Wandering Eyes

Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) is set to be represented by his first South African runner in the form of the 3-year-old filly Sleeping Single (GB) in Thursday’s second race at Kenilworth. Bred by David and Diane Nagle’s Barronstown Stud, the March foal, a €220,000 graduate of the 2017 Goffs Orby Sale, is out of Weekend Fling (Forest Wildcat), dam of Group 3 winner Craftsman (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and GSP Royal Empress (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), and a half-sister to US Grade I winner Archarcharch (Arch), GSW Balance of Power (Silver Train) and SW Run Sully Run (Cherokee Run). The filly’s third dam is Pattern Step (Nureyev), winner of the 1988 GI Hollywood Oaks for the legendary conditioner Charlie Whittingham. Trained during her racing days by Mark Johnston, Weekend Fling has proved a commercial hit for the Nagles since they acquired the mare–then 10 years of age–for $425,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale via Blandford Bloodstock. The Arch colt she was carrying at the time of her purchase was a 90,000gns Tattersalls December foal before being purchased by the US-based Lothenbach Stables for $430,000 at Keeneland September in 2016. The mare’s foal of 2017, a colt by Muhaarar (GB), was knocked down to the BBA Ireland for €400,000 at last year’s Orby Sale. Australia was represented by 17 winners from his first crop to race in 2018, including G3 Prix du Calvaldos winner Beyond Reason (Ire) and Sydney Opera House (GB), runner-up in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Sleeping Beauty is trained by Justin Snaith and will be ridden by Richard Fourie in the 1200-metre test. Post time for the day’s second event is 12.40pm local time (10.40 GMT). View the full article

Three leading local candidates for the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds Jan. 25 at Oaklawn Park had workouts over a fast track Jan. 14, including two for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. View the full article

Agent Jay Fedor will represent perennial Arlington International Racecourse riding champion Jose Valdivia Jr. at the 2019 Oaklawn Park meeting that begins Jan. 25. View the full article

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued an initial 47 entries for its 2019 Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale supplemental catalogue, which can be viewed here. The sales company will continue to accept supplemental entries throughout the week. The new entries, catalogued as hips 430-476, include: Vicki T (Street Sense) (hip 444): This half-sister to GISW Zipessa (City Zip) is being offered by Ballysax Bloodstock as a broodmare prospect. Babybluesbdancing (Sky Mesa) (hip 466): The 5-year-old broodmare prospect is a multiple stakes winner and graded stakes-placed. She is consigned by James B. Keogh (Grovendale). Oops Times Two (Badge of Silver) (hip 470): The broodmare prospect consigned by Scott Mallory is a half-sister to MGISW young Coolmore sire Practical Joke (Into Mischief). Taking Aim (Trappe Shot) (hip 476): Consigned by Gainesway as a racing/broodmare prospect, the 4-year-old filly is a three-quarter sister to Grade I-winning sire Tapizar (Tapit). The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale will be held Feb. 4-5 with supplemental entries to be sold Feb. 5 following the end of the main catalogue. View the full article

Hot Springs might be a fun place to spend the racing season, but trainer Jason Barkley probably couldn’t wait to get out of town when the meet ended last year. Just 28 and trying to make a name for himself, he went 0-for-16 at Oaklawn with one close second. Four months later, things had gone from bad to worse. Entering the beginning of August, his record on the year was 0-for-43. Barkley was finding out firsthand how difficult it is for a young trainer, particularly one who didn’t apprentice under a Todd Pletcher, Wayne Lukas or Chad Brown and didn’t have the backing of a major owner, to break into the business. While he didn’t have any winners, he did have a plan. He knew he was never going to be an overnight sensation, but he had to keep moving forward and build his stable, even if it was one very small step at a time. He had enough confidence in his abilities that he believed he would inevitably have a break through and that each break through would lead to another. It was just a “beaten” $16,000 claimer at Ellis Park, but when Katie’s Reward (Warrior’s Reward) won on Aug. 5 for the Barkley stable it was as if the cloud that had been hovering over his head instantly vanished. She began a streak that saw him go 11-for-38 through the rest of the year. Now, Barkley is returning to the same track, Oaklawn, that ate him up and spit him out, with a far better barn, momentum and confidence that this will be a meet where he will make some noise. “For me, this is a big meet,” he said. “Last year’s meet was a struggle for me. I came in with five [horses] and we were hitting the board, but weren’t winning any races. I’m coming in with more horses this year and much better stock. I don’t look at it as a ‘now-or-never’ meet. The idea is to just keep progressing. I had five here last year. Now I have 12. If I can leave here with 15, 18 that would be exactly the type of thing that would keep moving us forward.” Barkley is a third-generation trainer. His grandfather was trainer Paul Byers and his father is Jeff Barkley, who is still active. The younger Barkley knew early on what he wanted to with his life, and began preparing for his career at a very young age. “I walked my first horse when I was still in elementary school,” he said. “My grandfather and father were in same barn at Ellis Park when I was a kid. I’ve been in the barn since I was big enough to walk a horse.” He attended the University of Louisville, working summers for trainers Kelly Von Hemel, Steve Margolis and Paul McGee. After he graduated from Louisville’s equine program, he became a vagabond of sorts. He was not interested in going to work for one of the big barns and having to wait several years to move up what is essentially a corporate ladder. Instead, he purposely bounced around, hoping to learn different aspects of the sport from trainers who have different specialties. His first major job was as an assistant to Nick Zito. He also worked as an assistant to Joe Sharp before going to the Wesley Ward stable, his last stop before going out on his own in 2017. “I thought if I bounced around I could see different ways that people do things,” he said. “I got to be around higher-class horses with Zito. Joe had a little bit of everything, cheaper horses and better horses and he had moved on to becoming a trainer after a relatively short time with Mike Maker. I learned how he became so successful so fast. With Wesley, I wanted to learn about the 2-year-old game. The way I see it, everyone pays attention to 2 year-olds and stakes horses, and everything else is just filler.” He’s no threat to take home the Oaklawn training title, but it would be a surprise if Barkley didn’t win at least a handful of races at the meet. “The quality I have this year versus last year? It’s not even close,” he said. He’s hopeful that he can win his first career stakes race when he sends out Arch Avenue (Archarcharch), a recent allowance winner at Turfway and $5500 yearling bargain buy, in the Feb. 2 Martha Washington S. He is also excited about Highland Lass (Quality Road), who was picked up at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale after starting her career in Southern California. “We also have some higher-end claimers and a maiden that I like a lot,” Barkley said. He’s progressed from the trainer who left Oaklawn last year after a humbling experience. But he knows he has a long way to go. Win four or five races at Oaklawn, keep getting his name out there on social media, pick up another client or two, claim a couple of solid horses at this meet, work hard. “I like to set goals,” he said. “What do we need to make happen to keep moving forward? We have checked some boxes lately.” At Oaklawn, he hopes to check a few more. View the full article

The Jockeys and Jeans Stallions Season Sale to benefit the Permanently Disable Jockeys Fund kicks off Wednesday at 8p.m. and runs through Friday at 8:05p.m. “Our sale is the only one in the entire racing industry whose entire proceeds goes to help humans; namely those Jockeys who have given so much of their lives beneath the horses we all know and love,” said Jockeys and Jeans President, Barry Pearl. “These brave men and women are no longer riding horses but wheelchairs.” The auction offers season from stallions such as Shackleford, Mucho Macho Man, Army Mule, First Dude, Alternation, Upstart, Wicked Strong, Trappe Shot, Gio Ponti and many more. View the full article

Sunday Racing's grade 1 winner Aerolithe arrived Jan. 16 at Gulfstream Park at approximately 3:15 a.m. to prepare for the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1T) coming up Jan. 26 at the Florida track. View the full article

As a sequel to our recent exhaustive survey of Kentucky sires for 2019, it seems only fair to cast the net wider and seek some value in the regional market. In doing so, however, we exchange one problem of scale for another: the sheer volume of stallions concentrated in the Bluegrass creates a far more coherent marketplace than the one fragmented from one coast to the other. There is, of course, a degree of traffic between the two. Stallions who fail to find a sustainable niche in Kentucky often migrate to pastures new in state programs. Exceptionally, there will even be young stallions who make a sufficient impact in Florida or Maryland to move the other way, as did Kantharos and Malibu Moon. Yet there is little point comparing the fees of regional stalwarts with those commanded even by ordinary Kentucky stallions. Written into their respective values are the practical limitations of mare populations, shipping costs and so on. In states with incentive programs nourished by gaming revenues, it may be worth transporting a mare for a Kentucky cover before returning to foal, say, in New York. Generally speaking, however, local sires will maximise your eligibility for restricted prizes. So the challenge is to pick out one or two sires, within that context, who look eligible to punch above their fee. We’ll only look at the principal markets. There may be better value in Texas than living legend Too Much Bling (Rubiano), for instance, but at a lifetime 10.34 percentage of black-type winners to named foals, I’ll just have to take your word for it. (That would be just as true if he stood at Claiborne, alongside the $250,000 stallion who, uniquely in the nation’s top 100, could read that number and still look Too Much Bling in the eye.) Because even within the deeper pools, we’re just dipping a subjective line or two to hook some value. So no point recommending Undrafted (Lion Heart) in Florida, with his book already full; nor highlighting that Central Banker (Speightstown) made a bright start, when he stands for the same money as New York’s multiple champion sire Freud (Storm Cat). Value is always in the eye of the beholder, and will vary wildly between end-users and commercial breeders. Courageous Cat (Storm Cat), to take one lurid example, is plainly “value” slashed to $2,500 from $6,000 for 2019 by Questroyal North in New York: he’s an awful lot of horse for that fee, as a Grade I winner with a world-class pedigree, and entitled to get you any kind of runner for the equivalent of a few dozen bales of hay. But very small books in the last couple of years will give him limited opportunity to build commercial momentum on the four black-type winners who kept him in the top six New York sires in 2018. So it depends what you’re after. Each to their own. CALIFORNIA GRAZEN (Benchmark), $5,000 Tommy Town Thoroughbreds Wait, we’ll come to Grazen in a minute. But were there seriously only ten mares left for Ministers Wild Cat in 2018? A top ten Californian sire every year since 2012, he is one of the last available sons of the great Deputy Minster out of a Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner. He obviously didn’t show the same track ability as his half-brother War Chant (Danzig) but his 18 stakes winners have come at a perfectly respectable percentage for a horse standing at $4,000. And, just a hunch, but I’d bet that with that pedigree someday one of his daughters will foal a champion. Conversely, breeders have been slowly waking up to his younger studmate Grazen (Benchmark), who has only sired 88 named foals across six crops but has produced such striking dividends that he has entertained 101 and 68 mares over the past two years. Of just 62 starters, his 51 winners have included no fewer than seven at black-type level. These include Grade III winner Enola Gray, who also has a Grade I podium to her name. Grazen was a fast horse, who wired a Grade III field for a 103 Beyer, and if there is little immediate distinction in his family then there is no denying his own sire’s oomph. Benchmark, a son of Alydar, was also responsible for GI Santa Anita Derby winner Brother Derek and those blitzing Grade I winners Points Offthebench and Idiot Proof. Wherever it’s coming from, Grazen is earning his stripes and the foals conceived this year will be able to ride any success achieved by a book that more than trebled in 2017. Giants beware: this David’s sling is now loaded. SMILING TIGER (Hold That Tiger), $6,500 Harris Farms This guy has come a long way since his discovery as a yearling at the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Sale, or indeed since throwing his jockey three times before his debut in a four-furlong maiden at Golden Gate Fields. He won by daylight that day, promptly added a stakes before sharing the podium with champion Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike) at both Grade II and Grade I level. With maturity he won three Grade I sprints–the Bing Crosby S., Ancient Title S. and Triple Bend H.; also beaten a nose in the Malibu S.–and twice made the frame in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, besides winning four other graded stakes. He also landed running at stud, as California’s leading first-crop sire in 2017, and last year his 32 winners included five at black-type level–a tally surpassed nationally, in his intake, only by the stellar Violence (Medaglia d’Oro). These were crowned, in the final days of the year, by a breakout Grade I winner in Spiced Perfection, who turned herself from a $6,500 yearling into a La Brea S. winner. Smiling Tiger’s dam Shandra Smiles (Cahill Road) produced another Grade I winner by a son of Storm Cat in She’s A Tiger (Tale Of The Cat), winner of the Del Mar Debutante and Eclipse champion despite her demotion in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; and it’s a bottom line loaded with Florida speed, the second dam being by Ta Wee’s son Great Above (broodmare sire of Housebuster). So there’s both class and dash on the page; while Smiling Tiger was as terrifically sound and hardy as he was fast. All in all, the kind of commercial package many a Kentucky farm would be proud to offer. FLORIDA VALIANT MINISTER (Candy Ride), $3,000 Bridlewood This is plainly a roll of the dice–but one that looks warranted at the odds. Because, unlike most regional rookies, you really couldn’t say where he might end up if only he can get started. A $680,000 sale-record OBS June breezer, he won his only start at Santa Anita in a hand-ride for a 99 Beyer, and Baffert has openly billed him as a freak. Unfortunately the horse was then derailed by a stalls accident. We all know that there are 49 duds for every Maclean’s Music (Distorted Humor), but what makes Valiant Minister at least look a valid experiment is his pedigree. He’s out of a Deputy Minister mare, which gives him an automatic credit, and is a full brother to Grade I-placed Moe Candy; while the second dam is Grade I winner Lunar Spook. He’s a strapping lad, by an emerging sire of sires, and 78 mares in his debut book last year will give him a very secure toehold to show what he can do. You couldn’t be at all surprised if he came up with a six-figure breezer or two. And, with so little downside, you’re entitled to those Maclean’s Music daydreams. ADIOS CHARLIE (Indian Charlie), $3,000 Ocala Stud With the farm reporting Uncaptured full–and he certainly launched himself into the slipstream of another son of Lion Heart in Kantharos, since uprooted for Kentucky, with eight winners from 29 starters including three at black-type level–then how about rewarding this guy for his Grade I knockout with Cigar Mile winner Patternrecognition? It’s not as though Adios Charlie can’t do quantity as well, his 62% winners-to-starters in 2018 (67 of 108) outstanding among meaningful members of an intake headed by a rather more expensive son of the same sire in Uncle Mo (himself setting a 49% clip). Besides Patternrecognition (a $9,000 R.N.A. 2-year-old, who also won the GII Kelso H.), Adios Charlie had four other stakes winners last year and is plainly parlaying pedigree and performance into results despite a very modest fee: he is out of a sister to a dual Grade I winner (on turf, definitely an angle for breeders) and himself showed authentic calibre in a light career, winning the GII Jerome S decisively from good horses (namely Preakness third Astrology (A.P.Indy) and Grade I sprinter Justin Phillip (First Samurai)). Definitely time to say hello to Adios Charlie. At the same farm and fee, incidentally, Prospective (Malibu Moon) has made a good start. With a second crop entering the fray in 2018, he came up with 34 winners from 51 runners including three at black-type level. GONE ASTRAY (Dixie Union), $4,500 Northwest Stud Perhaps the best pedigree in the state and he has quietly made it tell, mustering black-type winners through his first four crops at a superior career clip to any of its other leading stallions. There were five more in 2018, surpassed only by Florida’s leading sire First Dude (Stephen Got Even)–who had a much larger running population and stands at over twice the fee. Gone Astray was a dual Grade II winner, in the Pennsylvania and Ohio Derbys, showing enough ability to qualify him as a legitimate conduit for a Phipps family that features numerous still more accomplished animals: he’s out of a Mr P half-sister to champion filly Smuggler, out of Hall of Famer Inside Information. He has the imposing physique to match and it would have made a big difference to his profile had his second-crop son Pretty Boy Flash managed to bridge that neck and nose to Practical Joke (Into Mischief) in the GI Hopeful S. As it is, his books have since held steady in the 70s and his pedigree and build together suggest that his stock could consolidate with maturity. Gone Astray could still hit the bull’s eye. BRETHREN (Distorted Humor), $7,500 Arindel Farm As a straw in the wind, a filly as zippy as Cookie Dough–who won a couple of Florida stakes by an aggregate 13 lengths before her late defection from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies–is perhaps worth catching. She is from the second crop of a well-related young stallion who in 2018 had 30 winners and as many as eight black-type performers from 65 starters. Another of his three stakes winners, Old Time Revival, was second in the GIII Gotham S. Well related? No less than you would hope for a horse named Brethren. He was the next foal after Kentucky Derby winner (and $30k stallion) Super Saver (Maria’s Mon) delivered by Supercharger (A.P. Indy), herself sister to one Grade I winner and to the dam of another. This modern flowering of an old Phipps family potentially qualifies Brethren, an unbeaten 2-year-old who didn’t really go on after winning the Grade III Sam F Davis S., as one whose blood and looks together turn him into a good deal better stallion than he was a runner. MARYLAND FREEDOM CHILD (Malibu Moon), $2,500 Country Life Farm A 13-length success in the GII Peter Pan S. could have been a flash in the pan, given the sloppy track that day, but Freedom Child has certainly made an auspicious start to his new career. He could not be in better hands to do so, of course: the same farm launched his remarkable sire, and is now knocking the ball out of the park with Friesian Fire (A.P. Indy) from the same line. Having sent his second crop into battle last year, Freedom Child had 18 winners from just 28 runners including two at black-type level. He has a page you could take anywhere in Kentucky, being out of a Deputy Minister daughter of Grade I winner City Band (Carson City)–whose full sister is the granddam of champion juvenile Shanghai Bobby (Harlan’s Holiday). Though a May 18 foal, Freedom Child was able to command $350,000 at the big Saratoga sale–testament to his big, easy stride–and while he does have a couple of small books to ride out now, he deserves backing to do so. MADEFROMLUCKY (Lookin At Lucky), $5,000 Northview Stallion Station Here’s a young gun from the farm that brought you Great Notion (Elusive Quality)–a state champion who himself looks undiminished value, even as he turns 19, with eight of his 56 winners in 2018 scoring at black-type level. Whether Madefromlucky’s first foals, now hitting the ground, can propel him towards similar heights remains to be seen. But you have to say that many a Bluegrass farm would envy a millionaire out of an unraced full sister to none other than Tapit (Pulpit). Madefromlucky, from his perennially under-rated sire’s debut crop, held his form through four seasons as a dual Grade II winner at three who finished up winning a Grade III by a dozen lengths at five. Obviously his dam, as a sister to Tapit, shares the additional honour of being out of a half-sister to Rubiano. One way or the other, breeders will be turning up some pretty fertile soil here. NEW YORK BELLAMY ROAD (Concerto), $5,000 Irish Hill & Dutchess Views It should scarcely be necessary to highlight the credentials of a stallion eclipsed only by the gold standard of Freud (Giant’s Causeway) in the state earnings table in 2018. But even the emergence of a chip off the old block in Diversify, who carried his speed to a second Grade I success in the Whitney S., has not prevented a clip to Bellamy Road’s fee from $6,000–a gesture, no doubt, towards a mysteriously myopic drop in his book from 63 to just 35 last year. Given that he has yet to gain a full foothold in the restricted program, that level of business woefully underplays the eminence he has achieved in open company. Diversify is one of no fewer than 31 black-type winners for Bellamy Road, the memory of whose epoch-making 17-length GI Wood Memorial success–earning an eye-watering 120 Beyer–was cruelly dimmed by the crash into which he launched his first foals. It must be granted that he had a challenging sire and damsire, but there is real class deeper in the family. End-users, certainly, must be pinching themselves that such an accomplished animal should be available at $5,000–just a quarter of the fee he commanded when moved to WinStar after producing a Grade I winner in his first crop. That first season at WinStar yielded another elite winner (GI La Brea S. scorer Constellation) plus a Kentucky Oaks runner-up and Diversify himself. A horse built as massively as Bellamy Road is bound to produce an occasional slow-burner of that ilk, but that only augurs well for all his intervening stock as it matures. Bottom line: is there a sire in the Empire State more eligible to produce a Derby horse? BUSTIN STONES (City Zip), $5,000 Waldorf Farm Heirs to City Zip have come to seem ever more precious since his loss and this one offers a very persuasive package, by regional standards, as a Grade I winner who was never headed in six starts. A seven-length debut scorer, he then reeled off three stakes for state-breds before graduating to win the GII General George S. and then the GI Carter H. Bustin Stones will have a very small footprint of juveniles this year, but has moved his book back up to 40 mares in the last two years after seizing his limited early opportunities (doubling his fee in the process). No fewer than 123 of his 159 lifetime starters have won, seven at black-type level. He is built to sprint and exudes toughness, blue-collar qualities also evident in his stock. Here’s a horse rolling up his sleeves and getting the job done. PENNSYLVANIA FLASHBACK (Tapit), $3,500 Diamond B Farm He’s been evicted from Kentucky pretty hastily, his first runners in 2018 having acquitted themselves perfectly respectably. A dozen winners from 38 runners is on a par with several rivals being feted for a strong start, while only by Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) can match his two Graded stakes placings. Boujie Girl made the frame in both the GI Del Mar Debutante S. and GII Sorrento S., while Tripwire was beaten just half a length at Grade III level. In fairness, the Kentucky market is becoming pretty congested for young sons of Tapit, so it makes sense to try and relaunch him in a state program with bonuses to play for. Especially at a farm that can produce a left-field success like Uptowncharlybrown (Limehouse), whose startling early percentages doubled his book in 2018. In a brief but accomplished career, Flashback won the GII Robert B. Lewis S. by six lengths before chasing home Goldencents (Into Mischief) in the GI Santa Anita Derby. Those achievements are underpinned by a full-sister who won two Grade I races besides making the podium in the Kentucky Oaks, in Zazu. Their dam by Mr Greeley has also produced a smart juvenile in England, while the next two dams are by Pleasant Colony and Nijinsky, so there could be a wider turf angle than is generally associated with Tapit. Flashback is a striking animal, his coat dappled as though by silver leaves, and has covered 294 mares in three years since siring this debut crop. That’s quite a following wind for a young stallion set adrift so soon. 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. Barry Butzer MIDSHIPMAN, Darley America, $8,500 Midshipman has been a favorite at Sun Valley from day one, consistently supplying ourselves and our clients with progeny that make a significant impact on our bottom line. He is clearly our go-to stallion at this price point, and a horse that has given us four talented stakes horses earning right at $1 million. From Woodbine to Santa Anita, our Midshipmans are all game. It is easy to forget that this top-class juvenile champion handed defeat to top sires Pioneerof the Nile and Munnings in that year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Midshipman’s body of work is built from smallish crops, and he has crossed a new threshold now with two Grade I-placed fillies. Breeders have gotten the message and his crops have doubled in the past four seasons. The commercial market has also taken note, our three Midshipmans offered last year averaged $87,000. Last weekend a chestnut filly had nowhere to go in the eighth at Gulfstream. However, Klaravich Stables and Chad Brown’s Connectivity exhibited a turn of foot not often seen, and burst through in the lane and drew off on debut. Yet another winner for Darley’s Midshipman. If you look elsewhere for a champion son of Unbridled’s Song for your mare this season, be prepared to ante up a cool $30,000 or $75,000. Midshipman should be utilized by breeders shopping with or without a budget View the full article

The Longines World’s Best Racehorse and Longines World’s Best Horse Race Ceremony will be streamed live by Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). Scheduled for Jan. 23, the sixth edition of the awards will be held at The Landmark hotel in London and begin at 2:45 p.m. GMT/9:45 a.m. EST. The live stream will be available at longines.com and ifhaonline.org, as well as the Longines and Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Facebook page. The G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has been named the Longines World’s Best Horse Race for the third time, after winning that accolade in 2015 and 2017. The GI Breeders’ Cup Classic earned that distinction in 2016. The connections of the winning horse and the connections of the Longines World’s Best Horse Race with both be presented with Longines watches, while the former will receive a replica of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse vase and the latter a trophy in the shape of a horse head. View the full article

Tickets for the 2019 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Nov. 1-2 will go on sale to the public Mar. 4. There will be an exclusive pre-sale prior to that date and fans are encouraged to sign up now at BreedersCup.com/2019 for information and pre-sale access. View the full article

Hermine Bastide has been named the new French representative for Coolmore in the wake of Mathieu Legars departure to Arqana. Bastide has spent the past nine years working for Ballydoyle Racing Stables for trainer Aidan O’Brien first as a rider, and then in the office. “It’s a wonderful opportunity,” said Bastide. “I am very excited about my new role and meeting French breeders over the weeks and months ahead.” View the full article

Natasha Galpin, a work rider for trainer Ian Jardine, died during a training accident on the grass gallops Tuesday morning after her mount sustained a fatal gutteral pouch myosis (ruptured artery). She was 22. Galpin’s mount was treated immediately, but could not be saved. “Our main priority throughout has been Natasha and the rest of our staff, who are distraught at the loss of a colleague and friend but have been extremely supportive of each other,” Iain Jardine Racing announced in a statement on Wednesday. “As a Team here, we are doing our best to get through and cope with this devastating situation. Natasha was an experienced and valued, full-time member of Team IJR. She was an accomplished event rider and ran her own livery yard. She worked alongside her boyfriend Olyn. Our thoughts and prayers are with Natasha’s parents and sisters at this very sad time and we hope you will join us in respecting their privacy. We are grateful for the help we are receiving from racing’s support network including Racing Welfare and the National Trainers Federation.” “I know I speak for everyone at the BHA when I say we are truly shocked and devastated about this tragic news,” said British Horseracing Authority Chief Executive Nick Rust in a statement. “While such incidents are extremely rare, there is an element of risk every time a rider sits on any horse and as such we must never take for granted the bravery and commitment of our workforce. Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of Natasha Galpin and the yard of Ian Jardine.” View the full article

5th-FG, $43,000, Alw/OC ($50K), 3yo, 1m70yds, post time: 3:23 p.m. ET A pair of promising, well-bred sons of Tapitheadline this event that could very well provide a preview of a future Derby prep. Gun It, a $2.6-million KEESEP yearling out of MGISP Miss Besilu (Medaglia d’Oro) and from the immediate family of Horses of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado) and Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) as well as last year’s GI United Nations S. hero Funtastic (More Than Ready), settled for fourth after showing speed first up at Churchill Oct. 28. He put it all together last time here Dec. 22, airing by 4 1/4 lengths and garnering the ‘TDN Rising Star‘ nod. Cornacchia also earned the ‘Rising Star‘ distinction on the same day Gun It did. Buzzed about ahead of his six-panel unveiling, he endured tons of traffic trouble, but still got up by a nose late at even-money. A $685,000 FTSAUG buyback, his dam is MGSW/MGISP sprinter Great Hot (Brz) (Orientate). Cornacchia is trained by Brad Cox, as is 2-1 morning-line second choice (behind Gun It) Owendale (Into Mischief), who was beaten a neck in an identical spot to this one on that same Dec. 22 card. TJCIS PPs 2nd-SA, $55,000, Msw, 4yo/up, f, 6f Thor-Bred Stable homebred Gold Arrow (Medaglia d’Oro) makes her belated debut here. Out of GISW Rigoletta (Concerto), she is a half to none other than fellow Jerry Hollendorfer trainee and 2017 GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Battle of Midway (Smart Strike). Last year’s GI Cigar Mile H. winner Patternrecognition (Adios Charlie) is out of a half to the dam. TJCIS PPs View the full article

MG1SW Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}-Alpha Lupi {Ire}, by Rahy) will visit Coolmore’s Derby hero and multiple champion sire Galileo (Ire) this spring, Niarchos racing manager Alan Cooper confirmed to the Racing Post. The lanky grey filly rolled through four consecutive Group 1 victories last spring and summer beginning in the Irish 1000 Guineas, followed by the Coronation S., the Falmouth S. and finally the Prix Jacques Le Marois. Her Flaxman colours were finally lowered by the tough-as-nails MG1SW Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) when she ran 3/4s of a length second in the G1 Matron S. and sustained a chipped right front fetlock in the process. “She is absolutely sound now and appears to be enjoying the transition from a filly in training to the paddocks,” Cooper told Racing Post. “Galileo fits the bill for her. And of course it’s also the Galileo–Danehill cross.” The ‘TDN Rising Star’, who was trained by Jessica Harrington, is a half-sister to Irish SW and English MGSP Tenth Star (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). Her second dam, the dual French Classic heroine East of the Moon (Private Account) is a daughter of the legendary Flaxman bluehen Miesque (Nureyev), and a two-time winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile. Miesque produced French Classic hero and successful sire Kingmambo to the cover of Mr. Prospector and this is also the family of GI Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Karakontie (Jpn) (Bernstein), UAE Group 1 winner Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and G1 Prix du Jockey Club victor Study of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) among many other high-class descendants. The resulting foal will carry the exceptional Galileo-Danehill cross, but there are also three Group 1 winners out of Mastercraftsman’s sire Danehill Dancer (Ire) (Danehill) to date: Irish/English highweight and Classic hero The Gurkha (Ire), MG1SW Alice Springs (Ire), and multiple champion Minding (Ire), responsible for 12 top-level victories between them. View the full article

After a successful return of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships in 2018, this year the series returns with a format change that will allow each participating track a day in the spotlight. View the full article

I’m delighted to be writing for Racebets throughout the remainder of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which builds up to the hugely valuable Dubai World Cup night on March 30. Coming out to work in Dubai at this time of year is fantastic for body and soul and Saeed Bin Suroor, who I’m riding out […] The post Kieran Fallon Dubai World Cup Carnival Blog appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Sunday Racing Co.'s grade 1 winner Aerolithe (JPN) arrived Jan. 16 at Gulfstream Park at approximately 3:15 a.m. to prepare for the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1T) coming up Jan. 26 at the Florida track. View the full article

A promising 3-year-old and top sprinter have arrived in Dubai for Steve Asmussen, and Ken McPeek has four horses at Meydan as the two U.S.-based trainers target not only Dubai World Cup Day races but events at the track's Carnival meeting as well. View the full article

Beauty Generation, Elusive State and Clement Legend – those three horses might not be equals on the track, but they are all part of an exclusive club, at least for a few days. They are the only gallopers to win four straight races in Hong Kong this season, Danny Shum Chap-shing’s Clement Legend joining the crew after a hard-fought victory in the Bowrington Handicap (2,200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. There is a gulf between the trio – Beauty Generation is the... View the full article

After a successful return of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships (MATCH) in 2018, this year the series returns with a format change that will allow each participating track a day in the spotlight. View the full article

The opening of Santa Anita’s winter meet late last month came with a spate of good results for European-breds, and three of those had more in common than their suffixes alone. The G2 Mathis Brothers Mile winner River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), the Listed Lady of Shamrock S. winner and GI American Oaks third Amandine (GB) (Shamardal) and the Listed Blue Norther S. third Thriving (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) were all sourced from Britain by owners Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal along with American-based agent Joe Miller of Kern Thoroughbreds. All three are trained in California by Jeff Mullins. The now 4-year-old River Boyne had been placed at two in Ireland for trainer Gordon Elliott, but he has done nothing but progress since Miller signed for him for 70,000gns at the 2017 Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale. Miller was working on behalf of the California-based father and son team of Jed Cohen and Tim Cohen, who race horses together as Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal. Joining Mullins, River Boyne was second at Del Mar about a month post-sale and then proceeded to win three straight, including the Listed Pasadena S. River Boyne has now won seven times for his new connections and has been off the board just once in 11 stateside starts. The Mathis Brothers Mile on Dec. 26 was his third graded win, and came after a half-length second in the GI Hollywood Derby. “He’s an amazing horse and Jeff Mullins has done a great job keeping him at a high level for the whole year,” Miller said. “He cost 70,000gns at the sale. He was still a maiden when we bought him off Gordon Elliott on the last day of the sale, which is usually the worst day. There’s usually not a lot of quality on the final day and he was the one horse that we liked that day, and we were lucky enough to buy him. We ran him right off the plane when he got to America and he’s really never missed a beat. It was great that he was able to end the year on a high note for them.” On the same card that River Boyne won the Mathis Brothers Mile, Amandine took the Listed Lady of Shamrock S. going a mile. Perhaps even more remarkably, the then 3-year-old filly wheeled back three days later to finish third stepped up to a mile and a quarter in the GI American Oaks. Amandine had been twice placed at two for trainer David Elsworth and broke her maiden last summer for David Simcock. Miller purchased Amandine when he was in Newmarket for last year’s renewal of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale, but not in the ring; he bought her privately for Red Baron’s Barn, Rancho Temescal and Shanderella Stables from breeder Lordship Stud, having some inside knowledge of the family. “My racing partnership, Triton Stable, had raced the dam, Kissable, in America as partners with Lordship Stud’s Trevor and Libby Harris,” Miller said. “She won a stake for us at Saratoga and she was a lot of fun, and the Harrises bought us out on her at the Tattersalls Sale as a broodmare [for 180,000gns]. Amandine is the first foal out of her. She wasn’t quite good enough to get black-type in Europe, so we worked out a deal where we bought her and Trevor and Libby get to buy her back at the end of her racing career. It’s a mutually beneficial deal. We ran her back three days later in the American Oaks after she won and she ran a really good third and we’re really proud of her to come back on such short rest and do so well.” Amandine should be a broodmare prospect for the Harrises to look forward to, being a stakes-winning and Grade I-placed filly from the deep Juddmonte family of G1 St Leger and G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Brian Boru (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), G2 Hardwicke and G2 Great Voltigeur S. winner Sea Moon (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), G1 Investec Derby and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce (GB) (King’s Best) and Godolphin’s 2018 G1 Caulfield Cup and dual German Group 1 winner Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Miller also picked up the then 2-year-old filly Thriving at Tattersalls last October, paying 110,000gns for the bay who had won a maiden and novice race during the summer. Thriving was distanced when thrown into Grade III company on her American debut in late November, but she bounced back to be third in the Blue Norther going a mile on Dec. 30. “She had a very bad trip first start off the plane, but we ran her back four weeks later in the Blue Norther and she ran great,” Miller said. “She was wide the whole way and got some black-type. Jeff Mullins is really high on her and she’s going to run back in a stake in January going down the hill [on the Santa Anita turf].” Miller has been sourcing horses from Europe since starting out as a bloodstock agent in 2005, and last December he added a new destination to his calendar, visiting Deauville for the first time for Arqana’s December Breeding Stock Sale. Miller was looking for horses for both Red Baron’s Barn and the aforementioned Triton Stable, and he came away with one for each. Miller signed for the German listed-placed Guiliana (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) on behalf of Red Baron’s Barn at Arqana for €150,000, and for Triton Stable he bought privately Cartabianca (Fr) (Vision D’Etat {Fr}) after she won the Listed Prix Petite Etoile on the Deauville all-weather on Nov. 27. Guiliana has joined another French ex-pat, trainer Leonard Powell, in California while Cartabianca has gone to Roger Attfield at Payson Park. Of his buying strategy, Miller said, “We’re looking specifically for horses that are correct; they have to have very good conformation and be very good movers. If they’re not very good movers they’re not going to stay sound in California or anywhere we send them. We’re specifically looking for very good-looking horses that are good movers that we think hopefully can have their best year ahead of them. For buying horses for Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal, Tim Cohen comes to the sales with us. He has a farm in California, he’s very hands-on and understands horses. He knows what he likes so it’s really a team effort of myself, him and Edward Freeman, who trains for him in California as well. We all put our heads together and he makes the final call on what he wants to buy.” Miller added another international angle to his business last year when signing on as the American representative for New Zealand Bloodstock. That company’s flagship Karaka yearling sales series kicks off on Jan. 27 and runs through Feb. 3, and Miller said he expects American participation in New Zealand racing to grow. “The goal is to try to get more Americans to be involved in the racing industry down there,” he said. “They have had such worldwide success with their horses, and it’s not so much about trying to get people to bring those horses back to America as it is just trying to get people involved with racing down there, whether they race them in New Zealand or Australia. We have a few Americans coming to the sale for the first time-Justin Casse is coming, who likes to go to every sale in the world, so that wasn’t a hard sell. Justin owned a piece of a Tavistock colt that we pinhooked last year-he, I and Kip Elser owned it and we bought it for NZ$150,000 and sold it for NZ$400,000. Justin was kind of sold after that so he’s coming this year and Kip Elser and Mike McMahon and Jamie Hill are coming. We have a few Americans that we’ve put it on their radar and they’re going to give it a try this year.” View the full article

It’s a mysterious beast that has racing jurisdictions scratching their heads about how to control it, but the Asian Racing Federation is shining a light on the impact illegal betting exchange Citibet is having in the region. While it is unclear who owns Citibet, experts have previously claimed the online operator boasts an annual turnover of US$50 billion, with a significant chunk of that in southern China. In a research paper compiled by the ARF’s anti-illegal betting task force,... View the full article

Patrick Kwok Ho-chuen hails from one of Hong Kong’s most powerful racing families but it does not stop the 26-year-old from pinching himself every time his champion Beauty Generation goes around. Kwok was late into racing and admits he is making up for lost time, studying every angle of the sport as his superstar galloper gains popularity around the world. Most horse owners will go their entire life without a champion, but Kwok has been lucky to have two Group One winners before his mid-... View the full article

Nimble looking to jack third race in a row View the full article