Wandering Eyes

The second of three days of selling at the Arqana Autumn Sale featured a Martaline (GB) yearling colt, who proved the dearest lot on the day when selling to Frederic Sauque. Lot 307, consigned by Jean-Pierre and Guillaume Garcon’s Haras de l’Hotellerie, brought a final bid of €160,000 to top the session. The April-born yearling is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Roi Mage (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}). Also breaking into six figures was lot 312, a son of Doctor Dino (Fr) out of Sandside (Fr) (Marchand de Sable from the Haras de la Haie Neuve draft. Already named Guillaume (Fr), the yearling was knocked down to Saubouas Bloodstock for €125,000 and is well related, as he is a full to the Grade 1 winner Sceau Royal (Fr). At the close of Tuesday’s session the clearance rate for the National Hunt yearlings settled at 63%, with an average of €23,954, roughly even with the 2017 renewal. Leading the 2-year-old store category was lot 328, who went the way of Guy Petit for €40,000 from the consignment of Haras du Lieu des Champs. Overall, 123 lots sold Tuesday for a clearance rate of 63.4%. The average dropped 8.4% to €22,228, while the median remained steady at €16,000. The aggregate on the day was €2,734,000. The final day features Flat yearlings beginning at 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday. View the full article

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens has retired for the third and final time Tuesday after suffering a spinal injury during an incident in a post parade at Del Mar Saturday. The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form. “I would have liked to have walked away on my exact terms, but I consider myself very fortunate for the career I’ve had as a jockey and that I can still walk with the news I got this morning,” Stevens told the TDN when reached by phone Tuesday. “The whiplash has moved C4 forward and it is pressing directly on my spinal cord. I am waiting to hear back on when the surgery will be to relieve the pressure.” As for future plans, Stevens said, “I’ve got several irons in the fire. The time was coming near anyway, so it is not like I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to be doing. I have a few things that I am excited about.” Stevens scored his first victory at his home track of Les Bois Park in Idaho in 1980 and now owns a total of 5,187 wins, with 11 of those coming in Breeders’ Cup races and nine in Triple Crown events. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, the 55-year-old won his first Classic aboard Hall of Fame filly Winning Colors in the 1988 GI Kentucky Derby (video) and his most recent Triple Crown victory came shortly after his last comeback in the 2013 GI Preakness S. aboard Oxbow, who, like Winning Colors, was trained by D. Wayne Lukas (video). “Dating back to Winning Colors, Wayne gave me my first Classic win and my last Classic win [with Oxbow], so that is pretty cool,” Stevens said. The Eclipse-winning pilot also navigated 1995 Derby and GI Belmont S. winner Thunder Gulch for Lukas and took home the roses again in 1997 aboard the Bob Baffert-trained Silver Charm, who also captured that year’s Preakness. Rounding out his trio of Preakness winners is fellow Baffert pupil Point Given, who captured the Triple Crown’s second jewel, as well as the Belmont, in 2001. Stevens also rode Victory Gallop to an upset of Real Quiet’s Triple Crown bid in the 1998 Belmont. Some of the journeyman rider’s other memorable mounts include Silverbulletday, Serena’s Song, Rock Hard Ten, Indian Charlie, Best Pal, War Chant, Da Hoss, Escena, Macho Uno and Bertrando. “Gary Stevens galloped my first Thoroughbred for me and rode my first Kentucky Derby winner,” Baffert said. “I came up through the sport alongside him. When I think of my greatest memories in racing, Gary is always right there, front and center. He is a legend in this sport and I am proud to call him my friend.” Stevens retired for the first time in 1999 with knee issues and briefly worked as a trainer and a jockey agent, but returned to the track a short time later in 2000. He retired again in 1995 to work as an analyst at NBC and was back in the saddle in 2013 after eight years on the sidelines. During his most recent comeback, Stevens scored several career highs. In addition to winning the 2013 Preakness with Oxbow at odds of 15-1, the rider scored his long-awaited first GI Breeders’ Cup Classic victory aboard Mucho Macho Man (video). He was also the regular rider of four-time Eclipse winner and future fellow Hall of Famer Beholder, guiding her to two GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff wins, in 2013 and 2016 (video), respectively. Stevens climbed aboard Beholder for the first time in the 2013 Torrey Pines S., which they won, and together they captured a total of 12 races, seven of which were Grade Is, highlighted by her World Championship scores and an 8 1/4-length tour de force in the 2015 GI Pacific Classic (video). “Throughout my career, Gary and I have had a lot of success and always made a good team, but particularly with Beholder,” said Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella. “They had a real relationship and it was obvious in the performances she gave him. Her previous rider was insistent that she needed to go to the front and we always trained her to sit back and use her speed when we wanted, rather than just letting her run off on the front end. Gary and I, like I said, always understood each other well enough that, when he got on and I asked him to try that, it put her in a new league. I’m very sad to hear that he is retired again.” Stevens won four graded stakes during the 2018 season, but the aforementioned trio of Oxbow, Mucho Macho Man and Beholder were certainly the highlights of his last stint in the saddle, which also included riding Firing Line to a second place finish behind American Pharoah in the 2015 Derby. “I wouldn’t trade that decision I made to come back [in 2013] for anything, between Mucho Macho Man, Oxbow, Beholder, especially Beholder,” Stevens said. “The Breeders’ Cup Classic was the one race that was missing and Mucho Macho Man got that trophy on the pedestal. Beholder was the best I’ve ever ridden. Everything has a reason for happening. It was a short five years. These past five years went by pretty quickly, I’ll tell you that, but they were the best five years I have had in my career.” View the full article

From Nov. 30-Mar. 3, the National Army Museum will display some of the paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings in an exhibit titled Alfred Munnings: War Artist, 1918. Originally developed by the Canadian War Museum in partnership with The Munnings Art Museum and sponsored by The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation, the exhibition will display over 40 paintings created during the final years of the First World War. Among the themes on display are equine subjects, portraiture and pastoral landscapes. The Munnings exhibit, which is locally supported by Juddmonte, is supplemented with works from the National Army Museum’s own collection relating to General Jack Seely, who commanded the Canadian Cavalry Brigade throughout much of the war. Munnings was commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund, created by Lord Beaverbrook, as an official war artist to capture the fighting front and the crucial logistical work behind the lines. The exhibition will be accompanied by the book Alfred Munnings: Memory, The War Horse and the Canadians in 1918, edited by Dr. Jonathan Black and a public programme at the National Army Museum. “It is a pleasure to share works by Alfred Munnings with an international audience,” said Mark O’Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian War Museum and Canadian Museum of History. “His paintings of First World War scenes–from the men and horses who served in wartime, to forests and battlefields–are an evocative reflection not only of Canada’s military history, but the development of one of England’s best-known artists.” View the full article

Trainer Jim Cassidy is hoping Prime Attraction's next try against grade 1 competition goes down as the time he gets a result in line with the company he has kept. View the full article

Trainer Mark Casse completed a sweep of the two OBS Championship Day of Racing stakes Nov. 20 at the Ocala Training Center with Bill and Vicki Poston's Southern Sis and Gary Barber's Lookin to Strike. View the full article

If a proposed feature by a bidder for a new track in New Mexico becomes reality, a day at the races will mix in an amusement park ride. View the full article

Live Oak homebred Awesome Slew (Awesome Again–Slewfoundmoney, by Seeking the Gold) has been retired to Ocala Stud and will stand the 2019 season for $5,000 S&N. “We held high expectations for this horse from the start and he delivered on the racetrack,” said Live Oak Stud’s General Manager Bruce Hill. “He is immensely talented, and we have always loved his family. We are thrilled to be able to stand Awesome Slew in Florida and especially excited to stand him at Ocala Stud. We have the utmost respect for the O’Farrell family and their entire staff and they do a tremendous job of developing top stallions.” Conditioned by Mark Casse, Awesome Slew won a trio of graded events in his four years on the racetrack, capturing the 2016 GIII Smarty Jones S., the 2017 GIII Commonwealth S. And the same year’s GIII Ack Ack S. He also placed in three top-level events, finishing second in both the 2017 GI Forego S. and 2018 GI Carter H. and third in the 2017 GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The 5-year-old retires with a record of 23-5-5-6 and earnings of $1,223,310. “We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Live Oak to stand this exciting stallion prospect,” said Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell. “We’re proud to be able to offer him to Florida’s breeders.” View the full article

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will award $3,043,000 in grants to the 70 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations that currently hold TAA accreditation. “The TAA is thrilled to award more than $3 million in grants to accredited organizations this year, and we are proud to say that we have now granted more than $13.8 million to accredited aftercare since 2012,” TAA president John Phillips said. “Through the TAA accreditation process, we know that these grants will be used in the most effective manner to take care of our equine athletes. The TAA’s numerous Thoroughbred industry supporters–from stallion farms, sales companies, racetracks, horsemen’s groups, owners, and trainers, to horseplayers and fans–have made this possible. We thank them for their continuous support and look forward to what these grants allow our accredited organizations to accomplish.” View the full article

Of all the 3-year-old fillies signed on for Friday’s GIII Comely S. at Aqueduct, Cleber Massey’s Blamed (Blame) appears to have the most formidable form lines as she goes for a maiden success at the graded level. A debut second as Zia Park last September for trainer Joel Marr, the bay went on to get her picture taken on five consecutive occasions, including the El Paso Times S., in January, the Island Fashion S. the following month and the Sunland Park Oaks in March by over six lengths. Away nearly seven months thereafter, the Maryland-bred resurfaced in the GII Lexus Raven Run S. at Keeneland Oct. 20 and made the majority of the running before holding on for second. Victorious on that occasion at odds of 18-1 was Shamrock Road (First Dude), who endorsed the quality of that performance with a next-out victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Indy Union (Union Rags), a distant third in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S., couldn’t quite mix it with the likes of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) when fourth in the June 30 GII Mother Goose S. Well-beaten in a sloppy Saratoga allowance in July, the bay bounced back with a strong allowance victory at Belmont Sept. 21. Brad Cox, who recently unsaddled his 1,000th career winner, is represented by the progressive Remedy (Creative Cause). Fifth in a grassy Indiana Grand allowance back in August, to turned things around with a powerful 5 3/4-length allowance score at that track Sept. 5 and exits a runner-up effort in the GIII Remington Park Oaks in which she led through six furlongs before yielding late. View the full article

Trainer Jim Cassidy is hoping Prime Attraction's next try against grade 1 competition goes down as time he gets a result in line with the company he has kept. View the full article

Stella di Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) could scarcely have been more impressive in annexing the Listed Pebbles S. on her U.S. debut over the Belmont turf course six weeks ago and she will look to give her sire another graded winner on these shores in Friday’s GII Mrs. Revere S. at Churchill Downs. By the same stallion who supplied this summer’s GI Belmont Oaks Invitational victress Athena (Ire), Stella di Camelot bookended the European portion of her career with victories, a debut success over six furlongs at Saint-Cloud in July 2017 and a one-mile conditions test at Maisons-Laffitte this past May. Acquired by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Kent Spellman and Bethlehem Stables, the bay relished the easy underfoot conditions in the Columbus Day feature on Long Island and raced away to best SW Andina Del Sur (Giant’s Causeway) by a widening 2 3/4 lengths in the Pebbles. Joel Rosario takes over in the saddle and will have to work out a trip from an awkward gate. Dark Artist (Paynter) went on a three-race tear earlier this summer, posting narrow decisions in the May 26 Boiling Springs S. and in the June 23 Open Mind S., both at Monmouth Park. She sat a perfect ground-saving trip when last seen in Arlington’s GIII Pucker Up S. Aug. 11, but was in traffic turning for home and could do no better than fourth, beaten three lengths. Angel of Mischief (Into Mischief) just missed in her debut over the Ellis main track in July, but followed with a 1 3/4-length maiden-breaker at Kentucky Downs Sept. 8 and an extremely impressive 1 3/4-length allowance success at Keeneland Oct. 11. View the full article

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued an additional 63 entries for its upcoming Midlantic December Mixed & Horses of Racing Age Sale, to be held Tuesday, Dec. 4 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Hips 233-239 consist of broodmares, which are catalogued in an addendum to the main Midlantic December Mixed catalogue. Hips 240-295 are all horses of racing age and are catalogued together in a separate Horses of Racing Age supplemental catalogue. “This new group of in-foal mares and ‘race ready’ horses make this year’s catalogue even more attractive to prospective buyers,” said Midlantic Director of Sales Paget Bennett. “We are especially pleased to have catalogued more than fifty racehorses in our Horses of Racing Age supplement. Last year’s inaugural H.O.R.A. supplement was a resounding success, and as a result, top racing stables are supporting it again this year. Any stable looking to replenish its racing stock ahead of the new year should take a hard look at this supplement.” View the full article

Tickets for the 2018 Eclipse Awards, to be held Thursday, Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park, are on sale now. Tickets are $425 each or $4,000 for a table of 10. Click here for more information. View the full article

Devant (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}), winner of the G3 Prix Miesque, has been added to the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale as lot 170. The Ecurie des Monceaux-bred juvenile filly represented Team Valor International on the racecourse, and was also second in the G3 Prix Six Perfections. She is out of Davantage (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}), herself a half-sister to G1 Prix du Jockey Club victor Blue Canari (Fr) (Acatenango {Ger}) and SW & MGSP Blue Ksar (Fr) (Anabaa). Arqana still has 11 other wild card slots to fill for the sale which runs from Dec. 8-11. View the full article

Memorial services for popular Santa Anita Broadcast Department staffer Lou Villasenor have been scheduled for Nov. 27 & 28 at Nativity Catholic Church in nearby El Monte. A viewing and rosary in Villasenor’s honor will be held at 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27. A Catholic Funeral Mass will be conducted the following morning, Nov. 28, at 9 p.m., with burial immediately following at Resurrection Cemetery. Additionally, a celebration of Lou Villasenor’s life will be held following the Nov. 28 burial at Santa Anita’s FrontRunner Restaurant at noon. In lieu of flowers, donations in Lou Villasenor’s memory can be made to the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation. View the full article

Grade I winner Gemologist (Tiznow–Crystal Shard, by Mr. Prospector) has been relocated from WinStar to Acadiana Equine at Copper Crown in Opelousas, LA. He will stand for $4,500 S&N. Gemologist’s top progeny thus far are GI Frizette S. winner Yellow Agate Grade III victors Theory and Golden Diamond. He is also the sire of the juvenile colt Federal Case, who summoned $650,000 from bloodstock agent Jacob West at the recent Keeneland November Sale. Gemologist won five of his seven starts and earned $794,855 during his career for WinStar and Todd Pletcher. His top achievements were a victory in the 2012 GI Wood Memoiral S. and an undefeated juvenile career capped by a win in the 2011 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. View the full article

Charles Fipke homebred Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}) will look to become the first horse since Bob’s Dusty (Bold Commander) in 1977 and 1978 to go back-to-back in the premier race of the fall meeting at Churchill Downs, the GI Clark H. A half-length too good for Good Samaritan (Harlan’s Holiday) and seven other rivals at odds of nearly 8-1 in last year’s race, the 5-year-old beat just one home in the GI Woodward S. at Saratoga Sept. 1, but put that effort behind him with a good-looking 1 1/4-length success in the GIII Ack Ack S. going this track’s one-turn mile Sept. 29. A 10-1 gamble in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Seeking the Soul lagged well behind early, was steadied at the top of the lane and closed off very well to finish second, beaten just under three lengths by City of Light (Quality Road) while some 2 1/2 lengths clear of Bravazo (Awesome Again). John Velazquez, who teamed up for the win last November, is back in town to ride. Not quite the blue-collar story that was Discreet Lover (Repent) in 2018, Leofric (Candy Ride {Arg}) has nevertheless put together an outstanding campaign of his own. Purchased for $100,000 out of the 2016 Keeneland November sale, the gray has a record of 6-4-1-1 this term, with narrow victories in the GIII West Virginia Governor’s S. at Mountaineer and in the GII Fayette S. at Keeneland sandwiched around a battling third in the Woodward. Prime Attraction (Unbridled’s Song) was no match for GI Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) when third in the GI TVG Pacific Classic and fourth in the GI Awesome Again S. and ran hard every step of the Fayette, only to drop a head decision. Bravazo, sixth in the GI Kentucky Derby, second in the GI Haskell Invitational S. and third in the GI Travers S., gets a positive jock switch to Joel Rosario for the Clark. View the full article

The catalogue for the inaugural Goffs UK December Sale at Doncaster, consisting of 212 Flat foals, mares and horses-in-training, is now online. Scheduled for 10 a.m. local time on Dec. 7, 101 horses-in-training will be followed by 70 Flat foals and 39 Flat mares. Supplementary entries are still being taken and among the current highlights is Group 3 winner Hakam (War Front) (lot 59) consigned by Mick Appleby Racing; and listed winners Clinet (Ire) (Docksider) (lot 225), in foal to Cable Bay (Ire) from the Park Farm draft; and Worwall Grange’s Halicardia (GB) (Halling) (lot 234), carrying to Peace Envoy (Fr). “With the increasing foal crop and the growing pressure at the traditional outlets for Flat foals, breeders have been requesting another sale in which to offer their stock and this new December Sale has been added to fulfil that request,” said Goffs UK Managing Director Tony Williams. “We have assembled a good catalogue of foals, mares and horses-in-training for the sale’s debut and we look forward to welcoming an international audience to Doncaster for our last 2018 sale on 7 Dec.” View the full article

KILDARE, Ireland—Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Showcasing (GB) can do little wrong at present and duly provided the top lot during the second session of the Goffs November Foal Sale. Following a subdued opening session, trade rallied significantly on Tuesday as emboldened pinhookers hit their stride to deliver an improved clearance rate of 73%. Leading the way was Grenane House Stud’s first foal of the non-winner Casila (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 405). Though the mare’s race record is underwhelming, she is a daughter of the G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Park Hill S. winner Miletrian (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) and her half-sister Inca Princess (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) has already produced the talented duo of G1 Criterium International winner Johannes Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and his full-sister, G2 Kilboy Estate S. winner Elizabeth Browning (Ire). The latter sold for 700,000gns when topping last year’s Tattersalls Horses-in-Training Sale and a few weeks later her weanling full-sister also played a leading role when becoming the top lot at the Goffs Foal Sale at €1.1million. Purchaser Brendan Holland, who will add the Showcasing colt to his yearling sales draft for next year, said, “Everyone wants a Showcasing and it’s good to have a young up-and-coming sire like him. This is a grand colt and the sire has his best crop still to race for him next year, so let’s hope that he continues to do what he’s doing.” There was a distinctly more buoyant feel to trade during the second day, though figures were slightly down across the board in comparison to 12 months ago. Turnover stood at €5,457,000 (-16%), the average dropped by 9% to €32,290 and the median by 4% to €26,000, but with 169 of the 230 weanlings offered finding a buyer, there was a marked improvement on the first-day clearance rate of 59%. We can expect today’s final day of Part 1 foals to lift proceedings further still. The action will then switch to fillies and broodmares for two sessions before returning to Part 2 of the foal sale on Saturday. McDowall Reinvests Sir Robert Ogden has enjoyed recent success on the racecourse with juvenile filly Blue Gardenia (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), winner of the listed Montrose Fillies’ S. at Newmarket earlier this month. The David O’Meara-trained filly is a daughter of the Galileo (Ire) mare Alegra (GB) and it was another of the owner-breeder’s Galileo mares, the dual winner Tiger Lilly (Ire), who had the chance to shine on Tuesday, albeit in the sales ring. Her second foal by Zoffany (Ire), sold as lot 339 through Churchtown House Stud, brought the hammer down at €115,000 in favour of pinhooker Morna McDowall. Tiger Lilly, whose first foal is a Charm Spirit (Ire) yearling filly, is a sister to the stakes-placed winners Robin Hood (Ire) and Shada (Ire) and a grand-daughter of the accomplished Kilfrush Stud matriarch Arctique Royale (GB) (Royal And Regal) McDowall, who sold a No Nay Never yearling filly for 200,000gns during the Tattersalls October Sale, also bought lot 320, a Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) half-brother to 3-year-old winner Envisaging (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) from Oghill House Stud for €70,000. The first to breach the six-figure barrier during the second session was lot 282, a first-crop son of Tara Stud’s dual Group 2-winning juvenile Estidhkaar (Ire). The buyer at €100,000 was Ballyphilip Stud’s Paul McCartan, who has had significant success with Estidhkaar’s sire Dark Angel (Ire) as the breeder of his top-rated sons Harry Angel (Ire) and Battaash (Ire). Bred by Ennistown Stud and consigned by Castlebridge, the colt is out of the unraced Anabaa mare Out Of Time (Ire) who has produced four winners from her six foals, including the G3 Leopardstown Guineas Trial runner-up What Style (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). His extended family also includes the stallions Sholokhov (Ire), Soldier Of Fortune (Ire) and Intense Focus, as well as recent Cartier Award winner Skitter Scatter. Never Again No Nay Never led the first day of trade and unsurprisingly he was responsible for several weanlings near the top of the table on day two. Camas Park Stud stepped in for a Heather Fitzpatrick-bred colt (lot 417) out of the multiple-winning Pivotal (GB) mare Court Circular (GB) at €100,000. Bred by Cheveley Park Stud, the mare is from a family that includes one of Pivotal’s best race-fillies, the dual Group 1 winner Peeress (GB). A little later, Brittas House Stud struck lucky with a first foal of the unraced Galileo mare Hot Legs (Ire) who was bought for €90,000. Bred by Michelle Collins, the colt was the selection of American agent Kim Valerio and will be exported to the US. On the back of a season which has seen him crowned champion freshman sire in Europe, with Group 1 winner Ten Sovereigns (Ire) to his credit, No Nay Never is set to have his fee quadrupled in 2019 to €100,000. Awtaad Support Grows Among the new stallions with first foals on offer this winter, a name who appears to be on many pinhookers’ lists as the Goffs sale continues is Derrinstown Stud’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire). The son of the late Cape Cross (Ire) has 30 foals catalogued this week and the 10 to have sold so far have returned an average of €48,300 from his starting stud fee of €15,000. Eddie and Wendy O’Leary of Lynn Lodge Stud were among those to have supported him both at stud and in the ring, and they added a colt from the Irish National Stud (lot 508) to their list of purchases at €95,000. “He was the standout by the sire in the sale,” said Wendy O’Leary, “and we’re very happy with what we’ve seen as we have a couple of mares in foal to him.” The colt is the first foal of the 5-year-old Kitten’s Joy mare Love Street, a winner in France for Jean-Claude Rouget before being bought by the Irish National Stud for 70,000gns last December when carrying to Awtaad. Jamie Railton is another new member of the Awtaad fan club and several lots earlier he had gone to €85,000 for a colt out of the listed winner Kanes Pass (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}). Lot 488, who was bred by Elizabeth Cosgrove and consigned by Rathasker Stud, was described by Railton as a “stylish individual” who will be coming back to the yearling sales. He added, “These are early days and we are all trying to get a handle on these new stallions but Awtaad is one that’s caught my eye.” Kodiac Never Far Away Kodiac (GB) is represented by a growing number of sons at stud—among them Prince Of Lir (Ire), Coulsty (Ire) and Kodi Bear (Ire) all have first foals for sale this week—but their father is never far away when it comes to leading returns at the foal sales and lot 312 brought a handsome return for breeder John Fielding. The Kodiac (GB) filly was sold through Donnellys Well to Gaelic Bloodstock for €82,000 just hours before her 2-year-old half-brother Water’s Edge (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) made his debut at Lingfield for James Tate and Saeed Manana. Fielding also bred their dam, Sommer Queen (Ire), a Thousand Words (GB) half-sister to German Group 1 winner and Deutsches Derby runner-up Ransom O’War (Red Ransom). Two lots later another filly, this one a daughter of top-class sprinter Starspangledbanner (Aus) (314) was knocked down for €80,000 to Frank Fahy’s Gerrardstown House Stud. The first foal of the unraced Spakling (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a sister to listed Marygate S. winner Delizia (Ire), was bred by Fiona Doggett and offered on her behalf by Ballinahow Stud. There was confusion surrounding the sale of a Camelot (GB) filly late out of seven-time winner Miss Macnamara (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) in the session for €120,000. Lot 532 was initially knocked down to Noel Hayes, was then marked as a vendor buyback before being reassigned to Hayes’s Sunday Racing. View the full article

Cartier champion juvenile colt Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}–Dar Re Mi {GB}, by Singspiel {Ire}) will stand at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket at the conclusion of his racing career after an agreement was reached between Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webbers’ Watership Down Stud and Godolphin, Darley announced on Tuesday. Unbeaten in four starts for trainer John Gosden, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ rattled off group victories in the Sept. 1 G3 Solario S. at Sandown, Sept. 15 G2 Champagne S. at Doncaster and in the Oct. 13 G1 Darley Dewhurst S. in October after breaking his maiden by seven lengths on debut at Sandown on Aug. 9. A full-brother to GSW & G1SP So Mi Dar (GB), fellow ‘Rising Star’, MSW & MG1SP Lah Ti Dar (GB) and a half-brother to MGSW De Treville (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the Watership Down homebred is out of the Webbers’ highweight MG1SW Dar Re Mi (GB) from the family of MG1SW Rewilding (GB) (Tiger Hill {Ire}). View the full article

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens confirmed Nov. 20 he will be retiring from the saddle due to a spinal injury. View the full article

Having won six times from her 11 starts during a busy 2017 campaign, Divine Miss Grey (Divine Park) goes in search of her 12th career victory in her 10th appearance of 2018 as the 122-pound highweight in Thursday’s GII Falls City H. at Churchill Downs. Prohibitively favored at 3-5 while giving her eight rivals between three and eight pounds, the chestnut was far too classy for her rivals in an off-turf and sloppy renewal of the Dr. James Penny Memorial S. at Parx Sept. 8, then ran with credit when runner-up to Wow Cat (Chi) (Lookin At Lucky) in the GI Beldame S. at Belmont Park Oct. 6. While the latter returned to round out the exacta underneath likely champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Divine Miss Grey passed that test favor of the GII Chilukki S. and she closed the Breeders’ Cup Saturday program with a workmanlike success. Second and one spot ahead of Divine Miss Grey in the GIII Molly Pitcher S. at Monmouth Park in July, Dream Call (Midnight Lute) was a distant fourth in the restricted Royal Delta S. in the Belmont slop Sept. 9 and gets class relief here off a never-nearer seventh in the Beldame. Prado’s Sweet Ride (Fort Prado) has longshot exotics claims, as she won the Illini Princess H. against her fellow state-breds by better than 13 lengths last season and earned a career-best dirt Beyer of 89 when second against the boys in the Milwaukee Avenue H. on seasonal debut at Hawthorne this past April. View the full article

A charity auction of stallion nominations, among them first-season sires and MG1SWs Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) at Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud and Coolmore Stud’s Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), will take place in the sales ring at Tattersalls the evening of Dec. 2, the day before the start of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. All proceeds from the auction will go to Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), British racing’s own charity for the welfare of retired racehorses. The champagne reception, which consists of nine nominations, begins at 4:30 p.m. and will be hosted by Nick Luck, while Chairman of Tattersalls, Edmond Mahony will conduct the beginning at 5 p.m. auction. Other stallion nominations include Juddmonte’s Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert), Newsell Park’s Nathaniel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Qatar Racing’s first-season sire and G1SW Lightning Spear (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) who stands at Tweenhills, and Cheveley Park’s Group 1 foursome of Garswood (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), Mayson (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Twilight Son (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), and Unfortunately (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}). “We are incredibly grateful to the stud farms who have shown their support for the charity by donating nominations to stallions,” said Di Arbuthnot, Chief Executive of RoR. “Thanks to their generosity, the quality of stallions on offer is remarkable and I have no doubt that the nine lots being auctioned will be of great interest to breeders, with the added bonus that their investment goes to a good cause. Special thanks must go to Edmond Mahony and the Board of Tattersalls for their support and for hosting the event on the eve of one of the biggest sales in Europe.” View the full article

The morning of June 10 this year, Pimlico racetrack resembled a war zone. First, there was an overdose situation in the infield, then a disgruntled employee took charge of a van and ploughed it through a crowd of people. As the frightened throngs began to evacuate the track, an active shooter opened fire. The Baltimore City Police Tactical Unit moved in and took the shooter out, but not before many had been killed and dozens more critically injured. Nearby Sinai Hospital was overwhelmed with patients. Nothing like this had before been witnessed at an American racetrack. If you’re wondering why you’re reading about this incident for the first time, there’s good reason. “This was probably one of the first mass casualty exercises ever done in the city [of Baltimore],” said Mike Singletary, vice president of security operations at Pimlico, about a day of simulated training that involved numerous private, city, state and county institutions and agencies, as well as a host of actors. Between 300 and 400 people were involved, Singletary estimated. “It was surreal,” he added. Pimlico’s June training day is an all-encompassing example of emergency scenarios. Other racetracks typically train on a narrower, more focused scale. Some have been doing active shooter training for years. But U.S. racetracks are typically under-prepared when it comes to active shooters, said Mike Kilpack, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s (NTRA) Security Integrity Consultant, and the Equine Security Supervising Investigator for the Breeder’s Cup. “It’s not that they don’t care, they just don’t make it a priority,” said Kilpack, who explained the extent of the training required differs from track to track–that a facility hosting a Triple Crown event would have to prepare far more extensively than a smaller country venue. “But for a track not to have it, that’s just naïve.” That’s just naïve This year alone, 68 people have been killed in eight different mass shooting events, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. A mass shooting is one in which four or more people are killed by a lone gunman. There have been 48 such incidents since the start of 2010. For many years, horse racing appeared walled off from this most insidious of societal trends. While the rest of the country marched into a world of heightened security, pat downs, bag searches and walk-through metal-detectors, racing has largely remained cocooned within a cozy fleece of tradition and cultural separation. Then, this September outside a busy Del Mar racetrack, a local Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a man wielding a gun. Suddenly, the problem crash landed on our doorstep. That said, there have been times in the past when horse racing has strayed into the cross-hairs of heightened security fears nationally. “It woke everybody up in the country, especially those who were hosting large sporting events,” said Dora Delgado senior vice president of Racing and Nominations at the Breeders’ Cup, about the organization’s response in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. That year, for example, the Breeders’ Cup brought in SWAT teams that patrolled the roof of Belmont Park. “It was clear that we had to look beyond doing the normal racetrack way,” she added. Save your ass The heightened fears of 2001 have since diminished somewhat, but the need for vigilance hasn’t. Only, the complicated logistics of organizing emergency response and active shooter training can be off-putting to track operators, said Kilpack. Indeed, it took months to organize the event at Pimlico. “Mount Sinai hospital reached out to us in early January,” said Singletary. “There were a lot of contributors to this event.” Six months of preparations involved 18 different institutions and agencies, including the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, Baltimore City police, health, and fire departments, the office of emergency operations, and other local and county volunteer and active fire departments. So, what’s the main take-away for employees from these exercises? “I think number one is response,” said Singletary, who explained that in May, a smaller scale training day was conducted at Laurel Park. “We’ve had active shooter training–we do that twice a year. We’ve had bomb threats and suspicious package training. We’ve had first-aid, CPR, AED [automated external defibrillator] training. We continue to train every year to make sure that we’re prepared for these events.” When it comes to the logistics, even training on a smaller scale can be tricky to organize, admitted John Coffey, director of security for The Stronach Group. “It takes a lot of time,” Coffey said. “You have to schedule with the local police, or you have to schedule with state or federal agencies. It’s not easy.” Coffey, who spent 30 years with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a number of years with the FBI, has conducted active shooter training at Gulfstream Park for nearly a decade. He said that he’s in the process of bringing active shooter training uniformity to all Stronach Group facilities. The effort to do so is worth it overall, he added. “Your training will come back to you and save your ass because you won’t have to think, you’ll just react the proper way,” said Coffey. Another prohibitive factor is the potential cost. According to Singletary, funding for the day of training at Pimlico came from federal and state grants, as well as Maryland Jockey Club coffers. “We just volunteered the facility,” he said. But again, Coffey argued that even though most racetracks are facing tightening budgets, the benefits of such training out-weight the outlay. “Yeah, it’s going to cost some money to train them, but isn’t that cost effective in the long run?” he said. Certainly the world has changed In response to the September incident, Del Mar has instituted a number of changes, including metal detectors in the concert area, and a new protocol where the public can text or call racetrack security to report suspicious activity. “We’re also working with experts in concert security and crowd management,” said Josh Rubenstein, president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Del Mar’s full-time staff have traditionally received active shooter training every other year, under supervision of the local sheriff’s department. This has involved drills and training videos. According to Rubinstein, all Del Mar staff, both full and part time, will now receive active shooter training on an annual basis. “Certainly the world has changed,” Rubinstein said, about why Del Mar has instituted these changes. “You see things that go on, and we want to be as proactive as we can for providing the safest possible environment for our patrons and staff.” Because of the sensitive nature of the issue, some tracks and organizations were apprehensive about talking with the TDN, like Woodbine, for example. Woodbine communications specialist Brittney Mayotte wrote in an email that the emergency response training it provides, including “active attacker” training, is designed to educate employees on what options they have, getting them familiar with their facility and exits, and what to expect from the police response. “Woodbine encourages everyone to be our eyes and ears and follow a philosophy of “See Something, Say Something,” Mayotte wrote, explaining how, “for security reasons, we can’t go into too much detail.” Before high profile events like the Belmont S. and the Saratoga meet, NYRA brings together as many as 15 different law enforcement and public agencies to run through a range of exercises, including emergency scenarios. “While it would be counterproductive to detail many of the individual steps taken every day, NYRA’s overall safety plan combines physical security design with modern technology to keep our guests safe at all times,” wrote NYRA spokesperson, Pat McKenna, in an email. Public is the real first responder Some experts argue that active shooters pose a broader, more complex set of problems that can’t be addressed through employee training alone. While emergency response training involving first responders is “a great experience, great training, great fun for law enforcement officers, in reality, those officers never get to play,” said Greg Crane, founder of the ALICE Training Institute, which provides civilian response training. “They never get there in time to have a material impact in the outcome,” Crane added. Indeed, according to FBI data, 60% of active shooting events are over before first responders can arrive. And while many sporting venues, like racetracks, typically have an armed presence, the shooter may appear in an area with no armed personnel. “Don’t think these guys haven’t figured it out and haven’t looked for the best place where they can get the biggest bang for their evil,” said Crane. Which is why he calls on the public to “play a roll” in their own survival. Rather than drop to the floor, racegoers should use what Crane frames as “voice, movement, distance, and distraction.” In other words, “create as much noise as you can, create as much movement as you can, create distance if possible, and while all that is going on, engage in as much visual distraction as possible,” he said. “If what we’ve taught them is to do nothing and wait for those people who are coming secondarily, they’re just a victim in waiting at that point,” he said. As for quickly and efficiently disseminating this information to racegoers, Crane suggested a video which could be played repeatedly on screens around racetrack facilities–similar to the evacuation procedure videos played every live race day at Belmont Park and Saratoga. When asked if just such a video existed specific to active shooter response, Crane said, “I’m not aware of one that’s been done for sporting venues.” Active shooter training for all racetrack employees, however, is still very much an imperative in today’s world, said Coffey, who added that racegoers expect sporting venues to be trained for such an eventuality. “I’m a firm believer in this: if the people don’t feel safe, they will not come.” Dora Delgado of the Breeders’ Cup agreed. “I think in this day and age with the kinds of things that are happening in this country, I think everyone’s a little nervous about going to crowded public places,” said Delgado, who broached a whole other set of headaches for racetracks: how to prevent weapons from entering the track in the first place. “A more secure perimeter around some of these facilities would be better-there are still holes to be plugged,” she said. “It’s just a different environment now, and you can’t expose people to that kind of risk.” View the full article

If there is somebody up there who has granted Ted Bassett long life, then it’s not hard to see why. Because who would want the competition? As a friend remarked, after hearing the 96-year-old’s husky, beautifully measured voiceover for a recent Keeneland promotional video: “What a voice! It’s like listening to God.” Entering his office and seeing James E. Bassett III rise behind his desk, your instincts are more temporal: you want to click your heels and snap into a salute. For as upright as he remains, in his imposing build, the word applies still more forcibly to the integrity he exudes. The handshake duly holds you as firmly as those keen, unwavering eyes. Here, plainly, is a man you could turn to, any time you needed a little extra steel-either to do a job right or, because he considers this much the same thing, to do the right thing. After so many decades in the service of his country, his state, his sport, Bassett’s counsel must be as seasoned as any in the land. Sure enough, the telephone call he had to conclude while you were waiting-as he explains, purely in apology-had come from a certain candidate for high public office. Just seeking a little advice, before meeting with an influential newspaper publisher. Bassett can trust you with their names, because he knows you’ll want to prove worthy of the confidence. And that, right there, is a sample of his leadership style. If only every aspirant to power and responsibility could have such a man in his or her corner; could absorb the precepts of leadership he learned in the Marine Corps, and applied to earn a Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation in the Pacific War. In each of the three main challenges he subsequently embraced-with the Kentucky State Police, here at Keeneland, and with the Breeders’ Cup-that grounding proved crucial. So how would he condense that grounding? “Take-care-of-your-men!” Each growled syllable accompanied by a fist on the table. “What that meant, in the Marine Corps, was this,” Bassett expands. “They were fed first. They dug their holes first. Before you dug a hole, your men dug in, and you fed them. Because their welfare is absolutely essential to your survival. You take care of the men, they take care of you. “It wasn’t necessarily just fighting the Japanese. The idea that they come first is essential to the overall success of the platoon, of the company. And you can transfer that into any organisation. Because you can’t ever do it all on your own. Even if you are a surgeon, you need somebody handing you the instruments. You can stand alone, on purpose and principle. But in achieving an objective, you can’t.” That, he felt, was the desperate thing about Vietnam: the disintegration of morale, of the kind of comradeship that sustained him and his men on Okinawa. As his country entered that trauma, however, Bassett found himself in another kind of front line. In 1963 he was appointed Director of the Kentucky State Police, at a time when the social rupture that would be widened by Vietnam was already bloodily dividing law enforcement and the civil rights movement. Arriving as an outsider, Bassett’s status as a decorated Marine gave him half a chance-albeit only half a chance. “If I’d just been some Yale graduate going in there, I’d have been chewed up,” he admits. The fact remained that he was a Yale graduate, and hardly welcomed with open arms. His solution was to get out there among his men. In barely a month, he visited each and every single state police precinct, to ask and to listen. “Racial discord, the school bus, housing: things that interjected police into situations they generally hadn’t been trained for,” he muses. “The image of law enforcement was pretty near rock bottom. So the question was: what can we do, to change the image from foe to friend? What can we do to make people feel that he’s a partner with us in the community?” At each post, Bassett ended his presentation by asking the men if they had questions or comments. Silence. But what could he expect? The sergeants and officers were all sitting there, too. So he picked men out at random: “You. And you. And you. And you. I want to speak with you afterwards.” Taking them aside, he said, “Now listen. I want to know what’s on your mind. Forget that canned speech I gave you. What would you do if you were me? If we want to make this thing better, together, I need to hear what the men are saying. What’s the number one issue? Is it money? Is it time? Is it retirement? Is it the uniform? Is it the car? But-tell -me-what-is-on-your-goddamn-mind!?” To continue reading this story, click here. View the full article