his enormous presence. His physicality, his actions–a truly beautiful horse, he was. We bought into him at that stage with the hope of running him at Royal Ascot; he was a favourite for the [G1] Diamond Jubilee S. Sadly, that didn’t happen. He got a knock when he was in training over here, in the immediate run-up to the race. We took the decision at that stage that we would let him start his career at stud in Australia, and we wouldn’t bring him up to the Northern Hemisphere unless he was a prudent success. We had no idea just what a prudent success he would be. We are extremely fortunate to bring a horse of his caliber here. AC: He started out brilliantly as champion first-season sire in Australia and he’s built on that this year. Can you recap his season so far in Australia? DR: Last year he was champion first-season sire in Australia by a wide margin. I think he broke all records when it came to prize money for a first-season sire. And this year he’s followed on in exactly the same fashion. His horses have trained on spectacularly well. I think it’s pretty fair to say that he’s about A$2-million clear on second-season prize money, and the last time I looked, he was the leading sire of 3-year-olds in Australia as well. So he has gone from strength to strength. He’s had a huge book of mares in Australia, but has turned up here looking fresh and ready to go. [Editor’s Note: as of 1/17, Zoustar is Australia’s leading sire of 3-year-olds for the season with A$3,164,050, with his own damsire Redoute’s Choice in second]. Obviously, the highlight to date has been the historical one-two-three, the trifecta, in the Coolmore Stud S., which has been the stallion-making race in Australia. It’s the race that he won himself, that Northern Meteor won, Encosta de Lago won, so he’s got a fair family tradition, and obviously this year, Sunlight, Zousain, and Lean Mean Machine took up the one-two-three, which as far as we know has never been done before. It’s hugely exciting to be involved with a horse of this incredible ability, and potency as a sire. Already this year with his 2-year-olds, we’re seeing some serious action. Sun City won a Group 3 in late December but unfortunately had to sit out the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, for which he was favourite, because of an infected joint. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Australian Sensation Zoustar New To Tweenhills","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://vimeo.com/311947554","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"http:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"} AC: What sort of reception has Zoustar been given by European breeders? DR: It’s always very difficult with an Australian horse, and people not getting the opportunity to see him until he gets here. Many people will remember him because we paraded him at the first Goffs London Sale, and they loved him then. Anybody with any sort of Australian slant has booked him months ago, and those that came to see him [in the few days after his arrival] all booked him immediately. So we’re now absolutely brim-full with mares. He’s got a limited book. I think we’ve kept back about five spaces for very special mares. I look forward to showing him to everybody, because they need to see this horse. He’s a genuine breed-shaper. View the full article

Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen’s Roy H (More Than Ready), who likely cemented a second straight Eclipse championship with his victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs last November, will make his 7-year-old debut in the GII Palos Verdes S. at Santa Anita Saturday. The Peter Miller trainee opened his 2018 campaign with a win in the six-furlong race before a third-place effort in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen. Returned stateside, he was second in the July 28 GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar before winning his second straight renewals of the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship Oct. 6 and Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 3. Roy H, 4-5 on the morning line, breaks from post seven in the seven-horse field. Multiple graded stakes winner Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) has been working strongly as he looks to return to the winner’s circle for the first time since last May. The West Point Thoroughbreds’ colorbearer won the GII San Vicente S. in his third career start last February before a third-place effort in the GII San Felipe S. and a sixth-place finish in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. scuppered any Derby aspirations. He went to the sidelines after winning the May 12 GIII Lazaro Barrera S. and was a troubled eighth while making his return in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S. last time out. Kanthaka, 4-1 on the morning line, worked a best-of-101 five furlongs Jan. 11 at Santa Anita in 1:00 flat. Hronis Racing’s St. Joe Bay (Saint Anddan), who won the 2017 Palos Verdes, was claimed for $62,500 last May before finishing second in the June 23 GII San Carlos S. and he was fifth after setting the pace in the Bing Crosby. The 7-year-old gelding, 6-1 on the morning line, is coming off a five-furlong allowance tally at Los Alamitos Dec. 14. View the full article

Mrs J. V. Shields and E J M McFadden’s COUNTRY HOUSE (c, 3, Lookin At Lucky–Quake Lake, by War Chant) completely bombed the start when veering in sharply from gate one, but the chestnut was given a patient ride from the tail thereafter by Javier Castellano and saved his best for last en route to a three-length graduation and ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors. Making his sophomore debut and first appearance since a runner-up effort going a mile over a laboring Aqueduct main track Dec. 1, Country House spotted his rivals the better part of 10 lengths once straightened away and remained out of the frame down the backstretch as 15-1 Ownitifyouwantit (Midshipman) set a modest pace. Called upon while five or six deep on the turn, he continued to make eyecatching progress leaving the quarter pole and finished up full of run and straight and strong for the victory. He covered 40 feet more than the runner-up according to Trakus. Country House is cleverly bred, as second dam Shooting Party (Sky Classic)–raced by the late Shields to a runner-up effort in the 2001 GI Garden City Breeders’ Cup S.–was responsible for Lookin At Lucky’s overachieving son Breaking Lucky, a Grade III winner on synth and three times Grade I-placed on conventional dirt. Country House is the last produce for Quake Lake, who died in 2016. Lifetime Record: 3-1-1-0. O-Mrs J V Shields & E J M McFadden; B-J V Shields Jr (KY); T-Bill Mott. View the full article

Skyler's Scramjet and Gold for the King, who have each won four times at the Big A, will duke it out against three foes in the Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct Jan. 19. View the full article

In this new 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. Peter Bradley, Bradley Thoroughbreds LLC SKY MESA, Three Chimneys, $15,000 Sky Mesa is a horse I like because he is a sire that can get racehorses on any surface, as a sire of Grade I winners on turf, dirt, and Polytrack, having sired horses such as General Quarters and Sky Diva. He is great value at $15,000. At age 19, he is represented by 65 black type winners and four champions. In the auction ring, he provides breeders with access to a great pedigree with a lot of upside in his sales results. In 2018, his yearling average was just over $43,000, but saw high-end prices of $275,000 and $220,000 during the sale season. He also passes on the precocity he displayed as a racehorse as seen through a colt selling at OBS March in 2018 for $300,000. It is also no surprise that daughters of Sky Mesa have found success in the auction ring and the catalogue page. Hailing from one of the great sire and broodmare sire lines in A.P. Indy, Sky Mesa has seen his broodmares sell for prices up to $2,000,000 in recent years. View the full article

A 2-year-old colt by Merit Man brought top price of $60,000 at Wednesday’s California Thoroughbred Breeders Association January Mixed Sale in Pomona. In all, 81 head sold during the one-session auction for a total of $589,300. The average was $7,275 and the median was $4,000. The buy-back rate was 33.6%. The CTBA hosted the January sale as a transitory auction between the now-defunct Barretts, which ceased operations at the end of 2018, and the upcoming Fasig-Tipton sales. Frank Veiga, as agent for trainer Bob Hess, Jr., made the winning bid on the sale-topping juvenile (hip 110), who was bred by Terry Lovingier and was consigned by his Lovacres Ranch. The dark bay colt is out of multiple stakes placed Seaside (Aldebaran), who was purchased by Lovingier while in foal to Can the Man for $5,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The mare’s Can the Man colt sold for $30,000 at the 2017 Barretts August Yearling Sale. Hess, who trained Merit Man, also purchased a 2-year-old filly (hip 138) by the 9-year-old stallion for $30,000 from the Lovacres consignment Wednesday. “I haven’t seen them yet,” Hess said of the two juveniles. “I’m down at Gulfstream with horses, so my dad [trainer Bob Hess, Sr.] drove down from Golden Gate. I had him look at all the Merit Mans in the sale. I trained Merit Man and he’s done well with his initial crop, so we were trying to focus on all the Merit Mans. My dad identified the two that we bought as the two best ones in the sale.” Hess continued, “We bought them for a group of clients that my father and I both work with. My dad will get both of them ready up at Golden Gate and then we would hope to debut them sometime in early summer at Santa Anita or Del Mar.” A debut winner at Del Mar as a 2-year-old in 2012, Merit Man won the Tim Conway S. at Santa Anita before being nosed out of the win when second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint. He won the Spectacular Bid S. at Gulfstream in 2013 and was third behind subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon) in the GI Florida Derby. “Merit Man was precocious, he won early,” Hess said of the 9-year-old stallion whose first foals are three. “And then he ran a good third to Orb going 1 1/8 miles in the Florida Derby. A lot of his horses have a great mind and they have his speed, but they also have his laid back attitude. I’m looking forward to getting a few more Merit Mans and luckily we picked up two yesterday.” A large portion of the CTBA January catalogue was made up of 2-year-olds and three of the sale’s top four prices were for juveniles. Hess sees advantages to buying juveniles before the 2-year-olds in training sales season gets underway in March. “I feel like it’s a great buyers market, buying a 2-year-old in January,” he said. “Once they go down the lane in :10 and change, or now :9 and change, then you’ve got to pay through the teeth. I feel like we stole both of these and I’m sure there were a bunch of other great buys because they didn’t get to preview, which I think is better for the horse and better for the buyers. Maybe the seller takes it through the teeth when they sell them early, but there is a lot of risk involved with getting them ready for a 2-year-old sale. So I think it’s a win-win for all parties.” View the full article

David Armstrong has been appointed the new chief executive of the Racecourse Association (RCA) and will take up the role full-time on Mar. 11, the organisation announced on Thursday. Previously, Armstrong served as the Group Chief Executive of Wasps Holdings where he oversaw the club’s transition to becoming the largest rugby club in the world by revenue. Earlier in his career Armstrong served in senior positions with PepsiCo, Compass Group, Diageo and Lonrho, and was also a racehorse owner with William Muir. “I am delighted to welcome David Armstrong as Chief Executive of the RCA and to the sport of horseracing,” said RCA Chairman Maggie Carver. “David brings extensive and valuable experience across the sports and leisure industries as well as a background in finance. I am confident David will be a vital asset in the future development of racecourses as well as the sport as a whole. The full RCA team is looking forward to welcoming him and to working together.” Added Armstrong, who will remain Chairman of Pentathlon GB, Non-executive Director of Wasps Holdings and Advisory Board member at Oakwell Capital, “I am delighted and honoured to be joining the RCA at such an important time in the evolution of the sport. I hope I can bring my varied experiences from across the sporting landscape to bear in developing our racecourses and the sport in general.” View the full article

Thoroughbred owner/breeder and philanthropist Phyllis Mills Wyeth died Monday at the age of 78, according to a statement released by the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, of which Wyeth was a long-time supporter. Wyeth passed away with her husband and acclaimed painter Jamie Wyeth by her side. Born in New York City to the late James and Alice du Pont Mills and raised in Middleburg, Virginia, Wyeth became involved in racing through her family and achieved her greatest success as the owner/breeder of Union Rags, a fourth-generation homebred and winner of the 2012 GI Belmont S. Devil’s Bag and Gone West rank among the other success stories that were products of the Mills family breeding program. Wyeth majored in political science at Finch College and later attended the Columbia School of Social Work, eventually working for U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy and later in the Kennedy White House. In 1968 she married Jamie Wyeth and the couple took up residence on the Wyeth family’s 240-acre Point Lookout Farm on the Pennsylvania-Delaware border. Away from the racetrack, Wyeth dedicated her time to environmental conservancy in addition to serving as an advocate for the arts and the rights of the disabled. Funeral services will be private. This story will be updated. View the full article

Santa Anita has been doused with 3 1/2 inches of rain since Monday. View the full article

They call him 'Wow.' Sure it's an acronym for his name, but it's also the first thought that came to mind when the connections of Lecomte Stakes (G3) contender of War of Will watched him train early on. View the full article

Skyler's Scramjet and Gold for the King, who have each won four times at the Big A, will duke it out against three foes in the Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct Jan. 19. View the full article

Skyler's Scramjet and Gold for the King, who have each won four times at the Big A, will duke it out against three foes in the Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct Jan. 19. View the full article

This week is a recap of Kona Gold's win over Big Jag in the Palos Verdes Handicap (G2) Jan. 29, 2000 at Santa Anita Park. The recap, written by Craig Harzmann, ran in the Feb. 5, 2000 magazine and carried the headline, "Solid Gold." View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost. Grant van Niekerk grabs a double and Danny Shum makes it three on the night as Star Of Joy runs down Powermax to take race seven: a deserved first win at start 21 – @HKJC_Racing With the next meeting of the Jockey Club’s licensing committee getting closer and closer, it’s time for some reckless speculation (think of this as if you were chatting... View the full article

18:55 Newcastle The penultimate race of the day at tonight’s evening meeting at Newcastle is the scene of our NAP. Seven-year-old Landing Night returns to a venue he’s been successful at, off his last all-weather winning mark and under a jockey he’s done exceedingly well with. A drop in class will also be a massive […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 17th January appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Trainer Tony Cruz will bypass the Classic Mile with his stayer Helene Leadingstar as he plots an alternative course to the BMW Hong Kong Derby in March. The Australian Group One winner will instead step up in trip on Sunday when he tackles the Class Two New Street Handicap (1,800m) as Cruz looks for more ground after not living up to his lofty reputation over 1,600m in his two previous Hong Kong starts. As a winner of last year’s Group One South Australian Derby over 2,500m, Cruz said his... View the full article

He was reduced to a mere bystander in Beauty Generation’s stunning Longines Hong Kong Mile win in December but Peter Ho Leung has ensured Fifty Fifty will not face the same fate as the pair return to Group One racing this Sunday. While the reigning Horse of the Year lines up in the Stewards’ Cup (1,600m), Ho is stepping Fifty Fifty back to the 1,200m of the Centenary Sprint Cup, and not only to dodge the all-conquering Beauty Generation. “He’s the best horse in Hong Kong... View the full article

As the favorite to be named champion male sprinter for a second straight year, Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen's Roy H should soon enough be in pretty exclusive company. View the full article

After his most successful racing season, X Y Jet will make his 2019 debut at his favorite track and in a familiar race when Gulfstream Park hosts the Sunshine Millions Sprint Jan. 19. View the full article

Koh hoping for Solo hit on Sunday View the full article

Juglall stood down by order of Stewards this weekend View the full article

Early scratching January 20 View the full article

The Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing community is mourning the passing of Bill Graham, a larger than life figure in the industry as a prominent owner, breeder and builder in various capacities. He passed away Wednesday at 81-years-old following a battle with lung cancer. Graham, a burly individual who played three seasons as an offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League, had been involved in the business for almost 50 years. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2014 and was scheduled to receive the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit at this year’s Sovereign Awards along with fellow breeder/owner Gus Schickedanz for their lifelong dedication and commitment to Thoroughbred racing and breeding in Canada. Graham was a successful businessman in Graham Brothers Construction, which built highways, roads, bridges and industrial developments, including three race courses at Woodbine Racetrack and the surrounding area. In addition to breeding and racing, Graham contributed his time as a Vice-President of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario, Director of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, Commissioner of the Ontario Racing Commission, a Steward of the Jockey Club of Canada and a member of Woodbine’s Board of Directors. “I think we’ve lost one of the major, current founders of the breed (in Canada),” said Dermot Carty, Director of Sales at Adena Springs and Director of Sales of International Bloodstock Agency. “It’s a huge loss.” Trainer Mike Doyle, who had a long association with Graham and conditioned several horses for him for some 40 years, added, “He really, really enjoyed every aspect of the horse business because it was different than his other business. He worked hard on a regular basis. He did his own matings. He listened to his farm manager, he might have even talked to [others] about it at the races, maybe get a little input. He was a big, tough guy. He did what he was he going to do anyway.” Among Graham’s many accomplishments was breeding 2012 Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured (Lion Heart), who won six of seven races as a 2-year-old and more than $500,000. A multiple graded stakes winner for owner John C. Oxley, who bought him as a yearling for $290,000, Uncaptured won more than $1 million in lifetime earnings. His many victories included the 2013 Princes of Wales S., one of Canada’s Triple Crown races. Graham, who could be tough on the outside, but was considered a gentle soul by those who knew him, operated under the name Windhaven Farms in prominent pink and blue silks and had properties in Ontario and Kentucky. Carty said that whatever Graham did, he put his mind into it, including horse racing. “He surrounded himself with some pretty sharp individuals,” Carty said, noting Bob Hancock, who managed his farm in Ontario for about 35 years, and Tim Beeston, who managed his Kentucky operation for almost 25 years. “Between those two and himself he managed to develop not only an eye for great broodmares, but also to breed horses that could run,” Carty said. “He was a great guy, and once you got through the gruff [exterior], he was a lot of fun and he was decent. He turned out to be a great breeder and was always looking out to improve on whatever he had. He had another 150 acres added to his farm in Kentucky to make it better. He always did things top class.” He continued, “He put his heart and soul into it and got results. He didn’t do things halfway. He was always looking for value in his mares. He bought a mare off of us in foal to Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) for $85,000 and sold the baby as a weanling for about $500,000.” Peter Berringer, President of the Ontario Division of the CTHS, said, “Bill Graham’s participation and enthusiasm for the horse racing industry was inspiration for everyone. He will be remembered as one of the most influential builders, breeders and owners and will be sorely missed. Our condolences to his family and friends.” Graham bred and raced a top 2-year-old filly, Tiz Breathtaking (Tiznow), a winner last year of three of five races, including the GIII Mazarine S., before suffering a leg injury. Ken Richardson, Graham Brothers’ Secretary and Vice-President of Administration, said Graham was successful in the construction business because of his commitment to do well, his commitment to his fellow employees and his attention to the details of a project. He said Graham was equally diligent in his involvement in horse racing. “It certainly wasn’t a hobby when you have 50 horses,” Richardson said. “It started out that way, I know that. He enjoyed the competitiveness of the horse racing industry because Bill was a very competitive person himself. He loved to be around the horse racing industry. I can recall Bill being up extra early every morning going to watch his horses work out before he’d come to work in the construction industry. He was into all aspects of it. He just took a great interest in it.” Graham had a particularly strong impact raising and racing fillies, winning many of the premier distaff stakes races in Canada, beginning with Sugar Raiser (Flag Raiser), who won the Boniface S. in 1973. One of his more popular winners was Blondeinamotel (Bates Motel), a winner of the 1989 Canadian Oaks. In 2012, he won his first Sovereign Award as Breeder of the Year with just 32 starters that won 20 races, including six stakes. In 2013, he bred 20 winners from 29 starters that earned $2.2 million. Captivating (Kris S.), dam of Uncaptured, was named the 2013 Sovereign Award for Broodmare of the Year. “When I got into the breeding business I was the new pup on” the block,” Graham said several years ago. “The big guys were Windfields, Stafford, Kinghaven, Sam-Son and [Frank] Stronach.” He won his first Sovereign Award as an owner with Wavering Girl (Wavering Monarch), voted Canada’s top 3-year-old filly in 1989. He also won the Sovereign Award for 1998 champion 2-year-old filly Fantasy Lake. In 1997, he won the Sovereign Award for champion 3-year-old filly Cotton Carnival (Dixieland Band). Majestic Kahala (Majestic Prince), trained by Mort Hardy, was Graham’s first major filly winner. She was victorious in several stakes, including the E.P. Taylor in 1977, and was later sold for $2.5 million. Graham sold one of her offspring, Malaak (Dream Ahead), for $650,000 at Keeneland and she became a major stakes winner in England. Graham is survived by his two daughters, Valerie and Jackie. Funeral arrangements are pending. View the full article

Although the $450,000 overall bonus scheme for breeders, owners, and trainers is unchanged from its 2018 level, the scheduling, number of races, and cumulative purses for the stakes that comprise the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships (MATCH) series will get a significant makeover for 2019. The chief changes for the points-based challenge series at Laurel Park (Apr. 20), Penn National (June 1), Delaware Park (July 13), Parx (Sept. 2) and Monmouth Park (Sept. 28) include: 1) Each participating track getting its own exclusive showcase day of MATCH stakes 2) The exclusion of both high-end graded stakes and below-par stakes in terms of purse value, which will be replaced by 20 stakes with $100,000 purses carded equally at each track 3) A streamlining of the number of horse divisions, from five to four 4) The doubling of marketing money put up by each track to promote the series. The MATCH series, which debuted in 1997 and ran for five years, was brought back in 2018 after a long hiatus. It is the brainchild of Alan Foreman, the chairman/chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, and the goal of the series is to highlight regional racing while rewarding the connections of mid-Atlantic horses and providing a season-long focal point for fans and bettors. “Last year we got our feet wet with it. It was a success,” Foreman told TDN via phone Wednesday. “I saw somebody online this morning who said, ‘Well they’ve made an awful lot of changes to it. How can you call that a success?’ But we looked at what we accomplished in 2018, and now the thinking is, ‘How can we make it better?’ So that’s what we’re trying to do for 2019.” The basic MATCH concept remains the same. Horses competing in the series earn points based on participation and order of finish. The owners and trainers of the leading 1-2-3 point-earners in each division earn bonus money ($375,000 available). The overall points-earning owner ($50,000) and trainer ($25,000) for the entire series also earn bonuses. Like last year, this money is paid by various the horsemen’s groups and state breeding organizations in the mid-Atlantic. There are also separate Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware breeder bonuses ($40,000 available), with each state’s breeding organization fronting $5,000 payouts for the top point-earning horse of each sex that is certified in their respective programs. The altered format of the races will be the most noticeable shakeup to MATCH (see schedule here). Last year, the MATCH series began on GI Preakness S. weekend at Pimlico Race Course, then hopped around from track to track. An unequal number of races got carded at each venue. And some tracks opted to include graded stakes worth up to $250,000, while others carded $75,000 stakes. In hindsight, Foreman said, “We thought it was probably a mistake to open on Preakness weekend. And graded stakes races are great, but they’re not great for the series. You get a different caliber of horse, and those [graded stakes horses] are generally going to go elsewhere; they’re not necessarily going to continue on in the series. This year, we wanted a competition where the horses in the region are going to stay in the series and contest the series, and give us something that you don’t see elsewhere in the industry.” In fact, so few horses earned points in several of last year’s divisions that only $380,000 of the $450,000 in available bonus money got paid out because the rules state that a horse must participate in at least three races within its division to be eligible for a bonus. “They didn’t earn enough points to qualify, and that’s something that we were scratching our heads about,” Foreman said. “Some of it had to do with the divisions we ran last year, and it was also because of the competition from graded stakes horses. We think we’ve fixed it this year in a way that we shouldn’t have that problem. Remember, we had five divisions last year. We’ll only have four this year. It’s not that we’ve reduced the bonus pool. It’s just that we have one less division.” But the switch to standardization–four stakes of $100,000 apiece at each of the five participating tracks–means a reduction in both the number of races and overall purse money for the series. Last year, MATCH had 25 total races with $2.9 million in purses. “We tried to make it level for everyone. We said let’s do 20 races, $100,000 each for $2 million in total purses,” Foreman said. “They’re all $100,000 races, they’re all stakes, and we’ve left it to the tracks to name those races, and doing it in a way that they’re not interfering or competing with their own stakes schedules or stakes at other tracks within the region.” (Like in 2018, the 2019 stakes money comes from each track’s own purse account.) The four horse divisions have been streamlined as follows: 3YO & Up Sprint Dirt; 3YO & Up Sprint Turf; 3YO & Up Fillies and Mares Sprint Dirt; 3YO & Up Fillies and Mares Long Turf. Presque Isle Downs, which participated last year, won’t be included in the 2019 MATCH series. The Maryland Jockey Club will be represented by Laurel only, and not Pimlico. Foreman said one betting-related benefit of having four MATCH races at each track on a stand-alone showcase day will mean the likely addition of reduced-takeout Pick Fours on those respective cards. This is pending regulatory approval in each state, he added, but he believes such wagers are doable. “We’re going to do little things, and we’re going to make them work. We’ll keep trying to innovate,” Foreman said. “I can’t overstate enough the level of cooperation that is required and put forth by the tracks and the horsemen to really make this thing work. We had some very close to irreconcilable issues that we thought might prevent the series from going forward this year. This is not simple. When you move days and change days that some tracks covet, it affects everybody in the region. It is a really significant collaborative effort.” Foreman said one of the sticking points during 2019 negotiations was that having a “championship day” was “a condition of being in the series” for Monmouth. “And then, in doing the schedule for this year, we thought, ‘Well, why can’t everybody have a big event day, and why don’t we sequence the races so we move from track to track, sort of what NASCAR does?’ “We thought it would be a scheduling nightmare. And it was incredibly difficult–but it worked. Everybody liked the idea of each track having a special day just for MATCH, which does conclude at Monmouth with a championship day. We think it will enhance the series, and it will be good for the horsemen, because they’ll be able to move from track to track.” Foreman said another change is that last year, MATCH tracks paid for the series’s administration and advertising costs on a sliding scale that was not publicly disclosed. “This year, they’re all paying the same,” Foreman said. “They’ve increased their contributions this year–they’ve doubled their marketing contributions–which I just think shows the confidence that they have in the series.” In the spirit of recognizing that MATCH is an ongoing work in progress, Foreman said that its member organizations are already looking ahead to tweaks that might be implemented for 2020. “We have a new [regional] player this year in Colonial Downs,” Foreman said, referencing the Virginia track that will be back in action for the first time since 2013. “We actually talked with them–they’re not far enough along yet with [planning] their summer meet, and we were too far along to include them in MATCH. But I think that you’ll see them in the series in 2020, so we’ll probably expand. We also talked to New York. That brings along a whole host of other [issues], but at least we’re having a conversation with them.” View the full article