Wandering Eyes

6th-Lingfield, £5,800, Cond, 12-19, 2yo, 8f 1y (AWT), 1:39, st. ENTITLE (GB) (f, 2, Dansili {GB}–Concentric {GB} {SW & GSP-Fr, $117,776}, by Sadler’s Wells), who was a June 23 debut sixth to subsequent G2 Superlative S. third Neverland Rock (GB) (No Nay Never) tackling seven panels at Newmarket last time, recovered from a stuttering start to stalk the pace in second after the initial exchanges of this synthetic bow. Sent to the front off the home turn, the 6-1 chance was headed by Equal Sum (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) approaching the final eighth and rallied gamely under mild rousting to deny that rival by a length. “She ran in the summer, but was green and a little on the weak side,” explained winning rider Robert Havlin. “She was green again today and was on the wrong leg all the way around. I couldn’t get her to switch leads, but the further she was going the better she was going. She needed company to keep her mind on things and it helped her in the straight. I loved her attitude and she knuckled down when it mattered. She was a stronger filly today and will get better.” Entitle becomes the fifth scorer from as many runners produced by stakes-winning G3 Prix de Flore runner-up Concentric (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) and is a half-sister to MG1SW dual G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), G2 Prix de Pomone third Contribution (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), a yearling filly Frankel (GB) and a colt foal by Sea the Stars (Ire).The homebred bay shares her G3 Prix de Royaumont-winning second dam Apogee (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}) with MGISW US champion Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $4,742. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-John Gosden. View the full article

The nominations for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA)'s Moment of the Year came out last week, and the choices pretty much serve as a microcosm of the events that made 2018 a special time for horse racing fans. View the full article

That’s it. Finito. No more morning workouts beneath the cool lozenge of the waning moon. No more afternoons being led back to the winner’s circle beneath the sun and the blazing glory. Memories of those days? Echoes, now, around the trophy cabinet. Career robes dusted off, packed away. The ol’ brain, conditioned to fraction-of-a-second, life-and-death maneuvers mid-race, must be put to use anew. “I’ll never even sit on a pleasure horse again,” admitted Gary Stevens, about an injury–a fractured vertebrae in the neck digging against his spinal cord–that yanked the curtain down somewhat abruptly on one of racing’s most decorated riding careers. A storied career, too–one with a shape-shifters fluidity. A multitude of pegs unyielding to the square hole. He says he’s lucky not to be in a wheelchair. Towards the end of the month, he’ll go under the surgeon’s blade. “If I don’t have surgery, [the vertebrae’s] going to continue to degenerate, and eventually I would be where I don’t want to be from the neck down,” he added. Sure, he was well into his final act in the saddle, and so, the incident in the post parade ring at Del Mar last month–the one that gave him whiplash, and a new injury to go with all the rest–can hardly be said to have cheated him his dues. Yet, there was, at least, one more scene to play out. The problem was the shepherd’s crook that appeared stage left. “I was thinking through the first Saturday in May, if everything went right from December. Five months. And if the horse that I had my eye on worked out to what I think he can be, then that would’ve finished up the year,” Stevens said, playing coy with the horse’s name. “Everything was making me happy two weeks ago. I was enjoying what I was doing.” The mounts were on the wane, yes. “But the horses I had were good horses.” By the time we spoke, on a rare wintery California morning, the initial dust from his retirement announcement–all those ovations of a career among the “greatest ever”–had begun to settle, leaving in its wake the yawning silence of a life in transition. And so, the blustery showers interspersed with radiant bursts of sunshine seemed a fitting mirror to Stevens’s mood. Cataract-like shadows from the clouds of uncertainty ahead flitting over his recollections of the past. There’s no avoiding this latest injury. Stevens moves stiff-backed, as though encased within an invisible body brace, his doctor having warned him to play it safe. No accidents that could imperil the spinal cord any more than it already is. “I have never dealt with nerve pain before. I’ve dealt with broken bones, torn ligaments–horse stepping on your foot,” he said, lingering over the burning and the stinging. “It comes in moments, but hopefully, that can be corrected.” Pain, as he knows all too well, can have a voracious appetite, and Stevens currently wears a hunted quality in contrast to the jockey who, nearly six years before, at the tender age of 50, commenced his third step out of retirement. Back then, he had endured a two-month military-styled boot-camp in Washington State, and returned south rock-hardened for the tasks ahead. “No pain. The freedom of getting on a horse’s back with no one else in charge, just me and the horse… a real good feeling,” Stevens said at the time in an interview with The Guardian. And the rewards were soon returned with astonishing generosity. By the end of his first year back, he’d landed a GI Preakness S. on Oxbow (his 9th Classic), and a first ever GI Breeders Cup Classic, on Mucho Macho Man. In all, the past 6 years bagged him a further 16 Grade I’s, including a vintage romance with Beholder, culminating with their thrilling victory over Songbird in the 2016 BC Distaff. “I never would’ve got to have the relationship with two of the greatest horses that I’ve ridden had I not come out of retirement, and that’s Beholder and Mucho Macho Man,” he said. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Gary Stevens, Asking Old Questions Anew","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/307148428.sd.mp4?s=a022d6994451326f6bb3016b77f409b5b43f763e&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/304696837.sd.mp4?s=ca9456b0fe7b3bccd8bbfa2ed7750225cd70ddcf&profile_id=165","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\/"} Indeed, his late-career renaissance was prompted by a sense of unfinished business. “I’d lost that burn,” Stevens said, about his retirement in 2005. “The only thing that was lighting me up was a million-dollar race. That’s what was turning the trigger on. When I came back [in 2013], I’d realized some things–things I still needed to do.” In saying that, Stevens’s whole career has been pockmarked with periods of restlessness and hungry curiosity–just take the years leading to and from the millennium. He was still enjoying his pick of horses Stateside, and yet he upped-sticks to Europe on various busman’s holidays, riding regularly for the likes of John Gosden and Andre Fabre, as well as a couple of sirs: Henry Cecil and Michael Stoute. Straddling the transatlantic this way, he’s in an enviable position to pass judgment on some of the most successful trainers of the modern era. He rattled off the ones he’s ridden for, epic-list style–making sure his father, trainer Ron Stevens, got first call–before hopscotching over names like Whittingham, Lukas, and Frankel, as well as the aforementioned Euros. “I mean, these are champion trainers that any guy hopes he can ride one for,” he said. “That list is huge.” In terms of “ease of communication,” he singles out Stoute and Richard Mandella for highest honors. Indeed, with Stoute, “his work was done at home,” said Stevens. “I would go to his house and sit like we’re sitting right now the night before a race, and we would discuss what we thought may or may not happen. The next day, as soon as I was finished riding, the phone would ring and it would be Michael. We would discuss the horses, what had just been done. Good, bad or indifferent.” As for Mandella, “there’s a reason he’s in Charlie Whittingham’s barn at Santa Anita,” Stevens said. “They’re so meticulous in their work. You know, people always say, ‘oh, they always get the best-bred horses.’ But best-bred horses don’t mean anything unless the guy calling the shots knows what to do with them.” Stevens’s upbringing in the pristine wilds of Idaho, breaking thoroughbreds when he was nine years old, hardly seasoned him for the opulent living rooms of knighted Newmarket trainers. “I mean, we weren’t wealthy at all, but I thought we were the richest kids in the world.” What it did prepare him for was the decidedly Dickensian world of racetrack life, where a hard-scrabble rise through the ranks is achieved through luck, wile and gumption, and not a little hard graft. He describes his father, Ron, as “the Idaho version of Vince Lombardi,” the so called “toughest” coach in pro football. “You lived the Vince Lombardi way, man. If you mess up, go run a lap. If it’s a horse, if you mess up, go and clean that horse’s hooves. Not just one horse, do the whole shed row. You didn’t make the same mistake twice.” It instilled a philosophy of never make-do. “And if people say, ‘you can’t do this,’ I like to prove them wrong.” When he came out of retirement at 50, for example, “they honestly thought I was crazy, including ‘The Chief,’ Allen Jerkens. I’ll never forget the day that I was at Gulfstream to ride Mucho Macho Man, after I’d won the Breeders’ Cup Classic. [Jerkens] came up to me and he says, ‘Gary, I thought you were completely crazy, but you proved me wrong. You still have it.'” That same shape-shifter quality of his career maketh the man, too–some would distill it down to being “complicated.” For on the one hand, there’s his swagger and ease before the camera–the part of him, armed with a press-ready quip, that led to gigs on NBC and in film. “I’ve always been very confident in my gut feelings,” he said. “They’ve worked out pretty well for me since I was an early teen. If it looks like arrogance, it’s not. That’s just the way I was taught. In every great rider you see it–in their demeanor, walking out to the paddock.” There was his cerebral approach to race-riding, and the tunnel vision–how he largely shut out the press a week before a big race. “Until two weeks ago, that’s how I approached a racehorse. I’m going into battle out there, and I need to know every move of the jockey, what their pluses are, what their minuses are, and the horses they’re riding.” Then there’s the candor, and his “heart on my sleeve” probity. “Sometimes I say some things that I regret, but hopefully, I’m man enough that I can recognize it, and make apologies to make things right.” One aspect of his life that he’s been strikingly forthright about are his struggles with injury, and the resulting addiction issues. Indeed, Stevens and injury have long been bedfellows, though decidedly unhappy ones. As a child, he suffered from Parthes disease, which affects the hip. It put him in a metal leg brace for months. And from there pretty much, the injuries kept adding up and adding up. A collapsed lung and the broken vertebrae from a fall in 2003, for example. The broken collarbone from a training accident in 2010. A new knee and the new hip in recent years. Mind you, the ol’ joints have never been what you’d call precision engineered. “Your knee is going to look like a watermelon by the time you’re 35 years old,” the doctors once told him. “I don’t really know what riding pain-free is,” he added. “I really don’t. From 16 years old, there’s always been a broken finger or broken toe or elbow that’s been bounced off the starting gate.” It’s manageable when the adrenaline’s flowing, “covering whatever you’ve injured,” Stevens said. But when the adrenaline stops, boy, does the hurtin’ come back bad. “I’ve been addicted to pain pills on different occasions throughout my career–hard to get off of,” he admitted, matter-of-fact. His problems with alcohol have also been well documented. An all too common part of a jockey’s life. When Garrett Gomez and Chris Antley–“Chris was like my little brother”–both succumbed to their own individual demons, “there was no emotion because it was something I expected.” What would help, he said, is if the riding weights were raised in the U.S. “It’s hard, and people will say you can’t do it, but we’re not making them as small as we used to, especially here in America and in Europe. Our nutrition has changed a lot. [Children are] getting bigger and bigger and bigger.” And whilst on the subject of change, let’s talk about the racing calendar. “The problem with our sport here in America is we’re year-round,” he said. “There’s never any downtime. It’s not a six-month sport where you can heal things up. Sometimes we’re healing ourselves up in competition, and then something else goes wrong.” Those particular dramas are behind him now, once and for all–no more maybes. No more farewell tours. Indeed, already he’s started shedding his riding equipment, gifting saddles to close friends, taking a leaf out of Laffit Pincay’s book, “the Pirate,” who in retirement gave Mike Smith his saddle with the “skull and crossbones on it.” There’s a new career on the horizon (which Stevens stubbornly won’t reveal). And there’s the surgery at the end of the month. “I’m a little bit scared because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s not easy. It’s not cut and dry.” All of which he’s viewing, however, with a backward glance, over Derby wins–three in all–that have placed tectonic strains on his personal life. Over Breeders’ Cup victories–11 in all–that have asked unreasonable demands of his body. “I said all along this game has peaks and valleys, and it seemed like the longer a valley was, the higher the peak.” And yet, Stevens added, “I wouldn’t change anything.” So, what’s driven him all these years? Religion? Faith? Family, he said, parents, wife, children, grandchildren, have been key. And then there’s the specter of that great imponderable. “It’s like the old Kris Kristofferson song, ‘Why Me Lord?’ Of all the billions and billions of people that are born, I could not understand, couldn’t grasp it,” he said. “As my career kept on, I still asked, “why me?” He’s asking it now, under new but not unfamiliar circumstances, knowing there won’t be an answer. Chances are, there never will be. But it’s not surprising the question keeps cropping up. That hungry curiosity–it’s got him this far. As for where it takes him now–well, we’ll just have to find out. View the full article

Prize money across France will be maintained in 2019 after France Galop unveiled their budget for next year, despite a decline in receipts from the PMU, Jour de Galop reported. France Galop President Edouard de Rothschild confirmed the news before the Committee of France Galop on Monday. France-Galop will draw on its monetary reserves and has also asked for an advance from the PMU which will keep purses at the same level in 2019. Also, in an effort to decrease operating expenses, racing at Maisons-Laffitte will cease at the end of 2019 as previously announced in November. “As of Dec. 9, the bets on horses are down 2.6% compared to last year,” said de Rothschild during the proceedings. “That’s 220 million in less than 11 months and nearly 70 million products gross of bets, also in less. This is a continuation of the trend of the last eight years in which we lost around 1.8 billion in bets. Beginning in the second half of 2017, not accepting this reality, I started, along with my trotting colleagues, to search, then find and set up new management at the PMU. New management to revisit and revive the business. He continued, “Cyril Linette unveiled the main outlines of his plan at the last Committee meeting. This plan has now become a concrete one, with a series of initiatives planned for the beginning of the year. Among them: the new Quinté +, the simplification of the range of bets. These objectives all have in common the goal of winning back the most faithful players, to give them the desire to play with a more readable product, and higher earnings expectations. Why should we believe in this plan more than all those that have been presented to you for years? By that the PMU’s turnover assumptions for the three years ahead are realistic. The management plans, for 2020 and 2021, [are] a level of stakes close to the figure of 2018. Thirty million in marketing, sales and IT expenses are budgeted to finance this stimulus in 2019. Half of the budget will be devoted to recruit new bettors.” View the full article

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program has been awarded a grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals through their Rescuing Racers initiative, the charity announced Tuesday. New Vocations was one of nine equine adoption and rescue groups to receiver a portion of $225,000 that was disseminated as part of the initiative in 2018. The grant will help New Vocations further its mission to rehab, retrain and rehome retiring Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses. Many horses retiring from the racetrack have injuries that require time and rehabilitation before they can begin transitional training for a second career. The money awarded will support New Vocations’ goal of taking in additional injured horses and caring for them until they are ready to begin transitional training for placement into new homes. “While their racing careers may have ended, these retirees still have much to offer,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of ASPCA Equine Welfare. “New Vocations has been a leader in transitioning and finding new homes for these horses. We are pleased to award them this grant through our ASPCA Rescuing Racers Initiative to help them continue this lifesaving work.” “We are excited that the ASPCA sees the need and is willing to help New Vocations with our rehabilitation efforts,” added New Vocations Executive Director Dot Morgan. “Stressed and injured racehorses need time and educated hands to heal. However, time and veterinary care are costly. This wonderful grant from the ASPCA will allow New Vocations to give retiring racehorses the respite and care they need before they begin the next chapter of their lives.” View the full article

Champion apprentice jockey Jason Watson will ride as number one jockey to Roger Charlton in 2019.Watson stamped his authority on the apprentice race and hitting the headlines in the summer when winning the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood for Hugo Palmer aboard Gifted Master (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). The teenager also bagged Group 1 honours for Luca Cumani through God Given (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in Italy. Beckhampton trainer Charlton said on his website, www.rogercharlton.com, “I am really pleased to announce that Jason Watson, this year’s champion apprentice, will be riding for Beckhampton as first jockey next year. I have watched his progress with interest and I have been most impressed by what I have seen. He is a very strong, stylish, determined and he has a good understanding of race tactics. He has ridden 110 winners this year, and in winning the apprentice championship by a margin of 26 winners, he rode more winners than any other apprentice since Paul Hanagan in 2002; more than Oisin Murphy, William Buick and David Probert.” He added, “Adam McNamara will continue to ride as our second jockey. He is part of the team here and knows the horses well. He has now ridden over a 100 winners and rode 20% of our total this year.” View the full article

Wings Of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moir {Ire}-Ysoldina {Fr}, by Kendor {Fr}), who won the G1 Investec Derby in 2017, and high-class stayer and MG1SW Order of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}-Another Storm, by Gone West) have been recruited to Coolmore’s National Hunt division and will stand at The Beeches Stud and Castlehyde Stud in Ireland, respectively. Both will command €6,500. Wings Of Eagles, who was bred by Aliette and Giles Forien at Haras de Montaigu in France, stood his first year at stud at his birthplace for €8,000 this term, while Order of St George will be standing his first season in 2019. “He’s an Epsom Derby winner from the Montjeu (Ire) sire line and is a fine, big horse, seriously good-looking and good-actioned-just the type people in our business want to breed to,” said The Beeches Stud Manager Robert McCarthy. “Order of St George is a lovely mover with quality, size and scope in abundance,” commented Cathal Murphy of the two-time G1 Irish St. Leger hero. “He won a total of 11 races including the Irish St Leger as a 3-year-old by a margin of 11 lengths, which earned him a Timeform rating of 129, along with the Ascot Gold Cup the following season. No horse since Fame And Glory has retired straight to [a] National Hunt stud with such a high rating and we’re delighted to have him at Castlehyde.” View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday’s Insights features the return of a half-sister to dual Arc heroine Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). 12.40 Lingfield, Cond, £5,800, 2yo, f, 7f 1y (AWT) Anthony Oppenheimer’s homebred newcomer COZI BAY (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is kin to MGSW sire Zebedee (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and one of two contenders from the John Gosden stable. Her rivals include once-raced stablemate Beehaar (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who is a great-granddaughter of the storied Miesque (Nureyev). 2.25 Lingfield, Cond, £5,800, 2yo, 8f 1y (AWT) Khalid Abdullah’s ENTITLE (GB) (Dansili {GB}) ran sixth in a June heat at Newmarket and gets a second chance to shed maiden status before season’s end. Representing the same John Gosden yard as her MG1SW half-sister Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), she is opposed by a cast of 11 featuring Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s homebred firster Alandalos (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who is a daughter of G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation S. heroine Ghanaati (Giant’s Causeway), from the Charles Hills stable; and China Horse Club International’s fellow newcomer Martin King (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who is a Clive Cox-trained son of GI Beverly D S. victress I’m A Dreamer (Ire) (Noverre). View the full article

The Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau has created a digital identification tattoo for racehorses and expects the system to be implemented by 2020 across North America, the organization announced Tuesday. With wireless technology, the tattoo will require two-factor authentication–scanning a microchip and uploading updated digital photos of horses of racing age–to provide a superior form of identification and further ensure integrity. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, any Thoroughbred making a first lifetime start in a recognized parimutuel race that has not been previously tattooed will need to have the TPRB Digital Tattoo in order to be correctly identified in the paddock and permitted to race. The TRPB employs 56 technicians throughout the United States and Canada who will be responsible for applying the digital tattoo. Owners must ensure that their Thoroughbreds have been microchipped and registered with The Jockey Club. Microchips became a condition of foal registration starting with foals born in 2017. For more information about the introduction and rollout of the digital tattoo, visit the TRPB website or call Emma Smith at (410) 398-2261, ext. 248. View the full article

TDN: Favourite racing moment of the year? DC: It would have to be Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy)’s win in the G1 Moyglare S. I loved the enthusiasm of the filly, the trainer, and especially the owners. In an era of mega owners, it renewed my faith in the sport of racing and the possibility that if we try and try again it could be our turn. TDN: A horse that really stood out for you in 2018? DC: I was very impressed with Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. Unfortunately he meet with a setback but the second, Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), subsequently franked the form in winning a Group 1. TDN: An outstanding achievement by a breeder, owner or trainer? DC: It would have to be how quickly Charlie Appleby has progressed to become a master of his craft. TDN: Big hope for 2019? DC: That the dawn of the “new” Curragh racecourse brings about a new racing clientele in Ireland, badly needed for our sport. TDN: Your New Year’s resolution? DC: To find out from Horse Racing Ireland what are the criteria needed for Naas racecourse to become a Premier racetrack. View the full article

Darby Development, the operator of Monmouth Park, and the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association have reached an agreement with theScore, Inc. to launch a mobile sportsbook in the United States in 2019. The agreement paves the way for theScore to offer online and mobile sports betting across New Jersey, subject to receiving all required approvals and licenses from the State of New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the New Jersey Racing Commission. Subject to those approvals, theScore anticipates rolling out its platform in New Jersey in mid-2019. Fans can sign up to receive updates on the company’s launch plans here. “theScore has one of the leading sports apps in North America, a world-class reputation for mobile sports development, and a large and highly-engaged audience,” said Dennis Drazin, CEO and Chairman of Darby Development. “We’re thrilled to welcome them to our exclusive family of partners offering sports wagering in New Jersey.” View the full article

The Darley stallion roster is ever growing and with five new stallions retiring across Europe, TDN‘s Alayna Cullen spoke with a few members of the nominations team about the new boys on the block. TDN: How important is it to have new sires retiring each year? Sam Bullard: We run a stallion operation with the aim being to get the best stallions of tomorrow. You can’t get the best stallions of tomorrow if you don’t have new horses coming in. The market moves very fast nowadays, and people are moving on to the next horse very quickly. And I think all stallion operations are looking for exciting new horses to come in. We only want to have horses that are capable of producing top-class runners themselves. Dawn Laidlaw: There is always a lot of excitement behind the new horses so this year we are really lucky, we have two world champions in Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) so that gets a lot of people up here to see them and keeps refreshing the roster. TDN: The new horses are an exciting bunch, but Sam I know you are particularly eager to talk about one of them who is that? SB: Cracksman, the highest-rated horse in the world for the last two years. We’re incredibly lucky to have him here at Dalham as a new headline act on the roster. Mr. Oppenheimer very kindly wanted to stand the horse with us, and Sheikh Mohammed fortunately was delighted to buy into the horse. He’s a beautiful looking horse and by 13 pounds, the best son of the great Frankel, to have raced to date. So we’re thrilled to have him. TDN: What would you say were some of his best performances on the racetrack? SB: Well, I think you can’t deny that his two [G1] Champion stakes at Ascot probably were the two greatest days. Whether you prefer the 3-year-old or the 4-year-old race is up to you. People talk about them a lot. I actually refer to the [G1 Prix] Ganay as one of his greatest races. The ground was fast, the trainer would say faster than was ideal for him, but he put a very good field to the sword in a very impressive way on his very first outing as a 4-year-old in France this year. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Darley Q and A: New Stallions for 2019","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/DarleyVideo.jpg","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/306989516.sd.mp4?s=eb4d5618dd8370f5f66cf1bf59163f4b564c16f5&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/281298709.sd.mp4?s=2b01634a796fce8bfb74512ac43b06158d7a3cfb&profile_id=165","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\/"} TDN: Dawn you’ve mentioned before that you have a soft spot for one of the new stallions, which one? DL: I love Harry Angel. Harry Angel is just, for me, a lovely horse. He’s not an overly big horse, he has a little bit of Acclamation (GB) length about him, great color, lovely hair, great eye and a great attitude. I just think he could be our next superstar. TDN: He was electric on the racecourse. Can you sum up his career? DL: He was just beaten, first time out, in his maiden but then he broke his maiden in the [G2] Mill Reef which gave him a TimeFrom rating of 111. That mark was a full nine pounds higher than his own father achieved when he won the same race. As a 3-year-old he was second in the [G1] Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot just behind Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). After that he came back in the [G1] July Cup here at Newmarket and reversed that form. There were a lot of good horses behind him that day, a lot of other Group 1 winners. His next outing was at Haydock and it was touch and go whether he was going to run that day. It was very soft ground and it was a last minute decision after Clive had walked the course. Harry put up a really impressive performance that day, easily winning by four lengths. TDN: He was bred by a renowned Irish breeder. What in his pedigree suggests he could be a great sire? DL: Well he’s by another great stallion, Dark Angel, but he is also out of Cadeaux Genereux (GB) mare, Cadeaux Genereux himself [being] a July Cup winner. So you’ve got a lot of speed on both sides of that family. His mother is a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Xtension (Ire) too, so I think there is lot going for Harry Angel. TDN: David there is a son of Kitten’s Joy retiring to Dalham this year. What can you tell us about Hawkbill? David Walsh: As you said Hawkbill is by Kitten’s Joy. He was a $350,000 yearling from Keeneland and he’s from the family of Cozzene which has a champion turf influence on the pedigree, so I think it made sense for him to run in Europe. He had his international campaign on the turf which was incredible for Charlie and for Godolphin. His most impressive performance, for me anyway, was definitely his third run as a 3-year-old when he won the [G1] Eclipse. He beat the likes of Time Test (GB) and The Gurkha (Ire) so impressively, it was an amazing run really. TDN: He also had a winning campaign in Dubai. I’m sure that was a great thrill for the team? DW: Yes, he won the [G2] Dubai City of Gold and then progressed on to win the [G1] Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night. Having winners anywhere in the world is important for Sheik Mohammed but having them on World Cup night is extra special so it was incredible for him to do that. TDN: How is he going down with breeders so far? DW: He is a really good looking horse. He came in from Charlie’s about a month ago and he’s just progressed and progressed. He’s a good looking, good walking horse. He’s gone down really well with breeders in the UK. We had open days at Dalham Hall over the Tattersalls December Sales and the horse that everybody’s talking about is Hawkbill and how well he walks. TDN: We can’t forget the new horse retiring to Ireland which is Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Anthony is he an attractive sire prospect for Irish breeders? Anthony O’Donnell: I suppose there’s a number of different lines of appeal to him. The fact that he’s great value, especially in this current market, is one of them. He’s the son of Iffraaj who Irish breeders have had huge amounts of success with when he retired to stud in Kildangan in 2007. We are very excited about standing him and also being able to supply breeding rights in him to British and Irish clients. TDN: He seems to have a great mind and constitution. What would you say on those qualities? AD: He has a fantastic temperament. He was trained by Mark Johnson as a 2-year-old and then went to Charlie Appleby at three. He ran 32 times in total and never had a lame step. So from a temperament and soundness aspect, he is right up there. He’s a good looking horse too. A lot of Irish breeders, who’ve seen him over the last couple of weeks, who have seen Iffraaj can see the resemblance between him and his father. So we’re very excited about showing him to more Irish clients over the next couple of months. TDN: You mentioned he ran 32 times. What were some of his career highlights? AD: He had a very good 2-year-old career, being placed in the [G2] Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. He was also placed in the [G2] Richmond S. The highlight of his 2-year-old career would have been when he was just beaten a nose in the [G2] Gimcrack behind Muhaarar (GB). Earlier this year he won two group races in Dubai one of which was the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, over six furlongs. He traveled to Australia this year too and won the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke over seven furlongs. View the full article

Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza could resume his riding career next month at Santa Anita Park after recovering from serious injuries in a training mishap July 22 at Del Mar. View the full article

13:15 Lingfield Jason Watson’s appointment as new stable jockey for the Roger Charlton yard has the whole racing world on notice and he might just have a statement winner here today at Lingfield to prove why he landed the job. Watson takes the mount on Saeed Bin Suroor trained, Blue Mountain, who goes handicapping for […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 19th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

12:25 Southwell The second race of the day on the artificial surface at Southwell sees 7 set to try and claim their first ever victory. This maiden sees a handful of newcomers make their racing debuts with the nicely bred Orient Express the likeliest to go well on paper but with any maiden, I […] The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Tuesday 18th December appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Wins have been hard to come by for trainer Paul O’Sullivan this season but he has one of his best chances yet to kick-start his term at Sha Tin on Wednesday night. The conservative New Zealander has had the fewest runners of any trainer this season and admits he is feeling the after-effects of a successful run, with a lot of his horses now handicapped out of races. “We had a pretty good year last year so we have plenty of horses that are high in the handicap and are going to have to... View the full article

Karis Teetan and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen have already combined for Group One glory this season and they are hoping to continue their good form together under lights at Sha Tin on Wednesday. The in-form Mauritian, who is enjoying a career-best start to a season in Hong Kong, has secured the first-up ride on Lor’s promising four-year-old Mission Tycoon in the Class Two Penfold Park Handicap (1,200m). Teetan picked up the mount with his former rider Joao Moreira forced to ride one of John Size... View the full article

The $400,000 Springboard Mile Dec. 16 at Remington Park concludes the main Road to the Kentucky Derby races for 2-year-olds. View the full article

California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has appointed Dennis Alfieri and Debra Reed to the California Horse Racing Board of Directors. Alfieri has been chief executive officer of the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation since 2017. He was principal and a founding partner at Bantry Property Services LLC from 2005 to 2010 and general partner and founder of Twin Palms Restaurants from 1991 to 2005. Reed held several positions at Sempra Energy from 2010 to 2018, including executive chairman, chairman, president and chief executive officer and executive vice president. These appointments require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. View the full article

Italian champion sire Mujahid (Danzig-Elrafa Ah, by Storm Cat) has been pensioned at Allevamento di Besnate, the Racing Post reported on Monday. The rising 23-year-old, bred and owned by Shadwell, will claim his fourth consecutive champion sire title by progeny earnings in his adopted land at year’s end. Originally at Beech House Stud in Great Britain, Mujahid moved to Allevamento di Besnate for the 2008 covering season. A winner of the 1998 G1 Dewhurst S. and third in the 1999 G1 2000 Guineas a year later for John Dunlop, Mujahid has sired 29 black-type winners, 11 of them at the group level, with Australian MG1SW Danleigh (Aus) and Italian Group 1 winner Cleo Fan (Ity) leading the way. As a broodmare sire, Mujahid is responsible for G1 English/Irish 1000 Guineas bridesmaid Lightning Thunder (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), MGSW & MG1SP Tasaday (Nayef) and SW & G1SP Bailey’s Jubilee (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}). View the full article

Trainer Bob Baffert has three likely starters set to line up in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S., led by GI Pennsylvania Derby winner McKinzie (Street Sense). The sophomore colt, looking to rebound from a 12th-place finish in the Nov. 3 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:13.20 (1/23) Sunday at Santa Anita. “He worked really nice,” Baffert said Monday. “He’s doing really well. I freshened him up a little after the Breeders’ Cup, and, in retrospect, he wasn’t ready to go a mile and a quarter… but I thought I had him back. The Breeders’ Cup took me out of my normal program. It’s a lot of money and it seemed right, but he just didn’t show up. I like the way he’s training here for seven-eighths.” Ax Man (Misremembered), off since finishing third in the July 14 GIII Los Alamitos Derby, earned the bullet for his six-furlong work at Santa Anita Saturday when he covered the distance in 1:12.20 (1/19). “He’s doing really well,” Baffert said of the gelding. “We cut him. He had a meltdown at Churchill Downs [when third in the June 16 GIII] Matt Winn], so we gave him some time off and he’s been working exceptionally well.” Also expected for the Malibu is Solomini (Curlin), who has not raced since finishing third in the June 10 GIII Affirmed S. The chestnut colt worked six furlongs Saturday in 1:13.60 (4/19). “Solomini is coming off a layoff and has been freshened up,” Baffert said. “He’s an off-the-pace sort. I’d prefer running him in a little allowance race, but the Malibu is a Grade I, and when you have horses with their breeding, you have to take a shot.” View the full article

Make Happy, a California-bred Square Eddie filly, seeks to double down on her victory in the series' first race when she faces 13 male rivals Dec. 19 in the listed Zen-Nipon Nisai Yushun Stakes at Kawasaki Racecourse near Haneda Airport. View the full article

The New Jersey state Senate passed a bill that would guarantee a five-year, $10 million annual purse subsidy for Monmouth Park by a 40-0 vote Monday. The vote came one week after the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved the bill by a vote of 13-0 and sets it up for a vote in the State Assembly in early January. Should the bill pass the Assembly, Governor Phil Murphy would need to approve it before it becomes law. Beginning in 2019, Bill 2992 would appropriate $20 million per year out of the state’s general fund to be divided equally between the state’s Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries. Because Monmouth Park is the only operating Thoroughbred racetrack in the state, 100% of the Thoroughbred industry’s allotment would be dedicated toward overnight purses at the Oceanport oval. The subsidy would presumably provide a much-needed boost to the racing industry in the state, which has struggled to stay afloat in the years since Governor Chris Christie eliminated a $17 million annual purse supplement funded by Atlantic City casinos in 2011. View the full article

Santa Anita and Mathis Brothers Furniture will team up to donate $10,000 in college scholarships when racing returns to the Arcadia track Dec. 26. Santa Anita will provide free clubhouse admission to all college students with a current student I.D. and, along with Mathis Brothers, will tender a total of four $2,500 college scholarships which will be given away throughout the day. All currently enrolled college students can enter the random drawing at any of three official sweepstakes entry tables, located at three different admission gates; the East Admission Gate, adjacent to the Clubhouse East Gate, the South Admission Gate, next to the Jockeys’ Room, and the Infield Thoroughbreds Club Center, next to the center fountain. Students may also enter in advance of opening day at santaanita.com/college. Online entries must be made prior to 4 p.m. PT Dec. 20. The opening-day card also includes the GII Mathis Brothers Mile. The Oklahoma-based company is a major supporter of Thoroughbred racing and philanthropic causes and has a retail outlet near Santa Anita in Ontario, California. View the full article

Positive post-race tests for Class 1A and 2A prohibited substances at Canterbury Park have resulted in $2,500 fines and 90-day suspensions for two trainers. The penalties imposed upon Ray E. Tracy Jr. and Judd William Becker could have been doubled. But their $5,000 fines/180-day suspensions were halved as the result of a Dec. 13 negotiation with the Minnesota Racing Commission (MRC). Under the terms of the deal, half the amount of the penalties will be stayed in exchange for a clean one-year probation, the trainers’ acknowledgement that they violated the rules, and their agreeing not to further appeal the case. “It was a negotiated settlement,” Tom DiPasquale, the MRC’s executive director, told TDN on Monday. “In Minnesota, our statute requires contested cases for penalties or suspensions beyond a certain amount. [The trainers’] exposure [to penalization] was more than what we settled for. But we think they’re fair penalties given the circumstances, the prior rulings history of the licensees, and the gravity of the offense.” DiPasquale said Tracy had two horses test positive for pemoline, which is listed as a Class 1A drug (the most dangerous category) on the Association of Racing Commissioners International Uniform Classification of Foreign Substances list. Pemoline (often branded Cylert) is a central nervous system stimulant used in humans to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. In 2017, the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC) issued an advisory related to the off-brand use of the common deworming drug Levamisole causing some horses to metabolize it into pemoline, which could trigger a positive test Tracy’s two positives came from Oh Newman (Munnings), who ran seventh in a Sep. 1 starter-optional claimer, and According to Aspen (English Channel), who ran 12th in a Sep. 2 allowance. DiPasquale said Becker was penalized for cardarine, which was only very recently proposed for 2A classification by the ARCI. Although initially marketed as a drug to prevent human prostate and breast tumors, a Google search reveals numerous hits for its use as a muscle-building and endurance elixir for bodybuilders. Becker’s positive belonged to Bushrod (Grey Memo), who ran seventh in the $100,000 Mystic Lake Turf Express S. Aug. 25. In a written comment regarding cardarine, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Associate submitted the following memo prior to 20 of 21 RMTC members voting for its proposed 2A classification: “At present cardarine, we know has similar properties to zipaterol and ractopamine and they are both currently in class 2A. However, we are also aware cardarine is being used by bodybuilders and may very well be a substance where environmental contamination could become an issue. Again, if that arises, we need to be prepared to address these as such with less severe rulings/suspensions/fines.” DiPasquale said that although he could not discuss details of the negotiated settlement beyond what appears in the rulings, he could confirm that the MRC did not consider the positives to be the result of any accidental (i.e., from the hands of a groom) or environmental (like tainted feed) contamination. View the full article