Wandering Eyes

John Messara, whose Arrowfield Stud was the leading vendor at this week’s Inglis Easter yearling sale, has been appointed by New Zealand Racing Minister Winston Peters to review the industry’s governance structures, and provide recommendations on future directions for the industry. “Racing is a significant industry creating NZ$1.6-billion to GDP annually, it employs up to 50,000 people, and has many passionate supporters,” said Peters. “However, it is vital an assessment is conducted on whether the industry is meeting its full financial potential, and whether its governance arrangements are top-heavy. For this reason it is pleasing Mr. Messara has agreed to conduct a strategic review to provide advice to the government. Mr Messara is considered one of Australia’s most successful racing administrators. As chair of both Racing New South Wales and Racing Australia, he led reforms to increase and secure long-term revenue. His review will also assist the government in determining if the current Racing Act 2003 and the proposed Racing Amendment Bill are fit for purpose.” Messara will commence work on the review later this month with an objective of producing a report mid-year. View the full article

KILMORE races have been abandoned over concerns of a possible sabotage attempt after two 40cm-long steel rods were found driven into the track at the 400m mark. View the full article

THE prize of Australian racing is going for a record-equalling 25 wins in a row at Sydney’s Royal Randwick racecourse this weekend. View the full article

See hopeful Maximus can have Shot at sixth win View the full article

Sunday run to determine if Maximus joins Tan's Chairman's duo View the full article

In the last major prep race for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Magnum Moon will aim to keep touting himself to masses when he and Solomini face seven others in the April 14 $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1). View the full article

In the last major prep race for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Magnum Moon will aim to keep touting himself to masses when he and Solomini rematch against seven others in the April 14 $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1). View the full article

TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) runner-up Lone Sailor returned to the work tab April 11 at Churchill Downs with a half-mile breeze in :47 4/5, his first major tune-up in preparation for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). View the full article

Don Alberto Stable's grade 1 winner Unique Bella, champion female sprinter of 2017, will be out of her element for the first time in the $700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 13 at Oaklawn Park. View the full article

Tuesday’s Texas Thoroughbred Association 2-year-olds in training sale at Lone Star Park concluded with an increase in gross sales and a slight decrease in average compared to last year’s smaller catalogue. A total of 106 horses went through the ring and 84 sold compared to last year when 70 of the 93 head found new homes. Gross sales this year totaled $2,161,900, up 15.4% from last year’s mark of $1,873,900. The average was $25,737, down 3.9% from last year’s $26,770, and the median slipped 18.2% from $16,000 to $13,100. The RNA rate was 20.8% compared to 24.7% last year. “I was really pleased that we attracted a larger catalogue this year after last year’s successful sale, and it was great to see the average almost the same with a nice increase in the gross,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “We had four horses sell for more than $100,000 with a Texas-bred, Louisiana-bred and two Kentucky-breds, so that shows the variety of quality offerings we had.” A Louisiana-bred filly named Charlotte G (Bind) topped the sale with a $140,000 bid from Gary Simms, agent for M&M Racing. The April 30 foal was one of two horses to work a bullet :10 2/5 during Sunday’s under tack show at Lone Star. She is the first foal out of the unraced Summer Bird mare Promise Me G, whose family includes GSW Texas-bred Promise Me Silver (Silver City). Full results are available at www.ttasales.com. View the full article

Steve Peterman has been named the official starter at Gulfstream Park and Gulfstream Park West. He has been the official starter at Turfway Park, Ellis Park, Calder Race Course and Indiana Grand. He also has been an assistant starter at Oaklawn, Keeneland and Churchill Downs. “We’re happy to add Steve to our great teams at Gulfstream Park and Gulfstream Park West,” said Gulfstream’s General Manager Bill Badgett. View the full article

Stephanie Preston’s official title at Morrisville State College, State University of New York (SUNY), is faculty director of the equine racing management program. But her real mission and passion since taking over that job in January is getting the word out about the best-kept secret in obtaining a practical two- or four-year degree to bolster a student’s chance of landing a good job within the racing industry. Preston has been involved in both the Thoroughbred business and in various higher education positions for some three decades, but she readily admits she had never heard of Morrisville’s racing management program until she came across a job posting for the position last year. A lot of other industry insiders also seem to be unaware of this hidden gem, even though it’s located just 2 1/2 hours west of Saratoga Race Course and about the same distance east of Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, with numerous breeding farms dotting the landscape in between. “I had no idea that I would be really interested in taking a job in upstate New York in January,” Preston said with a laugh in a recent phone interview. “But after visiting and seeing the uniqueness of the program, the hands-on emphasis, the real desire from higher administration to make this a program that produces kids with skills that are employable, and then looking at the facilities, there was just no way I could turn it down.” Morrisville’s equine science program is currently second largest program of about 80 offered at the college, Preston said. The school also has a decades-long involvement with harness racing and breeding, hosting its own an annual sale of about 80 Standardbred yearlings. But in recent years Morrisville has been trying to incorporate more Thoroughbred-related learning into the overall curriculum (the racing management program, like the breeding program, falls under the umbrella of that equine science heading). Preston’s recent hiring just might be the catalyst that will enable that endeavor to flourish. After earning her bachelor of science degree in animal science at Texas A&M University in 1990, Preston worked as a Thoroughbred jockey, trainer, owner, pinhooker, and farm manager, most notably at Prestonwood Farm in Lexington and for Oxbow Racing, with divisions in Ocala and Lexington. Along the way, she worked toward a master’s degree in equine veterinary medicine and surgery (also at Texas A&M), and in 2011 Preston obtained a doctoral degree in large animal clinical sciences and veterinary epidemiology from the University of Florida. She has done post-doctoral research and has been a visiting scholar for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky, and has published significant, separate studies involving both lameness in young Thoroughbreds and the use of Lasix in racehorses. But what truly resonates when speaking with Preston about the Morrisville program are three points: 1) The need for prospective students who are already focused on the racing industry to realize the value of a college degree so they’ll have more options later in life if plans change; 2) Drawing from the pool of students interested in other equine disciplines to show them career options in the racing industry that they might not know about, and 3) Making sure all students get one-on-one attention and the ability to tailor specialized areas of focus of their own choosing at an affordable tuition. “When I went to school 25 years ago, there was not really a good educational way to open the door to Thoroughbred racing,” Preston said. “That’s become less of a problem now, but many of us 25 or 30 years ago ended up interning through our animal science degrees with some entity that could expose us to Thoroughbred racing. I really think that if we recruit the right kids and we educate and train them right, we’re going to be very instrumental in having the industry reaching out to us to find qualified applicants, which is a big need.” Morrisville’s equine facilities are home to some 200 horses that comprise the breeding, hunt seat equitation, and Thoroughbred and Standardbred management programs, plus other horses that belong to outside clients of the school’s equine rehabilitation facility. There are three indoor riding arenas, a harness racing half-mile track with a starting gate, a trails network, and numerous outdoor riding areas. When Finger Lakes is in season, Morrisville races a string of 15 or so horses there, with students overseeing the daily training operations. “The facilities here rival any that I’ve been to in Kentucky,” Preston said. “It is truly first-class, and when they developed the Thoroughbred racing management program, they built a new barn. And adjacent to our barn and training facility is a state-of-the-art, world-class rehab center. “So as you and I are speaking right now, my students have two horses on the Aqua Tred [equine hydrotherapy system], two in the swimming pool, and one standing under the solarium,” Preston continued. “I think the highlight for people in the racing management segment are our rehab facilities, because a lot of people cross-train these days. Being adjacent and synergistic with the rehab facilities that we have, I have not seen that opportunity at any other school anywhere.” Preston said it can sometimes be a challenge for teenagers already keen on working in the racing industry to get them to see the longer-term upside of earning a college degree versus going straight to work at the track. “It’s really hard for kids who can get a job walking hots for $500 a week to see beyond that,” Preston explained. But, she tells them, “Do you think you’ll still want to be a groom at age 45 when you’re trying to support your own family?” Preston offers her own life experience as an example. She always loved horses, but as a working mom later in life, she wanted to try a related profession away from the farm and the track. And that wouldn’t have been possible, she said, without having gone to college first. “The only reason I am sitting here today talking to you about this program is because I have an education that got me a job within the university system,” Preston said. “Once you have an education, no one can ever take it away from you. And that’s powerful–because it’s something we all forget at times: We go to school to get the degree to put it on the wall to move on and get a job. And you don’t really have the capacity as a young person to see beyond that next job. Yet, if you have an education, it gives you that opportunity–a passport to the world, I like to say.” Preston likes to point out Morrisville’s affordability (about $7,000 for in-state students; out-of-state students on the associate’s degree track pay roughly $11,000 per year) and flexibility in structuring how students obtain their degrees. For example, Preston said, a student could initially aim for a two-year associate’s degree in racing management, then continue on for two additional years to dovetail a bachelor’s degree in the breeding program. And with the ability for students to choose a specialized area of focus–like aftercare or conversational equine Spanish–“I’m able to customize an individual concentration for a student in a way that they may not be able to do at some of the other comparable schools,” Preston said. Preston also noted that at Morrisville, a student is considered full-time by enrolling in 12 credit hours of coursework. But if ambitious students want to take 18 credit hours instead, they are not charged for those additional credits. “Which is a huge benefit, because most university systems that I’ve been involved with, you pay a per-credit fee,” Preston said. “So if you’re taking extra credits to maximize your educational experience at school, it won’t cost you more. Here in the SUNY system, the kids are not charged for anything beyond 12 credits.” It is mandatory for students to select and complete a 15-week racing management internship. Current students have internships lined up at Saratoga (one with trainer Todd Pletcher), and on the backstretches of Aqueduct and Finger Lakes. The program currently has 15 students, and Preston would like to eventually grow that number to around 50 or 60 in incremental steps. “I wouldn’t be able to offer the same teacher-to-student ratios if 80 kids showed up tomorrow, so I want to evolve gradually toward that goal,” Preston said. Another of her goals is to let the New York racing community know Morrisville’s facilities are available to them as outside clients. “There have been a couple of people within the New York industry who have been very supportive of that already, so we’re developing those relationships where we can provide services,” Preston said. “That’s one of the challenges, to expose both prospective students and industry people to the program, because there are real resources here, not only in the rehab facilities, but in the services we can provide, like breaking and training at a reduced rate. It helps train prospective employees for the industry, and it exposes our students to real-life situations.” Erin Clancy, a sophomore from Rochester, said she chose Morrisville as a way to kick start a bloodstock career “When I came to visit I was very impressed with the hands-on learning we get to do,” Clancy said. “I get to be in the barn with horses every single day. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s also very rewarding. I’m getting my associate’s degree in Thoroughbred racing, and then going on to get a bachelor’s degree in breeding. That in and of itself was very attractive to me. I chose Morrisville because I couldn’t have the option to do both at any other school.” After graduation, Clancy said, “I hope to either be working at a breeding farm in either Kentucky or New York, managing mares and foals–that’s my primary interest. Having my own farm, breeding my own mares and caring for the foals–that’s the end goal.” Hanna Frederick, a sophomore from near Albany, is working on a four-year degree in racing management. “All the programs are very, very hands-on. That was the main thing I was looking for,” Frederick said. “Even in classroom settings with all of the different labs that I’m involved in, and in the barns, everything is very one-on-one with my professors. It’s a country setting and a medium-sized school. I didn’t want a school that was too small, but I also didn’t want it to be so big that I couldn’t get that ideal student-to-professor ratio.” And a couple years down the road? “Ideally I would like to be a trainer for Thoroughbreds at a track, and also I’m interested in breaking babies,” Frederick said. Preston will point those two students–and all her others–in the right direction, opening a few doors for them along the way. But once armed with degrees, it will be up to those students to march through those doors on their own to see what lies beyond in the racing industry. “It’s such a wonderful business, but it has many barriers to entry, such as accessibility and longevity,” Preston said. “My goal is to train and educate people to contribute to the workforce and have future industry, or even non-industry, career opportunities. If that goal succeeds it will feel like an important win-win achievement for people, education, and the industry.” To learn more about Morrisville’s racing management program, click here. To read more on Morrisville’s equine rehab facilities, click here. View the full article

In 2019, Oaklawn will open Jan. 25 and run through May 4, three weeks beyond the track’s usual conclusion date of GI Arkansas Derby day in mid-April. “This is a sea-change in our scheduling,” Oaklawn President Louis Cella said. “This is an idea that has been discussed internally for a number of years and now the time seems right to make the change. The quality of our program is calling on us to present racing in the most favorable weather conditions. There is nowhere in America more beautiful for great racing than Arkansas in the spring.” The change to the racing calendar will also impact the local economy in Hot Springs, A.R. “Oaklawn has always been one of the pillars of our economy,” said Gary Troutman, President of the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and Metro Partnership. “This change to the racing schedule will greatly enhance our local businesses that rely on racing fans coming to town.” Oaklawn will continue to run on a Thursday to Sunday schedule and will also race on Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb. 18. View the full article

Phil Lam, an IT professional in the banking industry from Fresh Meadows, New York, took first place in the Wood Memorial Challenge, held at Aqueduct Racetrack Apr. 7. Lam finished with a bankroll of $3,382.85 and, in addition to that bank roll, took home the first-place prize of $5,000 and earned an additional $500 with the NYRA Bets 10% Challenge bonus. He also won a seat to the Belmont Stakes Challenge. “I was elated,” Lam said. “I tried so many times at NYRA. I was leading at the Belmont Stakes Challenge by $20,000 with one race to go, and I got caught. So, no lead is safe.” Finishing in second-place was Steve Doodnath, with a bankroll of $2,692.75 and $2,389 in prize winnings. Andy Berg, with a bankroll of $2,347.50, took third-place, and won $1,827 in prize money. Booth Doodnath and Berg also won seats to the National Handicapping Championships next February in Las Vegas. The Belmont Stakes Challenge, is the next NYRA handicapping challenge held June 8-9. View the full article

With the first grade 1 test for turf females of 2018 slated to take place this weekend, it is fitting the two trainers who have wielded the division's strongest hands in recent years have entrants none would be shocked to see prevail. View the full article

2nd-KEE, $50,733, Msw, 4-11, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :52.19, ft. HARGUS (c, 2, Capo Bastone–Call My Lawyer, by Put It Back), the less-fancied of a pair of Wesley Ward trainees at 2-1, broke alertly from a wide post with only his stablemate Odie (Scat Daddy) away quicker and drawn even wider. That pair locked horns through an opening quarter in :22.33, with 7-5 Odie starting to inch clear approaching the quarter pole. Hargus wasn’t done yet, however, and he dug in gamely from the fence and kicked clear from Odie under a hand ride to post an auspicious 2 1/2-length tally. Hargus becomes the first winner for his freshman sire (by Street Boss), who has just 14 registered 2-year-olds. Co-bred by the late Hargus Sexton, ‘TDN Rising Star’ Capo Bastone upset the 2013 GI King’s Bishop S. Owner Danny Pate pinhooked star-crossed eventual ‘Rising Star’, SW and GSP Mourinho (Super Saver) from a $30,000 KEESEP yearling to $625,000 OBS March grad of 2017. Sales history: $9,000 RNA Ylg ’17 FTKOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $26,820. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. O-Danny Pate; B-J. D. Stuart (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. View the full article

TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) runner-up Lone Sailor returned to the work tab April 11 at Churchill Downs with a half-mile breeze in :47 3/5, his first major tune-up in preparation for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). View the full article

Oaklawn Park plans to make the most significant change to its racing schedule since World War II. 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. Thursday’s Insights features a well bred debutante. 6.45 Chelmsford, Cond, £8,000, 3yo, 8f (AWT) Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s homebred firster MOOTASADIR (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is the second foal produced by Mahbooba (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}), whose stakes victories on three different continents include a win in South Africa’s 2010 G1 Golden Slipper. The G1 Epsom Derby entry and Hugo Palmer incumbent sports a first-time hood and faces five experienced rivals in this unveiling. View the full article

Following a luckless run when a beaten favourite in the G1 Star Doncaster Mile last weekend, Godolphin’s Kementari (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}) will now enjoy a spell out of training as connections look forward to resuming his programme in the spring. “He will head out to the paddock and enjoy a good break and I’m sure we will see an even stronger version of him next time he’s in training,” trainer James Cummings told Racing And Sports. Kementari won the G1 Randwick Guineas in March and ran a great race against his elders when third to Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) and Happy Clapper (Aus) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the G1 George Ryder S. at Rosehill two weeks later. The colt was made favourite for the Doncaster but had his path blocked on several occasions, eventually finishing an eased down tenth. “He pulled up very well and as fresh as he was going into the race, largely on account of the fact that he was locked away all of the way up the straight and never got clear, even until it was all over,” Cummings said. Reflecting on his season that also included a win in the G3 Eskimo Prince S. and the G2 Hobartsville S. Cummings added, “He had a preparation we can all be very proud of. We look forward to seeing the colt train on as a 4-year-old next season because he looks like he has got heaps left to offer for the stable.” View the full article

The Mauritian Magician Karis Teetan shrugged off a rare drought to bank a winning treble at Happy Valley on a night that required some finesse on a tricky surface. Teetan had a double at the same track on February 7 but had logged just one victory since, with Amazing Satchmo a month ago, before Electric Lightning, Pretty Bauhinia and Breeders’ Star all arrived to give him the night’s riding honours. The Valley track looked to be giving a fair bit of help to horses nearer the speed... View the full article

Epsom Racecourse has unveiled the entries for the two Group 1 races run on the eve of the G1 Investec Epsom Derby June 1. The G1 Investec Oaks has 60 nominations with Aidan O’Brien responsible for an amazing 23 of the fillies entered. These include the likes of Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Clemmie (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), among others. One trainer however who will be keen to get his hands on the Oaks trophy is Frenchman Francis-Henri Graffard who has entered his once raced Homerique (Exchange Rate). This filly only made her racecourse debut when winning a maiden at Chantilly last week but such was the authority of her victory that Graffard has given her a Classic entry. “Homerique has come out of Chantilly really well,” he said. “The plan is to run her next in the [G3] Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud on May 1, and we have made an entry for the Investec Oaks just to keep all options open for her. I think she is a better filly on good ground and I was quite surprised by the way she won at Chantilly. I knew she was a good filly, but I was not expecting her to win as she did on the ground because it was very soft,” he explained. The entries have also been released for the G1 Investec Coronation Cup and while both Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) feature in the 25 strong list it is unlikely the much anticipated clash between the two stable-mates will materialise until later in the season, though John Gosden did hint recently that the Coronation Cup could be used to kick-start Enable’s 4-year-old campaign. View the full article

Spring is dragging its feet across the Wiltshire Downs. Yet again, morning has barely managed to prise apart rain clouds and grey hills, roiling together to every horizon. But if renewal remains uncertain in the season, it is there for all to see in the man bouncing his jeep across the mud and puddles alongside an all-weather gallop. Brian Meehan has been at Manton for 12 years but there is no mistaking the sense that things are getting a reboot round here. Last autumn he bought the stable he had previously been renting, and welcomed an ambitious new assistant in James Ferguson. Moreover his alliance with another young man of resonant pedigree, bloodstock agent Sam Sangster, had already produced dividends: only the second of their Manton Thoroughbreds partnerships came up with one of the top British juveniles of 2017 in G2 Richmond S. winner Barraquero (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}), picked out for just £30,000 at Goffs UK as a yearling. Following the retirement of Manton stalwart Jimmy Fortune, meanwhile, two of the top young riders on the circuit-Oisin Murphy and Tom Marquand-can now be found riding out here every week. Above all, however, Meehan himself exudes an air of reinvigoration. Recently remarried, he admits that personal vicissitudes had insinuated themselves into his professional morale; and, of course, that creates a vicious circle. Whether measured by quality or quantity, the decline had become transparent: down to just 26 domestic winners in 2016 from 73 in 2010. Crucially, however, Meehan has recognised both what was going wrong-and how he might set about turning things round. “I wouldn’t deny there was a time I was going out every morning and it was like, here we go again,” he admits. “If you’ve been doing it 25 years, and are going to be doing it another 25, you have to keep the excitement going for yourself. If you’re not geed up by what you’re doing every day, you have to take a long hard look at it. But now, with buying the yard and everything else we’re doing to change things, it’s like a switch has gone off. All of a sudden you can’t sleep at night because you’re so excited about getting up in the morning.” That new focus has been aptly condensed by the physical concentration of the string. Manton has notoriously proved a challenge to some of his profession’s biggest names but Meehan, knowing the place so well now, has been able to rationalise his needs in tandem with a new neighbour in Martyn Meade, freshly arrived from Newmarket. After book-ending 2006 with international G1 splashes in the Dubai Duty Free and Breeders’ Cup Turf, respectively through David Junior (Pleasant Tap) and Red Rocks (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the string of around 120 that had accompanied Meehan from Lambourn mushroomed to 198. But he then discovered quite how literal a stretch that entailed. “When the breeze-up horses came back from Calder, we had horses in six different yards,” he says, shaking his head. “One morning I clocked 48 miles on the jeep. And probably that was the cause of a lot of it. The idea was that you had head lads or girls in each place, you had two assistants, all that kind of thing. But you had horses exercising in different areas, and trying to keep on top of it all was really hard-and, I think, drove me over the edge a little bit. That year we sent 25 to the July Sale, because it was ridiculous.” Numbers first stabilised but then gradually subsided. Now that he has bought his own bricks and mortar, however, Meehan hopes to make a virtue of streamlining. Having originally been in a joint-venture, he couldn’t consolidate in a particular area. His partners would have been entitled to ask why invest in more boxes for one yard, if you already have them available in another? “In Lambourn, I ended up with 96 horses in a yard that historically took 50,” Meehan recalls. “But it was neat, it was tidy, it functioned. So that’s what I want to do again. From 80 or so, the idea is to get back up to 100 heads over the doors.” While he knows that fashion invariably favours fresh faces, in his 50th year Meehan stands at that ideal nexus of energy and experience. Here, after all, is a trainer with 15 Group or Grade 1 winners to his name, and a deserved reputation for enterprise in where he bought and raced good horses. His every corpuscle yearns to restore that standing; to win back those orders that would previously have found him, at this time of year, prospecting breeze-ups in Florida. “We used to have 25, 30 horses here from the U.S. and it was like a nursery for them,” Meehan says. “If they were good enough, they could stay; if they weren’t, they could go back: that’s not knocking American racing, far from it, it’s just there’s so much more of it. We kept data on what we bought in Calder and it was quite phenomenal: 48 per cent Group 1 performers, either winners or placed. I know the system, and it was great for the consignors to be able to hang their hat on a regular European shopper: they know what you need, and want you to come back. “I think we’ve shown we’re able to send horses anywhere. Even two years ago, when we had the first European-trained winner in Qatar. But what I want more than anything is to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf again. I’d forfeit everything else for that, professionally. To win three of those, with three different horses? There wouldn’t be many above me.” Just Aidan O’Brien, in fact; while he would be joining only Andre Fabre and Sir Michael Stoute if he could find a third individual Turf winner to follow Red Rocks (2006) and Dangerous Midge (Lion Heart) (2010). And nor does it seem too far-fetched an aspiration, given the collective spring in the step of the Manton team. It reflects well on both, for instance, that Ferguson should have come here from an equivalent role with Charlie Appleby, one he was hardly able to retain once his father John ended his long tenure as Sheikh Mohammed’s bloodstock adviser last summer. Given his upbringing-and his sire certainly stamps his stock, not just physically but in vitality and engagement-and the experience he has already gained, Ferguson’s arrival enables him both to see a different set-up and, potentially, to make a genuine difference himself. “James fully intends to train but felt he wanted to do a little more time, and get out of the circle I suppose,” Meehan says. “He’s from a great racing family and, with his whole Godolphin connection, it was a compliment that he wanted to see it from my point of view. I like the fact that he doesn’t just agree, that he has ideas. I’ve had some great assistants over the years but sometimes one just rolled on from the other, and the system stayed in place. So it’s nice to have new things going on, and whoever comes after him will have the benefit of his freshness.” Sangster is also bringing new impetus, while also preserving a pleasing link to the past through his own celebrated surname. (His late father Robert, of course, once owned the estate.) “Sam’s very good with people and he’s behind the whole Manton Thoroughbreds idea, which is working really well,” Meehan says. “What we’ve tried to do at the sales is work on stallions that have done the job but dropped off the fashion list. Zebedee (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) has worked out for us, and Helmet (Aus) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) is another horse we’re trying to operate with.” Done the job, and fallen off the fashion list? Sounds familiar. With these young thrusters putting their shoulder to the wheel, however, Meehan even finds himself in the vanguard of social media-thanks to pupil assistant Jack Morland, with snappy videos posted online to preview stable runners. True, a small but untimely hold-up has seen Barraquero diverted from a Guineas trial in favour of sprinting. But while he will no longer reappear in the Greenham S. on April 21, Newbury that day remains very much on the agenda for Raheen House (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a Group 3 winner last year and likely to appreciate the extra test in Cup races this year. “I think the John Porter is a sensible place to start, and we’ll take it from there,” Meehan says. “Jamie Spencer couldn’t ride in the St Leger but we had a conversation the other day and he wants to commit to the horse 100 per cent for the year.” Meehan likes several 3-year-olds with little or no track experience as yet, while Petrus (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who did run well in good company at the backend, is expected to prove much stronger this year. The juveniles are evidently shaping up well, too. And when he needs to get out of the bubble, his wife Jax brings an outside perspective: new to racing, she has a style consultancy and boutique (Jax Jeans) in Hungerford. One way or another, it is years since Meehan has embarked on a new campaign in such positive vein. “We haven’t got them onto the grass yet, it being so wet,” he says. “But you don’t want to be pummelling it now because that beautiful July ground is what Manton’s all about: nobody else has it. We want to get the winners back up, of course, but what you really want is for them to be nice horses-and I do think we may have that, this year. “It gave me such pleasure, that era where we were having runners abroad all the time, and had the profile of a good international set-up. So I want to bring that back again. That gives you the get-up-and-go, to fight the battle. Reputation does count for a lot, and the way people see you. But primarily you’ve got to be happy. We’ve made changes and there are more to come: there are a few things in my head I want to do. So while we can’t reinvent the wheel, we do have the experience, and the knowledge-and still have something fresh.” View the full article

SYDNEY, Australia–The Inglis Easter Yearling Sale came to a close on Wednesday in Sydney with an additional 119 lots offered in Book 1, and 83 offered for Book 2. Fastnet Rock, as he did on Tuesday, provided the session-topping colt, a full-brother to current-season Group 1 winner Shoals (Aus) bought that filly’s trainer Anthony Freedman from the Arrowfield draft for A$2.3-million. Fastnet Rock thus provided the two highest-priced yearlings of the sale and four seven-figure lots in total. Three sires separated themselves from the pack during Book 1, and unsurprisingly those were I Am Invincible (Aus), Fastnet Rock (Aus) and Snitzel (Aus). I Am Invincible was Book 1’s leading sire by average (32 sold, A$564,062), followed by Fastnet Rock (30 sold, A$554,167) and Snitzel (38 sold, A$542,237). I Am Invincible had five seven-figure lots and Snitzel seven. The other sires to achieve seven-figure lots were Redoute’s Choice (Aus), Deep Impact (Jpn) (two from two offered), Frankel (GB), Not A Single Doubt (Aus) and Pierro (Aus). The three breakout first-season sires by average (three or more sold) were Darley’s son of I Am Invincible, Brazen Beau (Aus) (six sold, A$351,667) and Newgate’s pair of Deep Field (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) (eight sold, A$295,000) and Dissident (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}) (10 sold, A$222,000). Some on site described the market as a bit more polarized at the top end than what is typical of an Australian yearling sale, and despite a clearance rate that was down 3% from last year, when all was done and dusted at the end of Book 1 figures were on par from last year. A total of 335 yearlings changed hands over the three days for A$116,457,500, compared to 308 sold for A$109,320,000 last year. The average and median both dipped slightly: the average 2.1% to A$347,634, and the median 3.8% to A$250,000. (Note figures continue to be updated on the Inglis website as private sales are added. These figures reflect the numbers upon the conclusion of the sale on Wednesday evening). “I think we have to be very happy with the way the sale’s panned out,” said Inglis’s National Bloodstock Director Jonathan D’Arcy after the conclusion of Book 1. “There were certainly times where things got very strong in the ring and other times where it quieted down a bit. But that’s a yearling sale anywhere in the world. The production costs of these yearlings is quite high and so from time to time I can understand that vendors do want to protect their position. There are some horses that will go home unsold but on the whole we’ve had over A$116-million turn up to be spent on these yearlings.” A Shore Thing… Arrowfield and Pinecliff Racing’s dual Group 1-winning mare Shoals (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has done plenty this season to boost the profile of her younger full-brother, who was offered at Easter on Wednesday as lot 400, and thus it took A$2.3-million for trainer Anthony Freedman to ensure he would join his sister in his stable. “You have to pay for these colts,” Freedman acknowledged. “I thought he was the colt of the year. Knowing the family as well as I do I was very confident he was the right type. He’s very much like his sister but bigger and stronger, so it gave me the confidence to go to that sort of money. I only really looked at him twice but I saw enough of him to know he was the right horse. It’s a lot of money but it’s the best family in this country and probably the Southern Hemisphere, and colts like that are hard to get.” Shoals notched her first Group 1 win in the G1 Myer Classic at the Melbourne Cup Carnival in the spring, and added the G1 Surround S. just weeks ago. With her pedigree, Shoals must be one of the most valuable fillies in the country, and indeed if her brother can achieve close to what she has on the racetrack he will be a many multi-million dollar stallion prospect. They are out of The Broken Shore (Aus) (Hussonet), herself a daughter of the great producer Shantha’s Choice (Aus) (Canny Lad {Aus}) and therefore a half-sister to Redoute’s Choice (Aus) and fellow Group 1 winners Platinum Scissors (Aus) and Manhattan Rain (Aus), as well as the excellent producer Monsoon Wedding (Aus) and the dam of young Coolmore sire Rubick (Aus). “I think knowing the family and training Shoals meant I had that intel,” Freedman said. “That gave me the confidence. I think he’s the right type of Fastnet Rock colt, he’s not too big, and I think he’s just a bigger version of Shoals. I didn’t want to walk away without having a good crack at buying him.” Messara later confirmed that Arrowfield had taken 25% of the colt. “Once you get over a million, it’s in the laps of the gods,” Messara said. “I thought he was capable of making more, but then history is that it’s a fair bit of money. He was a horse that had a lot fewer unknowns about him than almost any other colt in this sale because he is by a proven sire, out of a multiple Group 1-producing mare, from a family that’s a sire-making family. He just had everything and he was a good individual. It’s a risk-mitigation exercise if you want to go into the stallion business and that horse had a lot of the features you would seek.” “I jumped immediately and got 25%. He could have ended up in the hands of people who didn’t want me in as they might have been another stud, but as it turns out it was a bunch of investors and other breeders so I took a share. I’ve got the best of both worlds; we got a great price and I retained a share.” Shoals is the first foal out of The Broken Shore, and her 2-year-old filly Tides (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), also with Freedman, is set to debut soon. She is followed by a colt foal by Medaglia d’Oro, and the mare is back in foal to Fastnet Rock. “She has a colt foal by Medaglia d’Oro that Magic Millions and Inglis will be competing for next year,” Messara said. “He’s a very nice colt. The 2-year-old filly is in the hands of the same trainer; I think Anthony Freedman will buy every member of that family the way it’s going. We gave him the first two fillies and I think he’ll buy the rest. Tides is heading for a listed race in Queensland to start in six to eight weeks. If she’s able to get black-type, the mother will have two-for-two and you’d have to think the Medaglia d’Oro colt would be sought after next year.” Shoals has a potential date in Royal Ascot’s G1 Diamond Jubilee S. in June, but Messara said the filly first has to get over a small setback. “Shoals had a little veterinary mishap after being given a needle and it got infected,” he explained. “She’s had two or three weeks of just swimming and walking and no real trackwork. She’s reasonably fit because he’s kept doing something with her and so we’re still aiming to try to run her in the G1 Robert Sangster in Adelaide. If she misses that she may run in the G1 Goodwood H. which is two weeks later. If she were to win one of those, that would signal to us that’s she’s in top order still. She’s had the needles to travel overseas so she would aim for Ascot.” Arrowfield ended Easter as far and away the leading vendor, with 31 sold for A$18,265,000. Coolmore was second with 28 sold for A$10,945,000. “It’s been a good week,” Messara said. “We brought some really nice horses here to inaugurate the new Riverside Stables. We expected to do well and we’re really pleased with the results in the end. Having said that, the market is still a bit picky. They paid plenty for the horses they liked and they discarded the ones they didn’t. There is no middle road at the moment and I think that’s much the case everywhere, not just here.” “I think it’s probably healthy that it’s no more than that,” Messara said of the almost A$350,000 average. “That’s a lovely figure. We’ve consolidated and there’s a base to grow from. The market is getting very professional. If you come with the wrong item, you’ll be punished.” Spendthrift Secures A Snitzel… Representing a similar cross to the sale topper–the Danehill line over Hussonet–later in the session was Milburn Creek’s Snitzel (Aus) colt out of the young stakes winner Walk With Attitude (Aus), and he will race in the Spendthrift colours after that operation went to A$1.55-million to secure him, fighting off Godolphin. Spendthrift has enjoyed success this season with Irukandji (Aus), who just week ago became the first stakes winner for first-season sire Dundeel (NZ), and Spendthrift’s U.S. general manager Ned Toffey said, “we were right about where we thought we’d be for this colt. He ticks all the boxes about as well as anything.” Asked how a son of Snitzel might be received in America if shuttled, Toffey said, “it’d be a heck of a challenge. Snitzel is certainly the kind of horse that is developing the kind of reputation that might get there at some point. It’s a tough way to go but first thing’s first, let’s hope we can win some races and get to the point where we have to make that decision.” Walk With Attitude is from the family of last year’s G2 Superlative S. winner Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as well as Coolmore’s young dual hemisphere sire Pride of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) and Invincible Spirit (Ire). Redoute’s Colt Is Harron’s Choice… As a three-time champion Australian sire, Redoute’s Choice (Aus) has naturally had a profound effect on the breed, and he has long reigned over the Inglis Easter sale as well through his own deeds as well as those of his sons. The 21-year-old stallion was without a breakout horse over the first two days of the sale, but he corrected that during the final session on Wednesday when his colt out of Silla Regalis (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) (lot 358) made James Harron stretch to A$1.5-million. In addition to representing the highly successful Redoute’s Choice/Encosta de Lago cross, the colt is also out of a half-sister to Hong Kong champion Silent Witness (Aus) (El Moxie) and the triple group winner and Group 1-placed Sister Madly (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}). Harron has enjoyed success as of late with Redoute’s Choice colts like Pariah (Aus) and Tchaikovsky (Aus), both bought from Arrowfield, and Harron admitted he was following a proven pattern. “He was my pick of the sale,” the agent said. “I absolutely loved him from the minute I saw him. We’ve been targeting Redoute’s Choice because we’ve had quite a bit of luck with him with Pariah and Tchaikovsky and this guy really reminded me of those horses. Strong, really good attitude, fantastic action, so I’m delighted and relieved and get him–I lost a bit of sleep last night thinking about it. It’s a real speedy family and he looks like a speed horse.” Of the market this week, Harron added, “It’s been very strong on the nice lots. There’s been good competition. We came here targeting a couple colts in particular and we’ve been very pleased with what we’ve been able to get.” The colt will follow Pariah and Tchaikovsky into the Peter and Paul Snowden stable and will run for Harron’s familiar colts’ syndicate. Harron didn’t rest long before once again jumping in at seven-figures to secure a grandson of Redoute’s Choice, Arrowfield’s Not A Single Doubt (Aus) colt (lot 378), for A$1.05-million. The chestnut is the second foal out of the winning Star Pupil (Aus) (Starcraft {NZ}), a daughter of the multiple stakes winner and producer Ain’t Seen Nothin’ (Aus) (Nothin’ Leica Dane {Aus}). Invinc-ability… The Hawkes Racing training team received one of the priciest lots from this sale last year, Emirates Park’s A$1.7-million purchase Estijaab (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), and John, Michael and Wayne Hawkes will certainly be hoping lot 370, a son of I Am Invincible (Aus), can follow in her footsteps and win the 2019 Golden Slipper after spending A$1.4-million on the colt. The Gilgai Farm offering has the page to jump and run: in addition to being by Yarraman Park’s ultra-exciting young sire, he is a half-brother to the G1 Newmarket H. winner The Quarterback (Aus) (Street Boss). “He is by a horse called I Am Invincible and he’s a half-brother to a Newmarket H. winner so it looks pretty fair if he can gallop,” Wayne Hawkes said of the price, adding the colt was bought on spec. “We have some good stable clients so we’ll just work him up.” “The market has been strong,” Hawkes added. “It hasn’t been easy but it’s been strong.” Of the Slipper winner, he said, “She’s doing well, she’s out in the paddock having a well-earned spell.” The Hong Kong Jockey Club had spent A$1-million on an I Am Invincible colt on Tuesday, and it went to the same amount on Wednesday for another son of the Yarraman Park resident (lot 416) on Wednesday. I Am Invincible has started out quite well in Hong Kong, with 10 winners from 11 starters, and if he can keep his strike rate anywhere close to that, his sons should find favour at the Hong Kong International Sale in two years’ time. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, after being absent from earlier sales this year in Australia due to quarantine disputes between the two nations, spent A$4.6-million on six yearlings this week. After signing for the I Am Invincible and a A$900,000 Snitzel colt (lot 417) in immediate succession, the Jockey Club’s Mark Richards said, “I think today’s been a little easier to buy than yesterday. There have been a few points where we’ve been able to buy horses at what we’d call a reasonable price. I thought the Snitzel was going to make a million or more, he was certainly that type so you’d have to say you’re pleased to get that at 900. The I Am Invincible is a lovely horse and the sire has a great record in Hong Kong at the moment. But I think it’s obvious that the top end is very, very strong. The middle has suffered a little bit. I’m sure there are more million-dollar horses this year than there have ever been before but I think some area has to lose out if that’s the case and I think the middle market felt it this time.” I Am Invincible’s Wednesday haul also included a A$560,000 colt out of the dual Group 1 winner Secret Admirer (Aus) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 344) bought by trainer Tim Martin and a A$600,000 filly (lot 394) bought by trainer Tony McEvoy. I Am Invincible stands at the Mitchell family’s Yarraman Park Stud and has been a true rags to riches story. A member of the first of four crops from his sire Invincible Spirit’s brief shuttling career, I Am Invincible was champion first-season sire in 2013/14 with a crop conceived at a fee of A$10,000. That fee bounced up to A$25,000, then A$50,000 and last year he stood for A$110,000. Arthur Mitchell of Yarraman, which owns half the horse, said another raise is in the books for 2018. “His stud fee will go up a bit,” he confirmed. “We haven’t decided what it is yet.” “He’s now been accepted as a serious stallion,” Mitchell said. “On the whole he gets a consistently good type of individual so that helps him as well and they can all run: colts, fillies, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds. Ticking all the boxes is a horrible term, but he’s doing incredibly well.” Mitchell said offers to shuttle the horse have been turned down–“we feel just as happy to keep him at home”–and while I Am Invincible hasn’t yet covered mares to Northern Hemisphere time, he is available. I Am Invincible’s first son to stud, the G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Brazen Beau (Aus), was Book 1’s leading first-season sire by average, and Mitchell said the signs are good for another son, the G1 William Reid S. winner Hellbent (Aus), who joins his sire at Yarraman this year. “We’re now standing his next son Hellbent, he’s coming to us this year and he’s pretty much sold out already,” Mitchell said. “There are three sons at stud now and they’re all quite popular.” The Easter sale drew to a close with an 83-horse Book 2 that saw 51 change hands (clearance rate 76%) for A$5,890,000. The average was A$115,490 (-3.1%) and the median A$100,000 (+11%), and top billing went to a Pierro (Aus) filly from Arrowfield Stud (lot 452) at A$330,000. She was bought by Brendan and Jo Lindsay, who recently took over ownership of the legendary Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. View the full article

Snitzel recorded his seventh seven-figure yearling of the Inglis Easter sale on Wednesday when Spendthrift Farm went to A$1.55-million to secure Milburn Creek’s colt out of the young stakes winner Walk With Attitude (lot 433). View the full article