Wandering Eyes

Jeff Hiles, a former U.S. Marine and longtime assistant to trainer Kenny McPeek, is set to start the next chapter in his life by stepping out on his own and becoming a trainer. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today’s Observations features a daughter of Group 1 winner Galikova. 2.50 Fontainebleau, Mdn, €27,000, unraced 2yo, f, 9fT Alain and Gerard Wertheimer’s GALIBAWA (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the third foal out of MG1SP G1 Prix Vermeille heroine Galikova (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}), herself a half-sister to MG1SW champion Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa), and the homebred bay is kin to Listed Derby du Languedoc runner-up Galikeo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Opposition to the Freddy Head-trained firster includes Antonia Devin’s Terra Dina (Fr) (Doctor Dino {Fr}), who is a homebred half-sister to this term’s G1 Prix Jean Romanet victress Nonza (Fr) (Zanzibari), from the Henri-Francois Devin stable. View the full article

Short Call (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), a winning half-sister to last month’s G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Wonderment (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), has been added to the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale as a wildcard and will be offered as lot 983A on Nov. 22. The 3-year-old Short Call was a first-out winner at Goodwood last year at two. The dam, Wiwilia (GB) (Konigstiger {Ger}), is a half-sister to Grade I winner Wake Forest (Ger), and is it also the family of Group 1 winners like Wurftaube (Ger), Waldpark (Ger) and Masked Marvel (GB). View the full article

The connections of Monomoy Girl have decided the recent Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner will not race in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and instead will be pointed toward the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park. View the full article

Four-time Eclipse Award winner Javier Castellano, fresh off a pair of victories on Breeders’ Cup weekend, will square off with 11 of the world’s most talented jockeys when he takes part in the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Hong Kong’s iconic Happy Valley Racecourse Wednesday, Dec. 5. Castellano, 41, will be making his second appearance at the IJC, having failed to register a point in the series, but much has changed in the 12 years since. The native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, led all North American jockeys by earnings each year from 2013-2016 and was recognized with an Eclipse Award for his achievements in each of those seasons. In 2013, he rode the winners of a career-high 362 races, good for earnings of $26.2 million, surpassing the single-season mark set by his compatriot Ramon Dominguez in 2012. He rode his 4000th career winner in early 2015, closing that calendar year with over $28.1 million in purse money, and earned his 5000th career victory when partnering with Runaway Lute (Midnight Lute) to win the Hudson H. at Belmont Park Oct. 20. Castellano is the winner of 10 Breeders’ Cup races to date, including this year’s Juvenile Turf Sprint with Bulletin (City Zip) and the GI Dirt Mile with City of Light (Quality Road). A two-time Preakness-winner (Bernardini, 2006; Cloud Computing, 2017), he was third aboard Audible (Into Mischief) in this year’s GI Kentucky Derby. The task facing Castellano is a tall one given the depth of quality in the competition. Zac Purton, currently atop the jockeys’ premiership in Hong Kong, is back to defend his title, having earned his first victory 12 months ago, while Hugh Bowman, the 2016 IJC winner and reigning Longines World’s Best Jockey, saw a 35-day suspension sliced to 23 days and will be permitted to participate. Bowman is best known as the regular rider for Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}). Dual IJC hero Ryan Moore Silvestre de Sousa, who was just crowned champion rider for a third time, represent Britain, while Colin Keane (IJC debut) and Christophe Lemaire, will fly the flag for Ireland and Japan, respectively. The legendary Yutaka Take returns to Hong Kong for the IJC as does Frenchman Mickael Barzalona. Three locally based jockeys will complete the line-up for the IJC. With Purton already guaranteed a spot by virtue of his position as reigning leading domestic rider, two berths will go to the next two highest ranked jockeys in Hong Kong, while the final spot will be awarded to the leading ‘homegrown’ rider (graduate of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School). Those spots will be finalized following the Happy Valley meeting Wednesday, Nov. 21. The Longines IJC takes place over the course of four races, where points (12-6-4) are awarded for first through third place. The jockey who accumulates the most points earns a check for HK$500,000. “The Longines International Jockeys’ Championship is not only the richest jockey challenge in the world but also the most exciting and the most keenly sought,” commented Andrew Harding, executive director of racing for the HKJC. “Each December, the HKJC is able to attract the world’s best riders, who ensure this is a world-class sporting competition. We are able to pit established champions against talented rising stars, and it all takes place at Happy Valley, our spectacular floodlit circuit, on a night which is eagerly anticipated.” View the full article

On the face of it, Bulletin was old news. Silks, trainer and sire all straight off the conveyor belt: WinStar and partners; Todd Pletcher; and the Breeders’ Cup legend that is City Zip. Look beyond his breeder’s registration as CresRan LLC (KY), however, and you will discover that the winner of the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint nowhere generated more pride, and heartwarming memories, than in Oklahoma. For the breeder’s trophy was presented to Ran Leonard, who owes both his first name and his passion for the racehorse to his maternal grandfather, Ran Ricks. And while Ricks has now been dead for 22 years, his memory remains dear among Oklahoma horsemen; and likewise, to this day, his venerable widow Carol. Of the hundreds of texts Leonard received after the race, no code recurred more than (405): Oklahoma City and environs. Proceeding to Keeneland, he was repeatedly stopped and congratulated by people who knew the background to Bulletin–from Everett Dobson of Cheyenne Stable, to veterans who remembered Ricks hiring as his first trainer none other than J.J. Pletcher, Todd’s father. “Mr. Pletcher and my grandad got hooked up at places like Louisiana Downs and Oaklawn Park,” Leonard explains. “In fact I think he was my grandad’s private trainer for a while. They had a lot of success. My grandad didn’t necessarily have aspirations for a lot of graded racehorses. He just wanted to win races and have fun. And they had a lot of that. “My grandfather was very instrumental in getting pari-mutuel wagering in Oklahoma. And a lot of the old timer horsemen have been incredible mentors to me. They also share the love for my grandma. I guess a little bit for me, but mostly for my grandma! At Remington Park that night apparently they put the horse’s picture on the board and the announcer made a little spiel about how Oklahoma connections had bred him. So, yes, it’s very neat.” At the time of his death grandfather Ricks had 40 broodmares on his farm at Crescent, 35 miles north of Oklahoma City. As the oldest grandchild, and named for Ricks, Leonard was already the only member of the family under the spell of horses. His mother, an only child, had no interest; nor his father, albeit of a generation to be suitably envious that Leonard had his picture taken with Bo Derek in the winner’s circle. “My grandfather and I were extremely close,” Leonard says. “I would go stay at the farm in the summers and, when I was about 15, he decided I needed to come work–in his company in the day, and nights and mornings on the farm. My closest siblings were seven or eight years younger, so I definitely got to have a different relationship with him. In some regards I got treated like a grandson, but then at some point like an adult, and got to learn a lot of things.” Ricks headed an oil and gas exploration company and profit-and-loss was not an especially critical factor for a stable then dominated by Oklahoma-breds. “But I was a college kid when he died, 20 years old, and quickly realized I had to find a way to make this thing a little more economically sensible,” he recalls. “It took us about 15 years, but now we have a core band of seven broodmares–five of which I keep in Kentucky.” These board with Gabriel ‘Spider’ Duignan at Springhouse Farm, while Lexington agent Bradley ‘Mike’ Shannon has also served as a longtime friend and counselor. It was Shannon who bought Bulletin’s dam Sue’s Good News (Woodman) as a yearling at the 2001 Keeneland September Sale. “It was a few days after 9/11, I had a newborn at home and just didn’t want to leave my kids,” Leonard says. “The whole world was scared at that point. So I stayed home, but Mike was at the sale and Steve Hobby, our trainer, drove down from Chicago. We were looking to buy a filly with some pedigree that hopefully could have some racing success, but that would [regardless] help change over our breeding program from all these Oklahoma ‘nothing’ pedigrees, so to speak, to some Kentucky pedigrees that could be commercial. And Mike knew there was a sibling with Steve Asmussen that might kick things along a bit. I said I wanted to spend about $40,000 and, typical story, the phone’s cutting out and Mike ends up going to $45,000.” The half-brother with Asmussen proved to be GII Louisiana Derby runner-up Easyfromthegitgo (Dehere). Even as it was, the unraced dam was a half-sister to GI Ballerina S. winner Serape (Fappiano) while the second dam was a Grade I-placed half-sister to Cozzene. Serape, moreover, has since been credited through her daughter Trensa (Giant’s Causeway) as grand-dam of two elite scorers in Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy) and Free Drop Billy (Union Rags). Leonard remembers sitting with his grandmother trying to agree a name for the filly when the phone rang. It was her best friend, Sue Vaughn, who had undergone a cancer test. “I’m all clear,” she said. “Everything’s great.” “Oh, that’s such good news!” exclaimed Carol. That was that: Sue’s Good News it was. And, though no racefan herself, Sue came to see the filly win her first three starts; and in time was able to root for her foals too. Leonard reckons that Sue’s Good News, albeit a Grade III winner, never showed her full ability owing to a habit–more treatable now than then–of tying up. Her first foal broke her pelvis in a gate accident, but that misfortune was amply redressed by the next: Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow), winner of the GI Ogden Phipps H. For if subsequent foals proved fairly average, pending the advent of Bulletin, in the meantime Tiz Miz Sue certainly vindicated Leonard’s strategy of commercial consolidation. At the 2017 September Sale, her Tapit colt raised $2.5 million from Shadwell. “I can’t fathom how that happened,” Leonard admits. “We’re just small breeders and if we sell for $50,000 to $100,000, that’s typically a pretty good day. So many things have to happen for one to sell like that. But he was certainly the best-looking horse I’ve ever raised. He’s with Kiaran McLaughlin, they called him Tatweej, and they say he’s training pretty good.” At the same sale, Bulletin himself achieved an excellent dividend for a Hip 1865, at $250,000 (docket signed by Maverick Racing & China Horse Club). Like many in the family, he had made dramatic progress through his second summer. Leonard remembers inspecting him at three months or so. “Kinda gangly, isn’t he?” he said. “Just let him grow up a little bit,” replied Shannon. If he had improved somewhat by January, Leonard still thought they were in trouble. But by the deadline for the sale, when all eyes were on Tiz Miz Sue’s Tapit colt, the gawky City Zip was finally beginning to force himself on their attention. So they entered him, too. They could always scratch if he didn’t come through in time. “Instead he kept getting better and better,” Leonard says. “At the sale, the pinhookers were very interested. We weren’t sure that would be the right thing for him. We thought he needed to go to some steady hands. So when he ended up with a racing farm, especially one that does as great a job as WinStar, we were thrilled. “And one thing he always had was a pretty good mind. He was always well mannered, so the fact he’s taken to the training so well doesn’t surprise me. I just wish I knew how they got him out the gate so fast! I’d like to pass that on to every horse I had.” After such a lucrative sale last year, this time around Leonard reversed the normal policy and sold a filly and kept a colt–both by Uncle Mo–out of his two star mares. Tiz Miz Sue’s filly, sold as usual through Paramount, raised $500,000; while the colt out of Sue’s Good News (now in foal to Violence) is being broken in Florida prior to joining Hobby. “I think he’s athletic and that he’ll be fast,” Leonard said. “I just didn’t think he was necessarily a sale horse, and that for what he’d probably get it was worth giving him a shot. Obviously, with the success of Bulletin since, I’m very glad I made that choice. Especially because Steve [Hobby] has done so much work to make the family, only for me to go and sell all these babies. I wanted to give him something to have some fun with.” Hobby had been the farm trainer until stepping up when Ricks and J.J. Pletcher parted company. His route into the game had been similar to his predecessor’s. “Like a lot of these guys, Steve’s an old quarterhorse jockey from Colorado, New Mexico, round that way,” Leonard said. “He really is part of the family. His daughter’s my best friend; he’s my son’s godfather. He’s like a son to my grandma, really, when you get right down to it.” One way or another, then, Bulletin’s rise has gladdened many who have brought Great Plains horse-lore into the mainstream of the American Turf. Leonard has clearly done a sterling job in making his Oklahoma legacy viable in Kentucky. Nowadays he retains but one last vestige of his grandfather’s herd, a granddaughter of a state champion 2-year-old in his boyhood named Polly’s Rumor. The spirit of Oklahoma, however, still animates all Leonard does; indeed, he recently completed a six-year stint on the state racing commission. “I’m very proud of our state,” he said. “We have one of the few tracks actually on the up, in terms of field size and purse and handle. It’s still obviously a pretty significant step down from Churchill or anything like that, but it’s an improving program and some very prominent national trainers have strings there, while for our big racedays everybody ships in: Todd, Bob [Baffert], whoever.” But this story’s heartbeat has always been more intimate: a call to Sue from Belmont after the Tiz Miz Sue’s Grade I, and hearing her hollering with joy back in Oklahoma; or the arrival of Carol, still in great form approaching her 90th birthday, at the September Sale to see off the latest babies from the dynasty honoring her friend; or Todd Pletcher telling his wife and Elliott Walden and the rest of the gang, as Bulletin came back in, how the whole thing had just come full circle. It’s all there in the registration of CresRan: Crescent/Ran Ricks. “And now all these different people are stopping me to say how happy they are about this horse,” Leonard says proudly. “That he just makes them think about grandad and what a great guy he was and how much he would enjoy this. He was just so philanthropic, kind-hearted, always with a smile, just the most generous, giving man there ever was. “Every line of work is hard, and every line of work has its disappointments. But I think there’s something about these living and breathing animals that we raise and care so much about. You think of all the disappointments, all the frustrations. And then you have something like this happen. “It was really the first time I’ve ever just got to be there as a breeder. I will tell you one thing, it’s a lot less pressure. My stomach didn’t get in knots and I didn’t start having trouble breathing until they were loading the gate. Up until then, I was just having a bourbon and water and enjoying my day with everybody else. “I had five foals that year and in the three I sold, one made $2.5 million and another then becomes a Breeders’ Cup champion. And I get to keep two slow ones. But, hey, I’ll take it! I’ll take it.” View the full article

The connections of Monomoy Girl have decided the recent Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner will not race in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and instead will be pointed toward the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park. View the full article

6th-AQU, $70K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 2:47 p.m. ET Shadwell Stable went to $1.1 million to secure AZM (Tapit) as a Keeneland November weanling in 2015 and she makes her late-season debut in this turf route. Trained by Chad Brown, the bay is the first foal out of MGISW turfer Marketing Mix (Medaglia d’Oro). As with most of this barn’s runners, she shows a steady series of three and four-furlong breezes, capped by a three-panel spin in :36 4/5 (3/4) Nov. 11 at Belmont. 7th-CD, $76K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 4:06 p.m. ET Frank Fletcher’s GIRLFRIEND ROCKET (Quality Road) tied for the second-highest lot at OBS April, selling for $800,000 following a :22 flat quarter-mile breeze, and opens her account in this elongated sprint for trainer Al Stall, Jr. The dark bay’s second dam is a full-sister to three-time champion Tiznow (Cee’s Tizzy), as well as Tizamazing, the dam of GI Preakness S. hero Oxbow (Awesome Again) and Tizso, who produced GISW Paynter (Awesome Again). She shows a modest worktab, most recently going a local half-mile in :49 2/5 (25/57) Nov. 8. G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s Net (Curlin) is also unveiled here from the Rusty Arnold barn. The homebred is a half-sister to GISW Centre Court (Smart Strike) out of Let (A.P. Indy), who captured the GII Churchill Downs Distaff H. with a 109 Beyer at this oval. —@JBiancaTDN View the full article

Multiple grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits, the richest New York-bred in history, was officially retired by trainer and co-owner Chad Summers the morning of Nov. 14 and will head to Japan in January where he will stand the 2019 season at Shadai Farm. View the full article

The following is a snapshot of some of the highlights of the acceptance speeches at Tuesday night’s Cartier Awards, where Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) took Horse of the Year and 3-Year-Old champion honors and was one of four winners on the night for trainer John Gosden. Roaring Lion (Cartier Horse of the Year/3-Year-Old Colt) Sheikh Fahad Al Thani (owner): “To have a Cartier Horse Of The Year is an unbelievable achievement by the whole team. John is an unbelievable trainer and a master of his art. I remember standing at the Craven and he said to me ‘this might be a little bit scary but don’t be disappointed and wait until the end the year.’ It was absolutely true. “My wife [Melissa] had to put up with me for the whole year which was difficult enough I am sure. I would also like to thank my brothers for entrusting me with the racing operation. Oisin [Murphy] has done an unbelievable job–I don’t think there is a jockey like he is riding at the moment except maybe Frankie [Dettori]. “Her Majesty The Queen has been a great supporter of our operation from day one. I was trying to keep my calm when Roaring Lion won at Ascot and she turned to me and said ‘I think you are allowed to scream and enjoy.’ I hope I am allowed back at Ascot after that.” John Gosden (trainer): “If you go back to last year’s Racing Post Trophy, Roaring Lion came to win his race comfortably and then slightly turned left and played with the other horse. Oisin thought he got there too soon, but he didn’t–he got there perfectly but unfortunately his horse wanted a game in the playground. When we got to the Craven, I remembered Vincent O’Brien telling me ‘beware of American horses John, wait for the sun on their back and for the faster ground.’ I said to Sheikh Fahad beforehand that the Craven is only a trial and we were not going to win. If you look at my middle and the horse’s middle, they are both far too big. My wife has been reminding me about mine for years. “The horse blew up in the Craven. He got half-good in the Guineas and worked it out. Then away he went. He is a magnificent horse who got bigger and stronger. He was bred out of California through Kentucky and unlike all the other horses, he is a sales horse, which is rare. The owner-breeders in this room breed the best horses in my opinion. “Roaring Lion came through the whole thing and, along with his young jockey, grew in strength and together they were wonderful. They never panicked, not at Leopardstown and not in the QEII. If I had been riding him, I would have panicked.” David Redvers (bloodstock/racing manager): “Eight years ago, I was completely on my uppers. We had just had a shocking run of events–Ishiguru and Lucky Story were two horses who ended their stallion careers almost as soon as they had started them through an unfortunate paddock accident and a heart attack. We were just getting going and then got cut down. “I went to New Zealand and tried to find another thread, some way that I could make a few quid in this business. Within a day of arriving, I got an email from my little sister, the most unlikely bearer of good of good fortune, who told me that there was a young Sheikh who would like to meet me for lunch at the Lanesborough Hotel [in London] on Tuesday morning. This was Friday afternoon and I had arrived in New Zealand on the Thursday night. So, I found myself checking out this young Sheikh and realised that it might not be some fake sheikh and it be worthwhile getting on a plane to go back. “I missed my flight after falling asleep in the airport. The whole thing was a nightmare and I got there with three minutes to spare. I met a rather different Sheikh Fahad at the Lanesborough to the God that you see before you today. He told me that he wanted to buy a racehorse or two and it was the moment that changed my life. “The key thing to everything is to get a great team around you. Luckily, I have a great team. Hannah was already working for me, Peter Molony was my best friend and Ralph Beckett and Andrew Balding have helped this dream come true. You all know who you are. “This tonight is the absolute highlight. All I can say with Qatar Racing is we are incredibly lucky to work with an unbelievable team of trainers.” Enable (Cartier Older Horse) Lord Grimthorpe (racing manager): “This award is made up of so many extraordinary components and this year has been hugely emotional. I would like to start with thanks to Cartier, the panel and the voters. Then there was the drive and patience of Prince Khalid and the genius of John Gosden and his team–Barry, Barry, Thady, Gary, Hannah, Imran who looked after Enable, Rab of course, the skill of Ian Wright and Benoit to bring her back and not least of course the flawless darn that is Frankie Dettori. And Enable herself had that extraordinary will to overcome both adversity and adversaries–she is the Queen of Juddmonte. Thank you very, very much.” Stradivarius (Cartier Stayer) Bjorn Nielsen (owner/breeder): “Thank you Cartier, The Daily Telegraph, Racing Post and John Gosden–how did you get a horse like this to peak five times? Frankie Dettori’s race riding was brilliant, especially on Champions Day when he had to overcome team tactics. I know it was controversial, but he did. Thank you, thank you.” Too Darn Hot (Cartier 2-Year-Old Colt) Lord Lloyd-Webber (owner/breeder): “I must say, it has been a rather extraordinary year for me. I had the great luck of getting my first EMMY award and picking up a TONY award for lifetime achievement. It was all summed up by what happened when I flew back from Los Angeles the other day. Going through immigration, I was told ‘congratulations’ and I said ‘it has been a fantastic year’ and the reply was ‘Too Darn Hot in the Dewhurst.’ “Nobody wants to talk about the shows anymore, only Too Darn Hot. But the name did come from a musical and it’s called Kiss Me Kate.” Skitter Scatter (Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly) Anthony Rogers (owner/breeder): “This is great. It means a lot to me and the family. I must just say one person who probably a lot of people have forgotten is my father [Captain Tim Rogers, who died in 1984]. He got everything going and was an amazing man. This one is for my dad.” Patrick Prendergast (trainer): “I wasn’t sure she was going to be a Group 1 filly. The biggest thrill I got was when she won the Debutante. I saw that day that she actually loved the step up in trip despite being a very speedy filly and she then struck me with that victory as being a Group 1 filly. That race showed that she belonged with the best and would stay a mile. “Ronan Whelan [jockey] is a very popular guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve and loves the game. He had a tumble in Dubai last week, but he is doing well and he always had a lot of faith in the filly. She looks like she has grown a little bit and is improving throughout the winter. I’ll keep getting out of bed for her. “Like all the good fillies, she is very relaxed. She likes her food, her sleep and her work. She is very competitive and we just don’t want her to overdo it.” Alpha Centauri (Cartier 3-Year-Old Filly) Maria Niarchos-Gouaze (owner/breeder): “2018 has been an incredible year. Alpha Centauri has given so much pleasure that her early retirement sent us into oblivion. Thank God that she is OK and able to reproduce. “Her four consecutive victories in Group 1s in the Guineas, Coronation S., Falmouth and Jacques Le Marois will remain impregnated in our minds. I would like to thank the whole team–firstly those who raised her at Coolmore, Jessie and all her stable for training her, Colm for riding her and Alan Cooper for managing her and last but not least, Alpha Centauri herself.” Mabs Cross (Cartier Sprinter) Emma Armstrong (owner/breeder): “Thank you. As many of you know, we haven’t been in racing too long–15 years. We are owner-breeders, and we bred Mabs Cross. She was our 100th winner and out of our first winner, Miss Meggy. I just can’t thank everyone enough. We are a small family business up in Lancashire and Mabs Cross was owned and bred there. We were told we would never breed a Group 1 winner in Lancashire and now we have bred two now in Lancashire.” View the full article

RACEBETS BET OF THE DAY 12:10 Southwell The opening race, not just here in Nottinghamshire but across the UK and Ireland sees us take in the first from Southwell where we see a Class 6 one mile contest. When it comes to Southwell, both over the jumps and on the artificial all-weather surface we’re presented with today I feel the phrase “horses for courses” is well and truly appt. With the unique test this racecourse provides any horse that has done well here previously is worth taking serious note. Such a horse is former course and distance victor Sooqaan. Looking through the career of this seven year old and it makes for an interesting read, especially if you focus on runs over today’s course and distance and in today’s class. A total of 4 runs in races with today’s conditions have resulted in a total of 4 wins. He has all the boxes ticked in his favour today and he returns to action off the same handicap mark he won at previously. There’s obvious dangers in the likes of fellow course and distance winners Shearian and Mr Coco Bean but a chance is taken with Sooqaan who looks ready to get back to the winners enclosure. SOOQAAN (WIN) Southwell: 12:10 – Sooqaan (WIN)* 12:40 – Boots N Spurs (WIN) 13:10 – Anycity (WIN) 13:40 – Cool Spirit (WIN) 14:15 – French Twist (WIN) 14:45 – Jadeyra (WIN) 15:20 – Given Choice (WIN) 15:50 – Bond Angel (E/W) Clonmel: 12:50 – Notebook (WIN) 13:25 – Askari (WIN) 13:55 – Thermistocles (WIN) 14:30 – Chambord Du Lys (WIN) 15:00 – Kemboy (WIN) 15:35 – Polar Present (E/W) 16:05 – Acronym (WIN) Taunton: 13:00 – Avocadeau (WIN) 13:30 – Braqueur D’Or (WIN) 14:05 – Our Boy (E/W) 14:35 – Kilcara (WIN) 15:10 – Magical Thomas (E/W) 15:40 – Full (WIN) 16:10 – Southfield Stone (WIN) Ludlow: 13:20 – Definitelyanoscar (WIN) 13:50 – Keep Moving (WIN) 14:25 – Shannon Hill (WIN) 14:55 – The Happy Chappy (E/W) 15:30 – Elysees (WIN) 16:00 – Ormskirk (E/W) Kempton: 16:30 – Irish Art (WIN) 17:00 – Cafe Espresso (WIN) 17:30 – Imperial Court (WIN) 18:00 – King Calypso (E/W) 18:30 – Eternal Destiny (E/W) 19:00 – Breathoffreshair (E/W) 19:30 – Deedsnotwords (E/W) 20:00 – Compton Prince (E/W) Chelmsford: 17:15 – Times Past (WIN) 17:45 – Valley Belle (E/W) 18:15 – With Hindsight (E/W) 18:45 – Queen Of Burgundy (E/W) 19:15 – Craving (WIN) 19:45 – Wilbury Twist (WIN) 20:15 – Don’t Do It (WIN) 20:45 – Polar Forest (E/W) The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Thursday 15th November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

It was a brutal night for punters at Happy Valley on Wednesday night as four short-priced favourites were rolled while a 53-1 shot ensured next week’s Triple Trio and Six Up pools will hold eight figures each with massive jackpots rolling in. If you made money, well done – you were definitely in the minority. It looked like it could be a straightforward night on paper with Trendiful ($2.40), Champion Supreme ($2.30), Country Star ($1.50) and Red Warrior ($1.70) all looking stand-... View the full article

The world's best jockeys will compete for the Longines International Jockeys' Championship in a spectacular night of racing at Happy Valley Dec. 5. View the full article

Brian Trump hasn't been in horse racing long but has quickly made an impact as operations manager of Rockingham Ranch. View the full article

This year’s G2 Queen Mary S. winner Signora Cabello (GB) (Camacho {GB}) has been added to the Tattersalls December Mares Sale and will be offered as a wildcard on Dec. 4 as lot 1908A. Signora Cabello was purchased privately by Phoenix Thoroughbreds after winning the Listed Marygate Fillies’ S. on May 18, after which she won the Queen Mary for Phoenix and Zen Racing. She followed up with another win in the G2 Prix Robert Papin and was second, beaten 3/4 of a length, by Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in the G1 Prix Morny. She is out of the G3 Princess Margaret S.-second Journalist (Ire) (Night Shift) and is the best of four stakes horses thus far produced by the dam. View the full article

‘Johnny, Johnny, Johnny’ rang out the chant from a throng of joyful owners as the G1 Victoria Derby winner Extra Brut (Aus) (Domesday {Aus}) was led back in to the Flemington mounting yard. It was the kind of reception the Irish jockey John Allen could only have dreamt about when he left Cork seven years ago after answering an advertisement for jump jockeys in Australia. There has been a number of jockey crossovers from the jumps to the Flat in recent years, including Graham Lee, Timmy Murphy, PJ McDonald and Jim Crowley. Even taking into account the fact that Crowley became champion jockey on the Flat after turning his back on the National Hunt sector in 2006, his transformation is still perhaps not as dramatic as that of Allen. From pony racing to a job with local trainer Sean O’Brien and then a stint as a conditional with Joe Crowley, the father-in-law of Aidan O’Brien, Allen’s race rides became fewer and farther between in his home country. The situation prompted a dramatic rethink which led him to the door of Victoria’s champion trainer, Darren Weir. “I’d quieted down a bit at home and wasn’t really riding much and then I saw an advertisement in the Racing Post. Two or three of us came out at the same time and I thought I’d give it a go for six months and see what happened,” recalls the 34-year-old at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day, 72 hours after his Derby victory. As we chat in the hallway by the weighing-room, Allen is still receiving congratulations, with David Hayes and Chris Waller just two of the well-wishers to slap him on the back as they pass by. “I was supposed to go to work for Ciaron Maher and he rang a few days before I arrived to say he didn’t need anyone so I ended up with Darren and I don’t know if he was that keen on it at first but it’s worked out good.” That it has. From initially continuing to specialise over jumps, Allen rode his first Australian winner over hurdles at the Warrnambool Carnival. Despite the relative prestige of this occasion, the Australian jumping programme is tiny in comparison to Britain and Ireland. “I came out in 2011 for the jumps season from March until October and I had a good year riding for Darren, but there are only around 70 jumps races in the season,” says Allen, who is now an Australian citizen. “I then rode a bit back home during that winter but came back to Australia full time in 2012. Again that was riding over jumps but then I started picking up a few rides on the Flat. I was never a heavy jockey as a jumps jockey, I was always in between, but I just worked a bit harder to get my weight down and at first I was riding at the non-TAB and country meetings, but as time went on I started to get a few more opportunities.” Those opportunities have led to him this year being one of the leading lights during Australian racing’s biggest week of the year. A first Classic victory in the state he now calls home merely gilded an extraordinary Spring Carnival for the Irishman. Within the space of a week he had doubled his tally of Group 1 wins to four, following up his Victoria Derby success by winning the G1 McKinnon S. aboard Trap For Fools (Aus) (Poet’s Voice {GB}). Half a length back in third was his Derby partner Extra Brut whom he could not have ridden that day as the 3-year-old was carrying too light a weight. The McKinnon win for trainer Jarrold McLean, who doubles as a stable foreman for Weir, was the highlight of a stakes-race treble on the day for Allen, the other two coming for his boss on Kenedna (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) in the G2 Matriarch S. and Ringerdingding (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}) in the listed Springtime S. Just for good measure, Allen also knocked off a couple of country cups for Weir during that same week, winning the Kyneton Cup on Another Coldie (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) and the Ararat Cup aboard American import Andrea Mantegna (Giant’s Causeway). “I’ve had a winner on Caulfield Cup day, Cox Plate day and Derby day so it’s been great,” he says. “I never really had a proper go riding on the Flat at home because I never worked for a Flat trainer. When I took out my licence at 18, I was probably just a bit too heavy to be an apprentice so I went down the conditional route. I was conditional to Joe Crowley for three or four years but once my claim went and his numbers dwindled I never really kicked on from there. I was just going through the motions at home. But now I’m riding at 55kg [approximately 8st 10lbs] all this week. It takes a bit of work but I’m on top of it now.” A strong work ethic doubtless helps in that regard. In return for the chances he has been given by Weir, he is expected to be in Ballarat or Warrnambool to ride work every morning bar Sunday. The champion trainer has phenomenal firepower at his disposal with a stable running into the hundreds. Despite Weir’s apparently laidback demeanour and reputation for enjoying fairly liquid celebrations, Allen can see how he has progressed from being a bush trainer to one of the most dominant forces in the country. “He’s a man who is always thinking,” says the jockey. “He’s got an unbelievable memory and not many people could cope with the numbers that he has but he has the brain to do it.” In returning the compliment, Weir is on record as describing Allen as “the greatest horseman I’ve ever had anything to do with.” That quote was given to the Herald-Sun newspaper back in 2015 and the trainer is unlikely to have changed his view in the intervening years, particularly after the recent Melbourne Cup Carnival. Allen continues to ride successfully over jumps and thus finds himself among an elite band of jockeys to have mixed codes at the highest level simultaneously. He adds, “I’ve had a few rides here [at Flemington] over the last couple of years and Darren always has plenty of runners but I was always more on the outside looking in. So to be a major part of it this year is really something special.” Currently in second position in the Victorian jockeys’ championship, both for city winners and state-wide, John Allen is now very much on the inside. View the full article

With back to back winning NAPs can the Picks From The Paddock comeplete the three timer and land another best bet if the day! Best Bet Of The Day 13.50 Bangor A real star for the Fergal O’Brien last term, Barney Dwan looks ready to pounce here today following on from a blow the cobwebs away exercise at Chepstow on his return last month. The talented 8yo landed a pair of decent handicaps over fences last term before a creditable fourth at the Cheltenham Festival in March. He looks a threat to all here today and can land the spoils with a clear round of jumping. The main danger will likely come in form of Alan King’s Kerrow, but he has been off the track for 20 months since finishing sixth to Tiger Roll in the 4miler at Cheltenham in 2017 and will likely needs this race. BARNEY DWAN (WIN) Ayr 12.05 Cold Shoulder 12.35 Derriana Spirit e/w 13.10 Sam’s Adventure e/w 13.40 Mumgos Debut e/w 14.15 Schiaparannie 14.45 Henry’s Joy 15.20 Kimberlite Candy e/w 15.50 Bally Conor e/w Bangor 12.45 Just Minded 13.20 Maria’s Benefit 13.50 Barney Dwan (NAP) 14.25 Phoenix Way 14.55 Balakar e/w 15.30 Notachance e/w 16.00 Bold Reason e/w Exeter 13.00 Time to Move on 13.30 Vango De Vaige 14.05 Bears Rails e/w 14.35 Vodka all the way e/w 15.10 Black Op 15.40 Casterly Rock e/w 16.15 Viva Vittoria e/w Kempton 16.30 Rightway e/w 17.00 Lady Adelaide 17.30 Eithaar e/w 18.00 Nantucket 18.30 Glorious Charmer 19.00 Busby 19.30 Part Exchange e/w 20.00 Rocksette Fairyhouse 12.20 Ellie Mac e/w 12.50 Poli Roi 13.25 Redwood Boy e/w 13.55 Batts Rock 14.30 Monbeg Worldwide 15.00 Honeysuckle e/w 15.35 Filly Mullins e/w The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Wednesday 14th November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

British superstar Ryan Moore, Japanese icon Yutaka Take, globetrotting Frenchman Christophe Lemaire and Irish young gun Colin Keane will go head-to-head at Happy Valley next month in a star-studded Longines International Jockeys’ Championship. The Jockey Club confirmed the high-quality list of riders that will assemble for the four-race contest to kick off international week. The team of eight foreign raiders will also boast Australian Hugh Bowman, three-time champion of Britain Silvestre... View the full article

Champion trainer John Size was as miffed as anyone with Ivictory’s second-up flop as a hot favourite but has forged ahead with a “business as usual” training regime for his star galloper. Last season’s champion sprinter finished at the tail of the field in last month’s Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m) after travelling behind eventual winner Hot King Prawn. As a 10-time champion trainer, Size has seen many horses come in and out of form and is not about to panic with... View the full article

Peggy Hendershot, who since 2006 has served as president of the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry's most influential federal political action committee, Horse PAC, will retire at the end of the year, the NTRA announced Nov. 13. View the full article

Peggy Hendershot, who since 2006 has served as president of the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry's most influential federal political action committee, Horse PAC, will retire at the end of the year, the NTRA announced Nov. 13. View the full article

Dragon hopes Gentlemen Agreement can settle issue on debut View the full article

Clements takes easier path with Siam Vipasiri View the full article

The juvenile colt Federal Case (Gemologist) (hip 3495) lit up the ring at Keeneland November Tuesday, topping the closing session of Book 5 when selling for $650,000 to bloodstock agent Jacob West, who was acting on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low. A total of 244 horses sold during Tuesday’s session for a gross of $6,337,000, an average of $25,971 and a median of $12,000. Forty-nine horses failed to meet their reserves for a buyback rate of 16.72%. Throughout the first nine days of selling at KEENOV, 2,049 Thoroughbreds have changed hands for $184,287,600 with an average of $89,940 and a median of $37,000. A total of 665 horses have left the ring unsold for an RNA rate of 24.5%. Bred by Kings Way Farm, Federal Case was purchased by the powerhouse trio of WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing for $180,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Sale. The Rodolphe Brisset trainee graduated on debut going seven furlongs on the Keeneland main track Oct. 19 and breezed five furlongs in 1:00.80 (5/22) Monday morning at the Lexington oval. Consigned by WinStar, the bay’s $650,000 price tag makes him the most expensive offspring of Gemologist to sell at public auction and he will be transferred to trainer Todd Pletcher, who conditioned his Grade I-winning sire for WinStar. “He was a big two-turn looking, dirt horse,” West said. “To me, Mr. and Mrs. Low and the team, he looked like the best prospect for buying something that was ready to go on and hopefully win big races.” The top-priced racing/broodmare prospect of the sale was the 3-year-old filly Lady Suebee (First Defence) (hip 3305), who was purchased by bloodstock agent David Ingordo for $230,000 from the Elite consignment. Campaigned by Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, the Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables, the Chad Brown pupil has won three of her nine starts and earned $180,150 thus far. Out of SW Freeroll (Touch Gold), the $85,000 KEESEP buy most recently captured an Oct. 8 allowance sprinting on the dirt at Belmont. The session’s most expensive weanling was a $90,000 colt from the first crop of Speightster. Purchased by Machmer Hall, hip 3158 was bred by Ledgelands and Andrew Ritter and consigned by the former. Out of the SP mare Bear’s Lightning (Maria’s Mon), the gray hails from the family of Grade I winners Overanalyze (Dixie Union) and Meadow Breeze (Meadowlake). View the full article

For the fourth time in five years, a horse trained by John Gosden has taken the top honour as Europe’s Horse of the Year at the Cartier Awards in London. On Tuesday night, it was the 3-year-old colt Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) who earned the award over three of his stablemates-Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire})-as well as Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})-on the merit of wins in the G1 Coral-Eclipse, G1 Juddmonte International, G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. Purchased by David Redvers for $160,000 from Keeneland September in 2016, Roaring Lion raced in the colours of Qatar Racing and, in addition to the aforementioned accomplishments, won the G2 Royal Lodge S. at two and was second in the G1 Racing Post Trophy and third in the G1 Investec Derby. Roaring Lion, who also won the Cartier 3-Year-Old Colt award, retires to Tweenhills Stud for 2019. Roaring Lion follows Kingman (GB) (2014), Golden Horn (GB) (2015) and Enable (2017) in bringing the Horse of the Year statue back to Clarehaven Stables. Enable, Stradivarius, and Alpha Centauri each received compensation for missing out on Horse of the Year. Enable made just three starts this year but those remarkably included a title-defending win in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and a victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf; she became the first horse to record that double in the same year and only the second ever to win both. The Juddmonte Farms homebred took Cartier Older Horse honours. Stradivarius was one of the leading lights of the turf throughout the season, and he was awarded on Tuesday with the Cartier Stayer Award. Stradivarius was unbeaten in five races in 2018-the G2 Yorkshire Cup, G1 Gold Cup, G1 Goodwood Cup, G2 Lonsdale Cup and G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup-and handed connections’ a £1-million bonus for completing the inaugural WH Stayers’ Million series. Also highly consistent throughout the season was the Niarchos Family’s homebred Alpha Centauri. The imposing grey filly built on the promise she had shown early in the season at two, taking the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas followed by the G1 Coronation S., G1 Falmouth S. and the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. She was retired after picking up an injury when second to Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Matron S. Remarkably, we’re not done with Gosden yet. The trainer picked up a record-equaling fifth Cartier statue on the evening when his Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was predictably named champion 2-year-old colt. The Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber homebred was unbeaten in four starts this year, culminating in a win in the G1 Dewhurst S. Too Darn Hot also won the G3 Solario S. and G2 Champagne S., and he beat out Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), Quorto (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) for divisional honours. The only other trainer to win five Cartier awards in one evening was Aidan O’Brien in 2016. The Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly award went to Ireland to Anthony and Sonia Rogers’s Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy). Skitter Scatter had a busy seven-race campaign and rewarded connections with three wins in pattern company: the G3 Silver Flash S., G2 Debutante S. and G1 Moyglare Stud S. She took the honors over Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Fairyland (Scat Daddy) and Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) was the winner of the Cartier Sprinter award on the merit of her victory in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye. Owned by David Armstrong and trained by Michael Dods, she had won the G3 Palace House S. in May and was placed three times in pattern company this year: in the G1 King’s Stand S., G2 Sapphire S. and G1 Nunthorpe S. The Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit was given to David Oldrey, who is regarded as one of the greatest talents to have worked in the administration of British horse racing. Oldrey has served The Jockey Club and the British Horseracing Board among other industry bodies. He is also a successful owner and breeder and racing historian. Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, said, “What another outstanding year it has been for European horse racing. Congratulations to John Gosden and his team for securing a joint-record five equine Cartier Racing Awards at the 28th annual Cartier Racing Awards. Roaring Lion truly lived up to his name, with four courageous Group 1 successes over the course of the season. “Enable more than made up for missing the summer with her second Arc success followed by the Breeders’ Cup Turf. What an outstanding filly she is. There was nothing to touch Stradivarius in the stayers’ division, while Too Darn Hot looks hugely exciting for the 2019 campaign. “Alpha Centauri towered over her rivals with several scintillating displays and congratulations to her owner-breeder the Niarchos Family and trainer Jessica Harrington, who has proved herself to be the outstanding dual-purpose handler of our age. “Mabs Cross was superbly campaigned and earned her just reward at Longchamp, while Anthony and Sonia Rogers, such tremendous owner-breeders, have an outstanding filly in Skitter Scatter. “Of course, horseracing does not function without great people behind the scenes. David Oldrey, who has dedicated himself to the administration of our great sport, is one such person. He is the deserved winner of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit. “Congratulations to all our winners this year and thanks go to Cartier UK, headed by Laurent Feniou, for supporting the Cartier Racing Awards for the 28th consecutive year.” View the full article