Wandering Eyes

This week is a recap of Pioneerof the Nile’s victory in the 2008 CashCall Futurity (G1) Dec. 20 at Hollywood Park. The recap, written by Tracy Gantz, ran in the Dec. 27, 2008 magazine. It carried the headline, “Looking Ahead.” View the full article

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost Jockey Javier Castellano suspended two Hong Kong race days for careless riding when finishing second in one of his rides. Yutaka Take received a similar ban from an earlier race – @PatCummingsTIF These International Jockeys’ Championships produce a different style of racing compared to your usual Happy Valley fare. Javier Castellano hoping to create... View the full article

One of the most potent combinations in world racing – owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, trainer Sir Michael Stoute and jockey Ryan Moore – grabbed centre stage at Sha Tin on Thursday morning and quietly demonstrated that they’ll be leading players in Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong Vase. This is the trio who had Workforce, winner of the Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in season 2010, and each has been a huge achiever in his own right in the intervening eight years... View the full article

Master trainer John Size believes there is more in the tank for his boom sprinter Hot King Prawn ahead of his toughest test yet. The powerful grey is the warm favourite in Sunday’s Group One Longines Hong Kong sprint after ticking every box in his preparation – he has three wins from three starts – however Size believes his lightly raced four-year-old will only get better. “Now that he is four, normally in Hong Kong, they become a little bit stronger as a four-year-old... View the full article

Historical turnpikes have marked the career of Ronald Rauscher, forged during the 1970s and 1980s in the sacred acreage of Cologne’s Gestut Rottgen and Oshawa’s Windfield Farm. Present at the latter during the era of Vice Regent, the Canadian-born entrepreneur was carried by a rare wind from the outset. It blew him the way of Co. Kildare’s Baronrath Stud in 1985, where he took up a managerial post under Rottgen’s owner Maria Mehl-Mulhens and steered the birthplace of The Tetrarch and Dark Ronald which had also recently produced the luminaries Strong Gale and Star Appeal until setting up on his own at Barnane Stud in Co. Tipperary. It was from there that the G2 German 1000 Guineas heroine and G1 Prix de Diane-placed Tryphosa (Ire) (Be My Guest) emerged to promote the Rauscher name, which was firmly on the way to widespread recognition by the time he re-entered Germany in 1998. Then came another of those relentless upturns that seem to have defined his vocation in the crowded seas of world bloodstock. Back then, Germany was far from the lucrative fishing waters for overseas investors that it is in the present day, but Rauscher saw an opportunity and–by leading the owner of the then dual Group 1 winner Caitano (GB) (Niniski) to Gary Tanaka–created a ripple that was to have far-reaching consequences. “I rang Ben Cecil, because he trained for Gary Tanaka and he put me in touch with his manager Andy Smith of Havana Horse and we got the deal together,” Rauscher explained. “A few horses got sold and succeeded.” In the years to come, Tanaka’s link with Germany would bear more fruit internationally via the likes of Moonlady (Ger) (Platini {Ger}), Epalo (Ger) (Lando {Ger}) and Noble Stella (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), so this represented a true landmark moment in the fortunes of German bloodstock. As the millennium approached, Rauscher was also forming a partnership with Dr Christoph Berglar at the Union Stud near Cologne. “When I had seen it 10 years before it was fairly run-down and had been a little bit over-horsed,” Rauscher explains. “He wanted to lease it and leave it, but I voted against it and together we had a very good time there. We decided not to stand stallions any more and cut back on the number of mares and I think it paid off. We also got a big portion of luck.” From this establishment sprung the substantial duo of international heavyweights Novellist (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}) and Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), but there was more to the new era than just fortune. “It was a resurgence for Germany and people opened up,” he adds. “In the old days, and by that I mean the seventies, eighties and into the nineties, nobody was going to sell anything out of Germany. When Lord Howard de Walden bought Slip Anchor’s dam Sayonara and Daniel Wildenstein bought Sagace’s ancestress Schonbrunn (Ger) it was a big thing; it didn’t happen that often, really. I remember shipping Anna Paola (Ger) (Prince Ippi {Ger}) when she had been sold to Sheikh Mohammed at the very beginning of Dalham Hall accompanied by Strong Gale, who had been bought by Liam Cashman, and it was a very big thing.” Right place, right time could sum up the career of Rauscher but it cannot all be down to coincidence and fortune that he was there when it mattered. Success had led him to fulfil a personal dream by purchasing Kentucky’s Stonereath Farm for the Berglar family in 2010. He charts the journey to the acquisition of the beautiful bluegrass “jewel.” “I used to pinhook in the States a fair bit at the end of the nineties with Peter Kavanagh and Brendan Hayes and we boarded the mares at Jim Fitzgerald’s Knockgriffin Farm down the road from Stonereath,” he recalls. “I used to drive past and think, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing to see that farm and to maybe one day own it?’ And then Dr. Berglar said in 2010 that he wanted to do something else and wouldn’t it be a great idea to have a farm in Florida. I questioned that, as he wasn’t a breeze-up man and said, ‘why don’t we have a look at Kentucky?’ and Stonereath was on the portfolio of the agents. It was amazing that it came up and it is a great place. I think about Sex Appeal and Blush With Pride coming out of there and those great families which have had a great influence on the Thoroughbred industry.” With Stonereath handed over to the owner’s son Peter Berglar to run, Rauscher went to the lucrative Australian market and was influential in starting the relationship with Australian bloodstock. “That came from Lucas Cranach (Ger) (Mamool {Ire}), who I arranged the sale of along with David Medbury and who was the first German horse bought by Australian bloodstock,” he says. “I struck up a good relationship with Luke Murrell and Jamie Lovett and we have done plenty of business since. That opened up the German horses to Australia, with Protectionist after and sons of Monsun in general such as Fiorente (Ire). The distances have to be right for them and the races have to be tailor-made down there. Some German horses haven’t quite adapted to racing there, especially on rock-hard ground.” With all that heritage behind him, it is no surprise that Rauscher’s consignments draw much attention at the major European sales. He has sold the important mares Mandellicht (Ire) (Be My Guest), Lady Marian (Ger), Rock My Soul (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}, Wells Present (Ger) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) and Private Life (Fr) (Bering {GB}), respectively the dams of Manduro (Ger), this year’s G2 Grand Prix de Deauville winner Loxley (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), G3 Chester Vase winner Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}), G1 Preis der Diana heroine Well Timed (Ger) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and the millionaire stayer Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). Arqana’s auctions are very important to the German bloodstock industry and Rauscher is keen to stress the link between the countries. “Quite a few German clients like Arqana, because they think the catalogue is smaller and therefore if you have something that is nice you can stand out a bit more there,” he explains. “A lot of German horses run in France on a regular basis and there are sometimes days when there are about twenty German horses running there. Gestut Ammerland, for instance, are keeping a large amount of horses in France and in comparison, there are very few German faces at Tattersalls these days. At Deauville, the German attendance is quite big. I don’t know exactly why that is, but it seems to be an ongoing trend.” Rauscher’s draft at this weekend’s Arqana’s December Sale is made up of an intriguing mix of broodmares and racing prospects. In the former category is the G3 Grosser Preis der Mehl-Mulhens-Stiftung Gestut Rottgen winner Good Donna (Ger) (Doyen {Ire}), consigned as lot 126. From the family of Fame and Glory (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the 7-year-old is in foal to the first-crop sire sensation Kingman (GB). “She is a big strong mare, was a good racemare and with Kingman starting off the way he has I think it’s exciting,” he says. “We are very pleased with her first progeny and she’s coming on to the market because she has produced a couple of fillies. Doyen had a very good time in Germany and produced a very high-calibre collection of young mares while he was there, so from that angle I don’t think we’ll have too many people frowning even though he is covering national hunt mares these days.” Lot 163 is the 4-year-old filly Peace In Motion (Hat Trick {Jpn}), who captured the G3 Grosser Preis der Landeshauptstadt Dusseldorf in the Berglar silks in September, having finished runner-up in the previous year’s G2 German 1000 Guineas. Out of the dual Group 3 winner Peace Royale (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}), she carries great expectations. “I think she is probably our main attraction,” he admits. “She is still selling as a racing prospect, as although she is four she hasn’t had that many starts in her career. She is a stand-out as an individual, she is very beautiful and the family is well known in France. It will be interesting to see if she can attract American or Japanese buyers–I think she can. Physically she is just that kind of filly that they will like.” Rauscher is also selling the 4-year-old filly Delectation (GB) (Delegator {GB}) on behalf of Australian Bloodstock, and she is a triple Group 3 winner in Britain and Germany. Lot 192 is from the family of the G2 July S. scorer Captain Hurricane (GB) (Desert Style {Ire}) and top-class Niche (GB) (Risk Me {Fr}). “My Australian business associates decided to take her to the States, which was understandable given that her distance was seven furlongs to a mile, but she didn’t quite fulfil what we had hoped,” he says. “She still has a very high rating and is open to a lot of matings and is a tall filly with plenty of scope and substance. She is out of a Pivotal mare from the family of Indian Ridge (Ire), so that also makes her interesting.” Also offered is Lot 466, Gestut Ammerland’s 12-year-old Heart of Ice (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), whose yearling filly by Sea the Moon (Ger) sold for 125,000gns to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock at the recent Tattersalls December Yearling Sale. She is in foal to Maxios (GB), as is the same operation’s lot 705, the 8-year-old Drawn To Run (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ger}). The relative of the smart Corre Caminos (Fr) (Montjeu {Ire}), Racinger (Fr) (Spectrum {Ire}) and Recital (Fr) (Montjeu {Ire} has received a boost after her 2-year-old daughter Dalika (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}) was second in last month’s Listed Prix Herod. “She has a very nice update there and that should help her along a bit,” he says, before adding, “We have a good mix, with Lagoda (Ger) (Dalakhani {Ire}) (selling as lot 492) and Caesara (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) (selling as lot 97) nice fillies, too.” With his wealth of experience of some of the main centres of Thoroughbred excellence internationally, Rauscher is well placed to view the current state of the industry as it heads towards a seemingly inevitable correction. “There is over-production, there has to be when you have many foals selling for 700 or 800 guineas and you wonder where it is heading,” he says. “What does it really mean? Is it the mare owners or the stallion owners who are to blame? Where do we cut books? First-season sires covering over 200 mares, is that correct? Racing as a product in Europe has such a strong cultural background and will always be part of everyday life, but I don’t think it is what it was 30 to 40 years ago. When you see Italy and Germany with small foal crops of 850 a year, it has to be said that there is over-production in other areas but certainly not there. Where it is flourishing is Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, which are very far away. The market is very polarized and what it doesn’t want is superfluous, which is awful because we are talking about live animals.” Rauscher sees the current situation as a new problem with new challenges. “There was a big correction from the mid-eighties to the beginning of the nineties, when it crashed down big-time. That was a huge change, but that was all about money from the banks. What makes the commercial market so unique these days is that there are a lot of people who should be buying yearlings to race who are buying and selling instead. That has driven it to new heights and that doesn’t help the industry–the commercial aspect has become more important than the racing and sporting aspect. The same thing applies to retiring 2-year-olds; are they breeding to race or breeding to sell? I make a living off pinhooking, but others who don’t need to do it still participate and I can’t quite understand that. It doesn’t help the industry in the long run.” Racing and breeding needs more Ronald Rauschers: people who appreciate the legacy of the sport and the gravity of tradition, with an eye also on the global market. Exercising enterprise within acceptable boundaries, buying and selling as part of a great tradition. Acting within the market with a focus on the beauty of racing and breeding at all times. While such folk are still playing the game, there is not yet need to despair. View the full article

After struggling to live up to huge expectations this season, Pakistan Star has become somewhat the forgotten horse of the Longines Hong Kong International Races, but owner Kerm Din hopes a perfect draw and a favourite jockey can bring the best of out him in Sunday’s Vase. Pakistan Star was voted Hong Kong’s most popular horse last season in a landslide, but there are plenty of other descriptions that can be also be applied to the five-year-old – enigmatic, brilliant,... View the full article

Frankie Lor Fu-chuen’s boom four-year-old Dark Dream steps out for his Hong Kong debut this weekend and the second-year trainer says he will know more about whether he has a Derby prospect on his hands after Sunday’s race. Dark Dream follows in the footsteps of Eagle Way and Ruthven, who both run in Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong Vase, as horses to have been sold to Hong Kong after winning the Group One Queensland Derby (2,200m), with Ruthven starting his career with John Moore... View the full article

For most Hongkongers, a night at the Happy Valley races is just another staple on the city’s entertainment calendar. For SCMP Sport reporter Patrick Blennerhassett, who is new to Hong Kong, and hails from the quiet rural hinterlands of Canada, those happenings are a brand new sensory experience. The Post sent him with a camera and a microphone, and HK$100, to see if he could figure out how to navigate the scene during one of its busiest nights – the Longines International Jockeys... View the full article

The sun continued to play hide and seek Thursday morning at Sha Tin, but with the barrier draw conducted just after 11 a.m., there was a noticeably more sizeable crowd on hand as Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong International Races drew ever closer. As was reported in Thursday’s TDN, a good many of the nine Japanese raiders were given a searching gallop through the final 400 metres of the Sha Tin turf course, and once again Thursday morning, it was a member of that contingent that turned in the day’s most eyecatching piece of work. They all face a tall task in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile against reigning Horse of the Year Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road to Rock {Aus}), but Persian Knight (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) suggested that he is not going to go down without a fight with a powerful move down the straight that was clocked in :22.3 for the final 400 metres. The burly dark bay, whose owners G1 Racing Co. will also be represented by Sungrazer (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, exits a troubled runner-up effort in the G1 Mile Championship S. at Kyoto Nov. 18, the same event used as a steppingstone to Hong Kong Mile success by Hat Trick (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) in 2005 and again by Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) in 2015. Like Hat Trick, Persian Knight–and Sungrazer–are bred by Oiwake Farm. Also blowing out was Staphanos (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who has his swansong run in the Cup. The 7-year-old, third to Maurice in the 2016 Cup, went 800m in :49.5, with a final quarter-mile in a sparkling :21.2. He makes his fourth career start in the Cup and fifth appearance overall at Sha Tin Sunday. The two entrants in Sunday’s G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase exiting the G1 Melbourne Cup each took to the turf course Thursday morning. Prince of Arran (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) was an outstanding third in the Flemington feature backing up on three days’ rest off a victory in the G3 Lexus S. The 5-year-old looked bright and alert coming through the stretch at a good clip and his busy schedule looks to have taken nothing out of him. Prince of Arran is the subject of a feature story in Sunday’s TDN Europe/International. Wayne Lordan was in the plate on Rostropovich (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), one of three runners at the meet for his boom sire. Just 1 1/2 lengths in back of Prince of Arran in fifth in Melbourne, the 3-year-old also looked well despite two runs in Australia and a ship back to Ireland before coming to Hong Kong. Ron Arculli served the Hong Kong Jockey Club as its chairman from 2002 to 2006 and celebrated one of his proudest moments as an owner when his beloved Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) won the 2012 Vase. Red Verdon (Lemon Drop Kid) carries the Arculli powder blue and red silks Sunday and the 5-year-old entire appeared well within himself in a spin over the Sha Tin all-weather track Thursday morning. James Doyle rides for Red Cadeaux’s trainer Ed Dunlop, who sent out Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) to victory in the 2005 Vase. Beat the Bank (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) will be a decided outsider in Sunday’s Mile–to be fair, most of the field will be as well–and represents the Andrew Balding stable, successful with Phoenix Reach (Ire) (Alhaarth {Ire}) in the 2004 Vase. Winner of seven of 13 lifetime and four at group level, the bay stretched out nicely beneath big-race rider Oisin Murphy. View the full article

Pat Cummings, executive director of the fledgling Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, has a long list of issues with the Thoroughbred racing industry in North America and voiced them at the University of Arizona's Global Symposium on Racing. View the full article

Experts warned those in racing that sports wagering may not be a windfall for the industry. View the full article

Lim's Cruiser draws well in three View the full article

Placais bids Kranji adieu with fond memories View the full article

Early scratching December 9 View the full article

The madness of the Longines Hong Kong International Races is upon us but before the heat was turned up a quartet of the territory’s biggest names took to the golf course to unwind. Playing in the Hong Kong Open Charity Cup at Fanling, star jockeys Zac Purton, Chad Schofield and Neil Callan, and leading trainer Caspar Fownes, traded blows and banter in the name of charity. All keen golfers, the foursome took to the championship course in the wake of the recent Honma Hong Kong Open in an... View the full article

“Sports betting is an incredible opportunity to diversify your business. The time is now. You have everything in place to move sports betting forward.” That’s the message that Richard McGuire, Executive Chairman of Sports Tech PLC, delivered to attendees at the Global Symposium on Racing in Tucson on Wednesday. Although McGuire acknowledges that there has historically been a disconnect between sports betting and horse racing betting, he predicted that there will be a “shared wallet” allowing customers to easily bet sports contests and pari-mutuel horse racing. “The customer will demand it,” McGuire emphasized. He added, “Sports betting is both the greatest single opportunity and the greatest threat to racing. Unfortunately, consumer spending will quickly move away from racing, but racing and sports betting can coexist if sports betting is well integrated with racing.” He added a cautionary note that how sports wagers are structured is critical. “As soon as you overtax, you can kill your market,” McGuire said. “Participants will bet less or head to the illegal market. If too many hurdles are placed in sports betting, your customers will go to the off-shore operations, which are quite vibrant. Horse racing and sports betting can coexist if the two are fully integrated.” He pointed to Portugal and France as two countries with have high tax rates, which has created a strong demand for illegal betting markets there. “Racetracks have the infrastructure to offer sports betting, and I would encourage tracks to do that,” he told the audience of several hundred attendees. McGuire was one of three speakers on sports wagering that kicked off the second day of the symposium. Each one emphasized that the mobile platform is where sports betting will land. Kate Lowenhar-Fisher, a gaming lawyer with Dickinson-Wright PLLC in Las Vegas, added that she hated to throw cold water on the enthusiasm but reminded attendees of possible pitfalls. “Sports betting has hovered for years as the golden goose,” she said. “The economics of sports betting is no mystery. Sports books can be profitable or they can be murdered, depending on the regulatory environment. They have never been big money makers. There’s a lot of risk involved in operating a sports book. They operate with very narrow margins. A sports book is mostly an amenity to casino customers.” She agreed with McGuire that the profitability of a sports book depends on taxes and fees. “Operators see sports betting as the Golden Goose,” continued Lowenhar-Fisher, “But that’s not so. My advice is that if your taxes and fees are in excess of Las Vegas, you might be in trouble.” She also echoed McGuire in saying that customers can easily bet through illegal markets if they offer a better deal. “The more efficiencies you can create in a sports book, the better,” she stated. “My takeaway for racetrack operators is to be mindful of all the business killers you might encounter.” The panelists agreed that sports betting will spread to other states but that tax rates and licensing fees in each state will vary, and that will affect profitability. Pennsylvania was singled out as a state having high taxes and fees to help the state plug budget gaps. In a separate panel on sports betting, Scott Finley of the French betting organization PMU, conceded that sports betting is not going to happen overnight, but the racing industry must be part of the discussion. Finley agreed with Lowenhar-Fisher in emphasizing that sports betting is not like racing. “You can lose money taking sports bets,” Finley said. “It’s not like sitting back and taking a percentage of pari-mutuel handle.” Bill Knauf, VP of Business Operations for Monmouth Park in New Jersey, gave the background of the court case which ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court and was decided 6-3 in favor of sports betting on May 14 of this year. Monmouth opened its Sports Book by William Hill exactly a month later. It was opened in a renovated pari-mutuel area in the grandstand, and a sports bar was added nearby. Handle on Monmouth Park’s races went up significantly. (Sports betting not only came to Monmouth Park in New Jersey, but also to the Meadowlands and Atlantic City casinos.) Knauf said that the advantage of locating sports betting at tracks is that they are already the site of state-regulated gambling and they have ample parking and interior space, plus TV rooms with multiple channels. “We can show 60 sports games at once,” said Knauf. “No sports bar around us can do that.” Scott Duruty, a vice president with The Stronach Group, asked symposium attendees, “Is sports betting a friend or foe?” The answer, Duruty says, depends on who you ask and what jurisdiction that person is from. He said that The Stronach Group has not yet entered the sports betting market, but certainly has examined it carefully in four states: California, Florida, Oregon, and Maryland. It looks like a longshot in California, Duruty conceded. A proposed bill on sports betting did not move past committee in the past legislative session. “The tribal interests in California are not interested in online or mobile sports betting,” he said. “They just want to get customers to their casinos.” He acknowledged that California is a large and lucrative market, but racetracks face significant challenges in the quest to offer sports betting there. Duruty noted that Florida residents voted to phase out greyhound racing recently and added there will be no additional casino gambling without a ballot issue. Duruty said, “Some people said ‘There goes Florida.'” He said many people thought that the recent vote diminished the hopes for sports wagering at racetracks, but he emphasized that sports betting in Florida is still unresolved. Oregon scrapped sports betting in 2007 and that future participation by racing and tribal casinos is far from clear. Duruty said that if sports betting comes to Oregon it will may be operated by state lottery. “I don’t see much chance for tracks in Oregon,” he admitted. He is far more positive on Maryland, and thinks that soon sports wagering will come to land-based casinos and racetracks. “Sports betting in Maryland will require a statewide vote,” Duruty said. “Polls show approval, but voters must wait until legislation is approved. It would be very beneficial in Maryland.” He’s confident that sports betting will attract customers who also will be attracted to betting on horses. Horseplayers were the focus of a lively session in which tracks came under strong criticism from core customers. Attendees heard impassioned pleas for racing to listen to racing fans and to treat them better. Chris Larmey, chairman of the NHC Players Committee of the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., said, “Racing is dying one horseplayer at a time.” He said racing’s core product is “the bet” and says that product is overpriced. “Takeout is too high in general,” he said, “Maybe not in all cases, but the serious players have to make a long-term profit. The price of betting–the takeout–is a big deal. The price of playing is much lower in sports betting. So takeout is a real challenge to the racing industry. If you don’t reduce takeout, it will slowly eat away at racing.” Larmey said that every track’s goals should be to present large and competitive fields for customers to bet. “A five-horse field with a 2-5 shot is not fun to handicap,” he said. Larmey said that there are a lot of easy fixes and wonders why racing hasn’t addressed those problems. “Do you not care about the customer?” he asked pointedly. He mentioned that racing’s tote system has been patched over many years but the basic infrastructure is the same as 25-30 years ago. “Where is the innovation in player experience?” Larmey asked. Larmey also criticized the video presentation of racing, saying, “In the last five years, I have watched many sports events in high-definition…except for racing. Horseplayers watch races. They watch replays. They need high-definition technology.” Michael Amo, a member of the New York Racing Fan Advisory Council, said, “Fans are more than customers and players. They are stakeholders, too.” Amo said that tracks have forgotten fans and emphasized the need for more state racing councils to serve as a voice for fans. He strongly believes that fans should be represented on organizations that govern racing. If tracks respect and listen to fans, it will give them a sense of ownership in racing to help grow the sport. “Excluding fans will certainly not give them a sense of ownership,” Amo said. He was emphatic in the need for racing to change. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them,” Amo said. Patrick Cummings, Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, cited the issue of breakage as one way that the customer is being cheated by racing. “Breakage is the difference between what winning bettors should receive on winning bets, and what they actually receive,” Cummings said. In this year’s Triple Crown races, there was almost $1 million in breakage not paid to bettors. “Takeout rates are actually higher in racing than published because of breakage,” Cummings said. “Breakage has been unchallenged for 90 years. We have to treat racing’s core players with respect. Breakage is retained by tracks, and that’s no longer necessary.” Cummings advocated that reducing penny breakage would eliminate minus pools and would create a massive stimulus for horseplayers, and that money would ultimately go back to owners and horsemen. Cummings criticized racing for its lack of innovation. “Horse players are not happy with the status quo,” he said. “Customers are leaving.” Speaking from the track management perspective, Matt Vance of Remington Park in Oklahoma emphasized that Remington is not a track that values gaming customers over horseplayers. “We’ve been adamant about keeping horse racing relevant in our Remington Park operation,” he said. “From day one, it was key that we maintained that crossover. We wanted to showcase racing. We are lucky in Oklahoma because our gaming license is dependent on horse racing. Our racing commission understands the importance of keeping horse racing relevant. We have to keep the core player interested, and yet still get the new people coming to the casino to cross over to racing. We try to cross-promote both the gaming and racing. We worked hand-in-hand with our horsemen and it’s a partnership with us.” View the full article

Experts warned those in the racing that sports wagering may not be a windfall for the industry. View the full article

Multiple graded stakes winner Vertical Oak will headline a competitive field of five in the $100,000 Garland of Roses for fillies and mares going six furlongs Dec. 8 at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

Redesdale (Speightstown–Harpia, by Danzig), produced by a graded-stakes winning full-sister to Danehill, has been retired to Hidden Lake Farm at Questroyal North in New York. He will stand for a fee of $5,000, stands and nurses, and a limited number of lifetime breeding rights are available. A winner of his first three career starts sprinting on dirt, the 5-year-old retires to stud as the property of Hidden Lake Farm, LLC, Schumer Bloodstock and 3C Stable, LLC. “Redesdale offers every element for what I look for in a stallion,” Hidden Lake’s Chris Bernhard said. “Speed, looks and pedigree. His family is second to none. How often can you get Danehill under the second dam? Danehill is arguably the most important sire/sire of sires in Europe and Australia, and Northern Dancer is in my opinion the most important sire line period.” View the full article

Even by his standards, Bob Baffert's current spoils are overflowing at a rate to where he must take a measured step back in order to take them all in. View the full article

Calumet Farm’s Bravazo (Awesome Again), third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 3 and a close second in the GI Clark H. Nov. 23, is being pointed toward the $9-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Saturday, Jan 26 at Gulfstream Park. The GI Preakness S. runner-up has raced in eight consecutive Grade I events at six different tracks. “We’ve got a window of about seven weeks so we’ll get him in a work pattern,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. “We did ship him to Arkansas where he’s getting a week to just take it easy. We’ll start picking up a work tab schedule in mid- December. He’s really done well. He’s fit, his weight is excellent.” Lukas continued, “I think [Pegasus] is a significant development in the big picture of racing. One of things we’ve struggled with in Thoroughbred racing is keeping superstars on the track. I think this is a step in the right direction.” View the full article

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will debut Foal Patrol Season 2 online Dec. 28 at www.foalpatrol.com, and celebrate the new season with a family-friendly Foal Patrol Kids! open house at the Museum that day from 10 a.m. to noon. The open house will feature numerous educational initiatives, including the opportunity to meet a mare and foal on the premises, as well as the miniature horse Upset. The first season of Foal Patrol, a collection of live cameras following the daily activities of in-foal mares, had more than 1.6 million views from December 2017 through September 2018. View the full article

NEWMARKET, UK—The traditional Wednesday evening slot for the Juddmonte fillies in and out of training delivered exactly what has come to be expected as the December Sale cranked down a notch from the frenetic trade of Tuesday. A pair of 3-year-olds from celebrated families and by top-class sires shared the spotlight when each selling for 400,000gns just four lots apart. A number of the international visitors had disappeared from Park Paddocks by the third session of the sale but still in situ and waiting for the second part of their favourite draft were John Gunther and his daughter Tanya, who have enjoyed the sort of year that all breeders dream about. It will be hard to top a year in which Glennwood Farm produced a Triple Crown winner in Justify and then celebrated a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot in the Gunthers’ own colours, but the family is reinvesting in some European bloodlines in a bid to keep the top-level winners coming. “You have to keep working,” John Gunther said with a smile as he signed the docket for lot 2204, Weekday (GB), a once-raced daughter of Dansili (GB), whose recent accomplishments as a broodmare sire include the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) and Saturday’s GI Matriarch S. winner Uni (GB) (More Than Ready). “I bought Posset from the same spot so I just couldn’t stop bidding,” he adds. “She’s a lovely mare from a Juddmonte family with a couple of Dubawis to come [from her dam]. I’ve been so lucky with Juddmonte over the years—Without Parole is by Frankel—and I didn’t want to leave without buying something from the draft.” Posset (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a sister to Midday (GB) and a 625,000gns purchase four years ago, could yet be responsible for the Gunthers’ silks being carried to further glory in Britain and her first foal, the unraced 2-year-old Make My Day (GB) (Galileo {GB}), is in training with John Gosden and holds a Derby entry. Weekday will join her fellow Juddmonte-bred to Newsells Park Stud, the Gunthers’ choice of boarding farm in Britain, and is likely to visit Kingman (GB). Reflecting on a memorable 2018, Gunther added, “It’s been a very exciting year with Justify winning the Triple Crown. You know, you just dream of breeding a Kentucky Derby winner and then for him to win the Triple Crown, it still hasn’t really sunk in yet. And then we went to Royal Ascot with our first runner and Without Parole won the St James’s Palace. To top it all, Prince Harry and Meghan presented us with the trophy. It was the best day of my life.” The other Juddmonte filly to reach 400,000gns was Supporter (2200), a daughter of Dubawi and, more importantly, a grand-daughter of Hasili (GB) being out of the unraced Very Good News (Empire Maker). Trainer Roger Varian was charged with bidding on behalf of his patron Nurlan Bizakov, whose Group 3 winner Altyn Orda (Ire) (Kyllachy {GB}) chased home Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for second in the G1 Falmouth S. Also among the string of horses Varian trains for Bizakov are the G3 Chartwell Fillies’ S. winner Tomyris (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and listed winner Rasima (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}). “Nurlan Bizakov is building a strong broodmare band at Hesmonds Stud and looking to add some decent blood the farm, so she certainly fits the profile,” said Varian of Supporter, a half-sister to the G1 Irish St Leger-placed Weekender (GB) (Frankel {GB}). “He’s had a very good year on the track and has some nice fillies in training.” The third day of the mares’ sale couldn’t match last year’s equivalent session, with reductions in all sectors bar a very strong clearance rate of 86%. With 205 horses sold—22 more than on the same day last year—turnover was down by 19% to 5,257,800gns, while the average fell by 28% to 25,648gns and the median by 47% to 10,000gns. Frankel Fillies In Demand While the idea of digging deep for a Frankel (GB) cover is first and foremost to get yourself a racehorse, it would be easy to argue that the same kind of sum simply to take his unraced daughter Rekindle (GB) to the paddocks still represents pretty good value, given the page she brings with her. That was certainly the way Jono Mills of Rabbah was viewing things after securing lot 2196, another of the Juddmonte fillies, at 170,000gns. The 3-year-old Rekindle (GB) is the first foal out of the G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner and Group 1-placed Hot Snap (GB) (Pivotal {GB})—obviously by a celebrated broodmare sire, and a half-sister to the six-time Group/Grade 1 winner Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Their dam, moreover, is a half-sister to two elite performers in Elmaamul (Diesis {GB}) and Reams Of Verse (Nureyev). It would be hard to put a price on access to such a family, not least as the dam is so young—this filly so far being followed only by a juvenile full-brother named Home Fire (GB), and a filly foal by Galileo (Ire). Moreover Midday’s half-sister by Frankel, Sun Maiden (GB), is staying in training after her Group 2 podium in the Ribblesdale S. “Yes, obviously it’s a cracking pedigree but you’d like to think it can only go one way,” Mills reasoned. “They say the brother’s very nice, so fingers crossed we can get a few updates under the first dam, because that is a lovely page.” Mills, who shortly afterwards walked away as underbidder to the joint-highest price of the day (2204), said that Rekindle had not been bought with a specific cover in mind. Another unraced daughter of Frankel, lot 2203 Truva (GB), brought 150,000gns from Ever Union Shokai. She is a half-sister to the smart juvenile Sangarius (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who ran fourth in the G1 Dewhurst S. after his Listed success at Doncaster this year, out of an Empire Maker daughter of Banks Hill (GB)—one of the champion performers who qualified her dam Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) as one of the all-time broodmare legends. Casse Steps Up For Etreham Haras d’Etreham enjoyed Grade 1 success as breeders over the weekend via the Matriarch S. victrix Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) and the French farm added a member of the Juddmonte draft to its ranks on Wednesday with the purchase of At Your Pleasure (War Front). Justin Casse stepped in to do the bidding on behalf of the absent Nicolas de Chambure and, after signing the ticket for lot 2182 for 175,000gns, said, “I agreed with Nicolas in thinking that she is very good physically—a good walker with a nice shape to her. She’s a winner and of course the stallion is very popular. The plan is for her to go to Almanzor (Fr).” Also on the side of the 3-year-old filly is the fact that she is the daughter of four-time American and Canadian Grade I winner Ventura (Chester House) but her page also includes plenty of black-type winners from farther afield—Australia, Hong Kong, France, Ireland and Britain included. John and Peter Fagan had bought the listed-winning Havre De Paix (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) for 230,000gns through agent Suzanne Roberts on Tuesday and returned to the ring on Wednesday to add Clique (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) to their Deerpark Stud broodmare band for 110,000gns. Sold as lot 2186, the 3-year-old was a winner earlier this year for Dermot Weld and is a half-sister to three stakes winners in Stronghold (GB) (Danehill), Convey (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and Take The Hint (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}). Musical Art To The Paddocks Though he was unable to share details of his clients or their plans, beyond her staying in Europe to be covered, a familiar and welcome face was on hand to sign—in the name of Avenue Bloodstock—for lot 2216 Musical Art (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}). John Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed’s former bloodstock manager, is spending a lot of time nowadays exploring opportunities in the Australian and Japanese markets, but had picked out an appealing prospect here at 190,000gns. The 3-year-old did not go on this year but was placed in the G3 Princess Margaret S. for Paul Cole as a juvenile, after winning at Newbury on her debut. She is out of a Listed-placed Barathea (Ire) half-sister to that top-class filly Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr Greeley) as well as to another Classic winner in Frozen Power (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who won the G2 Mehl-Mulhens Rennen (German 2,000 Guineas). Vivianite to Watson The Ballygallon Stud homebred Vivianite (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will continue her racing career in the UK after Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock went to 160,000gns to buy her for a client of Lambourn trainer Archie Watson. “She’ll race on next year after a little break to freshen her up,” said Biggs. “Her form is decent and she has plenty to recommend her on pedigree.” Fourth in a listed race on her most recent start at Naas for Michael Halford, the 3-year-old (lot 2177) is now rated 93 and was a winner over a mile back in August. A half-sister to four winners, she is out of the listed-placed Crystany (Ire) (Green Desert), herself a daughter of Watership Down Stud’s G1 Fillies’ Mile winner Crystal Music (Nureyev). Roedean Heads To Smart Nursery Kingman (GB) has quickly made a fan of David Redvers, who credits the young Juddmonte sire not only with the best juvenile in whom his Qatar Racing patrons have a stake—namely the impressive Haydock winner Sparkle Roll (Fr), a half-sister to Wings Of Eagles (Fr)—but also with one of their very best acquisitions at the yearling sales. But a Kingman cover was just the icing on the cake as Redvers gave 125,000gns for lot 2117, Roedean (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), a half-sister to G3 Fred Darling and G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Maureen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). “She’s by Oratorio, who I like as a broodmare sire, out of a mare by Linamix (Fr), who I love as a broodmare sire,” Redvers said of the 9-year-old, evidently repatriated from Saudi Arabia since commencing a covering career that began with four-time winner Beepeecee (GB) (Henrythenavigator). “We have the yearling out of Maureen, who we absolutely love and is going to William Haggas; and we also own Lady Dragon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) [stakes-placed daughter of the dam’s half-sister], and we think it’s a very active, lively family.” Redvers specified that he had been acting on his own account, being eager to capitalise on exciting times at Tweenhills Stud—where there are three outstanding new names on the roster for 2019. “We’re trying to buy some high-quality mares to maximise the opportunity presented by standing stallions of the calibre of Zoustar (Aus), Lightning Spear (GB) and obviously Roaring Lion,” he explained. “And the covering should suit her, physically, besides everything we all know Kingman has done. With that, and a following wind, you’d be optimistic you could be out [of the red] in one year.” O’Callaghans Strike Early The only six-figure sales of a sluggish morning session were both picked out by the expert eyes of the O’Callaghan clan. First was lot 2018, Annie Capri (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), an unraced 3-year-old half-sister to half a dozen winners—including dual Listed scorer Mister Manannan (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}) and the Group-placed dam of G1 Phoenix S. winner Sudirman (Henrythebavigator)—and from the further family of Dandy Man (Ire). Consigned by Castlefarm Stud, she was knocked down for 100,000gns to return to Yeomanstown, where she had been prepared when raising £210,000 as a Goffs UK Premier yearling. Tally-Ho Stud meanwhile gave the same sum for lot 2065, the hard-knocking 6-year-old Home Cummins (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), a Listed-placed four-time winner for Richard Fahey. She is a half-sister to the stable’s dual Group winner Forest Ranger (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), their dam Alava (Ire) (Anabaa) being a Listed winner in France, and arrived with the benefit of a Twilight Son (GB) cover. The final session of the December Sale starts today at 9.30am. View the full article

Feedback from last week’s trial of City Racing has been so positive that no more of its type are planned and an announcement of the first venue is expected early in the new year. London, Melbourne and Paris are among the cities in the frame to stage the event first, after a dummy run at Aintree went without a hitch. The venture is the brainchild of the Queen’s grandson, Peter Phillips, with backing from various stakeholders, including the Jockey Club. An artificial track was installed on the old motor racing circuit at Aintree, with the speed in which it could be put down and taken back up again of paramount importance. “The feedback has been amazing, incredibly positive–we knew the demonstration event was key because a lot of people doubted whether the track could go down and up within the required time,” said City Racing spokesman Johnno Spence. “We weren’t under a 48-hour deadline, but we wanted to see how long it would take, because in London, Paris or Melbourne we would only have 48 hours and we are now far more comfortable we can achieve that.” “Everyone involved realises this is very much on the cards and very achievable, so the next step is to secure our first venue, Spence said. “No more trials are planned, the next time will be the real thing. Melbourne, London and Paris are all under strong consideration and we hope to announce it early in the new year.” The requirements for the raceday have already been revealed, and Spence continued, “We’re looking at horses rated 0-90, six races over five furlongs, building up from the lowest rated to the highest. We’re looking to attract the top jockeys from around the world–I’ve spoken to Ryan Moore and Frankie Dettori and they are very interested in taking part. This is all about attracting more people to racing, particularly the younger generation. The ‘Twenty 20 of horse racing’ analogy has been used and that is a very good one. City Racing can also showcase other elements of the sport, and horse welfare is paramount, obviously.” Giving its latest position, a British Horseracing Authority spokesman said, “When a formal proposal is received the BHA will give it due consideration, in discussion with City Racing and the sport’s stakeholders.” View the full article

Stakes winner Counterforce (Smart Strike–Achieving, by Bernardini) will enter stud for the 2019 season at Road’s End Farm near Abbotsford, British Columbia. The 5-year-old will stand for a fee of $2,000, Canadian funds, as the property of a partnership. Counterforce posted a record of 24-5-7-5 and earnings of $323,708. He won Oaklawn’s 2016 Bachelor S. His third dam is 2007 Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour. View the full article