Wandering Eyes

Bucchero (Kantharos–Meetmeontime, by General Meeting), whose 11 career victories included back-to-back victories in the GII Woodford S. at Keeneland, and who will enter stud at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Florida in 2019, will be available for inspection to those attending the November sales this Sunday, November 11, from 3-5 p.m. at KESMARC Kentucky, located about five minutes west of the racetrack at 258 Shannon Run Road in Versailles. The first son to stud for the young and very promising Kantharos, Bucchero ran a ThoroGraph 4 to break his maiden at second asking and was a four-time stakes winner in Indiana-bred company before breaking through with a 1 3/4-length defeat of a field that included former GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mongolian Saturday in the 2017 Woodford. He carried his top form into his 6-year-old season, with placings in Keeneland’s Grade II Shakertown S. and the Grade III Turf Sprint S. before accepting an invitation to the Group 1 King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot. A gallant fifth, beaten under five lengths, in that world-class event, he returned for a fall campaign that included a popular repeat success in the Woodford, earning a return trip to the Breeders’ Cup in the process. During his career, Bucchero defeated 24 different graded stakes winners, including champion and $7.5-million seller Lady Aurelia on two separate occasions. Bucchero retired as the leading Indiana-bred earner in history and bankrolled in excess of $947,000, with seven black-type victories from 5 1/2 furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth. His close relative World of Trouble, also by Kantharos and out of a half-sister to Bucchero, earned a towering 118 Beyer Speed figure in just missing to Stormy Liberal in last weekend’s Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs. The stallion show is open to the public and those in attendance will be entered into a drawing to win a free season to Bucchero for 2019. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, visit www.buccherostallion.com, @Buccherostud on Twitter or call 646.789.5162. View the full article

The first two New Bay (GB) foals to take their turn in a sales ring-and the only two by the stallion in the sale–were offered at the Tattersalls Ireland Flat Foal and Breeding Stock Sale on Friday, and they returned the top price for a weanling colt and filly, respectively. Lot 170 was the top lot with a pricetag of €60,000. The colt, the first foal out of Soteria (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), a daughter of the multiple stakes producer Roo (GB) (Rudimentary {GB}), was bought by Powerstown Stud. The other New Bay, a filly (lot 164), brought €20,000 from Mark Byrne. Both horses were bred by China Horse Club, a shareholder in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner New Bay, who stands at Ballylinch Stud for €15,000. Both were consigned by Baroda and Colbinstown Studs. “This is a well-made colt by a Group 1-winning son of Dubawi,” said China Horse Club’s Mick Flanagan of the top lot. “I spent the day chewing on Gaviscons, all because of rising stud fees in Europe. The progeny by New Bay are very exciting and he is very good value in 2019 at €15,000. Sometimes things that happen in the past tell us a little bit about the future, and given New Bay was bred and raced by Juddmonte, much like Danehill and Showcasing were, I think he looks to be a stallion to get involved in if in any way possible.” Powerstown’s Tom Whitehead acknowledged that the New Bay colt had an important update: the Oct. 27 G3 Horris Hill S. winner Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) was produced by the colt’s half-sister Roodeye (GB), already the dam of multiple Grade II winner Prize Exhibit (GB) (Showcasing {GB}). “He has a good page, and it’s a happening family–there is a Horris Hill S. winner in there now, too,” said Whitehead. “New Bay was a good racehorse and is by Dubawi too. The plan will be to resell next autumn.” The second-highest price on the day for a foal was the €44,000 Tally-Ho stud shelled out for lot 71, a colt by Dandy Man (Ire) from the family of Group 1-winning sprinter Kingsgate Native (Ire). The sale’s highest-priced mare was Shadwell’s stakes-placed Naadrah (GB) (Muhtathir {GB}) (lot 222), who was bought by Herbertstown House for €42,000 in foal to Derrinstown Stud resident Awtaad (Ire). Ronan Burns of Herbertstown said, “She is a good-looking mare and was stakes-placed, while her 2015 foal Moonlight Bay has reached a rating of 95. The mare is in-foal to a Classic winner on a February cover.” The average for the sale climbed slightly (4%) from last year at €6,176 while the median dipped 14% to €3,000. Trade was fairly grim in terms of clearance; just 50% of the offerings found new homes, compared to 59% last year. View the full article

Woodford Racing's Jefferson Cup Stakes winner Hot Springs tops a competitive field of seven 3-year-olds entered for the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf Stakes (G3T) Nov. 10 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

The professionals assessing possible purchases in the surrounding barns know all about the mysteries to be read in the head of a horse. In the eye, most obviously, but also the set of the jawbone or the shape and movement of the ears: an anatomical ensemble that can, many claim, condense much of the disposition and outlook and even, ultimately, the quality of a Thoroughbred. But they won’t ever have seen one quite like that guarding the entrance to the lobby of the sales pavilion. The bronze Still Water III, one of an edition of three by the British sculptor Nic Fiddian-Green, is one of the highlights of a sporting art auction that will on Sunday week handsomely extend the one currently taking place in the adjacent ring. For many wealthy patrons, no doubt, the uncertainties of their investment in mares and weanlings will present an alarming contrast to the fixed and tangible glory of the lots exhibited along the walls of the auditorium corridor. Fiddian-Green’s international reputation is such that Lot 97 carries an authentic “Book 1” estimate of $200,000 to $250,000. It is a characteristic piece, albeit at six feet scarcely on the scale of the gargantuan equine heads that have made his name in such noble settings as Goodwood racecourse, Daylesford and Marble Arch. Outsized as it is, it is a fragment: a Fiddian-Green trademark, tracing to his obsession with one of the Elgin marbles, the Selene Horse, since a visit to the British Museum as a student at the Chelsea School of Art in 1983. Yet it has a stark, strange wholeness; and in the same way, the streaks of verdigris bleeding from the neck are confounded by the stillness and peace rooted in the sleepily half-closed eye. Another triumphant contradiction is the lightness and delicacy achieved in what is, foremost, a great big piece of heavy metal. But the catalogue also embraces many masterly works of an older school-including another precious item that very much focuses on calm and serenity in the horse. For a long time, of course, painters struggled to depict the racehorse at the gallop as its locomotion had not yet been broken down by freeze photography. And if there were additional reasons to recommend the conformation portrait, as an anatomical document, then John E Ferneley Sr’s charming Lord Robert Grosvenor’s Hunters at Moor Park, Rickmansworth, shows another dimension of a relatively “still life” with four horses at pasture. It is offered as Lot 40. An estimate of $125,000 to $150,000 actually compares favourably with the painting’s last appearance at auction and Ferneley remains esteemed as perhaps second only to Stubbs in the classic school of equine art. This particular work, moreover, has a resonant provenance in having been commissioned for the collection of Grosvenor-created first Duke of Westminster a few years after completion of this painting, dated 1853, and one of the Turf’s most important patrons. His stud was a wellspring of some of the great Victorian champions, some of whom can be credited as linchpins of the dominant sire-lines of today. Sir Alfred Munnings is represented by one of the more unique offerings in the catalogue, with lot 60, Norman’s Rock, a pineboard box he painted for a friend, James Norman, a toffeemaker who sold his wares under the name of Norman’s Rock. On Saturday afternoons, Norman would wheel an old pine box fixed onto the wheels of a pram into town to sell the toffee. “One day he brought this vehicle to the studio, and I painted three pretty girls’ faces on one side with the lettered advertisement thus: `Eat Norman’s Rock and Grow Sweet,'” wrote Munnings in his autobiography. “On the other side I painted three old maids with sour faces and wrote: `Norman’s Rock Cures Sour People.'” The full catalogue can be accessed at thesportingartauction.com. The sixth Keeneland auction of Sporting Art takes place at the sales pavilion at 2 p.m. on November 18. View the full article

Kyoto Racecourse place host to the International Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, which was little known amongst European racegoers until Ed Dunlop sent the “great” Snow Fairy to take the contest in 2010 and 2011. The race was first run in 1976 and was initially the restricted to three ear old fillies, to form the final leg of the Fillies Triple Crown. Since 1997 the race has been open to older mares and has been won by four-year-olds on three of the last four occasions. It’s disappointing that we won’t get to see either filly triple-crown champion Almond Eye or the globe-trotting Deidre as they skip this for the Japan Cup and Hing Kong Cup respectively. Last season’s winner Mozu Katchan bids to land back to back victories and although the daughter of Harbinger hasn’t won in three starts since last year’s win, she ran well to finished third on the back of a five-month break when last seen. Trainer Ippo Sameshima recently said: “She worked in tandem up the hill last week. The ground was slow but her movement was good.” Lys Gracieux would a be a very popular/deserving winner as he is yet to make the breakthrough at Group 1 level but has finished runner-up on four occasions. She finished eighth in this contest twelve months but was hampered by a slow break and then ended up too far back in a tactical affair. Interestingly, seven of the last ten winners were landing their first Group 1 when winning this and Lys Gracieux could add to this record. Cantabile is one of the leading three-year-olds in the field and has only been out of the money once in seven career starts. The only time she ran poorly was in the Japanese Oaks and she showed her well-being when finishing third behind Almond Eye. She has to carry less weight than she did when last seen and she looks sure to run a big race. The final horse of real note is Red Genova who is very consistent and has earned herself a crack at a Group 1 for the first time. Last time out, she took on her first graded-stakes race in the Kyoto Daishoten and she is on an upward curve. Selection: Cantabile The post Queen Elizabeth II Cup Preview appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Clarity and consistency in the adjudication of North American racing is possible with a switch to the Category 1 philosophy, says a new white paper released by the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation. Changing The Rules, the 24-page white paper available for download here, discusses the two adjudication systems currently in place in the world; Category 1, which every country in the world uses with the exception of the U.S. and Canada, and Category 2, which is used in North America. According to the definition from the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities, Category 2 jurisdictions are: “Countries whose Rules provide that if the interferer is guilty of causing interference and such interference has affected the result of the race then the interferer is placed behind the sufferer irrespective of whether the sufferer would have finished in front of the interferer had the incident(s) not occurred.” In contrast, Category 1 jurisdictions are those where: “If, in the opinion of the Staging Authority’s relevant judicial body, a horse or its rider causes interference and finishes in front of the horse interfered with but irrespective of the incident(s) the sufferer would not have finished ahead of the horse causing the interference, the judge’s placings will remain unaltered.” “This issue reaches across so many constituencies,” said TIF Executive Director Patrick Cummings. “Racing stakeholders in North America, and particularly horseplayers, yearn for a more consistent standard in race officiating. The stewards aren’t the problem, they are simply interpreting and enforcing an interference philosophy that, by its very nature, yields inconsistent outcomes. “Our white paper presents a logical alternative to the current philosophy in place across North America. There is a path forward to adopt a new model rule which individual jurisdictions can accept, bringing an improved experience for the countless frustrated stakeholders of our great sport.” View the full article

Acclamation (GB), whose Breeders’ Cup-winning son Expert Eye (GB) enters stud at Banstead Manor Stud next year, will again stand for €40,000 at Rathbarry Stud in 2019. Expert Eye is Acclamation’s fifth Group 1 winner, and he has lofty footsteps to follow in at stud, with fellow Group 1-winning sons of Acclamation, Dark Angel (Ire) and Equiano (Fr), already making their marks. Rathbarry introduces James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}-Whazzat {GB}, by Daylami {Ire}) at €7,000. James Garfield won the G2 Mill Reef S. at two and defeated Expert Eye on seasonal debut this year in the G3 Greenham S. Rathbarry’s other flat sires are Kodi Bear (Ire) (€6,000), Moohaajim (Ire) (€3,000) and Tagula (Ire) (€4,000). View the full article

15:00 Wincanton – Elite Hurdle (Grade 2) The Elite Hurdle was established in 1992 with the inaugural running taking place at Cheltenham, before switching to its current home in 1994. The race, run over one mile and seven furlongs, has been won by the likes of Azertyuiop, Celestial Halo, Zarkander and Sceau Royal and is one of Wincanton’s biggest races of the jumps season. Verdana Blue was an impressive winner of the Matchbook VIP Hurdle at Kempton last month, coming clear from some decent rivals and winning by seven lengths despite being eased down towards the line. He looks to have bags of potential and is an exciting prospect for the season ahead, although this is a step back up in grade and he’s up against some decent rivals so this will be no walk in the park. If The Cap Fits is set to make his much-anticipated return to the track and in doing so will be putting his unbeaten run over hurdles to the test. Last seen winning at Kempton on Boxing Day in 2017, he has won on return from breaks in the past so the lay-off shouldn’t be too much of a concern, although he will likely have bigger targets later in the season so may not be given too hard a race today. We Have A Dream is unbeaten in five since joining Nicky Henderson and was last seen winning a Grade 1 race at Aintree in April, beating the likes of Apple’s Shakira and Malaya. He is again partnered with Daryl Jacob who has been in the saddle for each of the five above-mentioned victories and has won this race three times since 2011. Another who runs well fresh, he is versatile regarding conditions and is given the NAP treatment today. Redicean returned from his summer break with a decent second at Cheltenham at the end of October. He was no match for the winner but should come on for the run and looks the most likely of the remainder to get involved should any of the market principles falter. We Have A Dream (WIN) – NAP Aintree 12:25 – Robin Waters (WIN) 13:00 – Captain Drake (WIN) 13:35 – The Organist (WIN) 14:10 – Wholestone (WIN) 14:40 – Martiloo (E/W) *ITV 15:20 – McRoarty (WIN) 15:55 – Blazer’s Mill (WIN) Chelmsford 16:30 – Hanakotoba (WIN) 17:00 – True Belief (WIN) 17:30 – Aspire Tower (WIN) 18:00 – Elegiac (WIN) 18:30 – Green Fortune (WIN) 19:00 – Young John (WIN) 19:30 – Squire (WIN) Doncaster 11:45 – Proud Archi (E/W) 12:20 – Dragon Beat (WIN) 12:55 – Edgewood (WIN) 13:30 – Bona Fide (WIN) *ITV 14:05 – Hey Jonesy (E/W) *ITV 14:45 – Shady McCoy (WIN) 15:15 – Hochfield (E/W) *ITV 15:50 – Shallow Hal (WIN) Kelso 11:50 – Bodacious Name (WIN) 12:15 – Tayzar (WIN) 12:45 – Landecker (E/W) 13:20 – Jovial Joey (WIN) 13:55 – Halcyon Days (WIN) 14:30 – One Night In Milan (WIN) 15:05 – Troubled Soul (WIN) 15:40 – Animore (WIN) Naas 12:00 – Classic Concorde (E/W) 12:30 – Footpad (WIN) 13:05 – Mr Adjudicator (WIN) 13:40 – School Boy Hours (WIN) 14:15 – Peacocks Secret (WIN) 14:50 – Fitzhenry (WIN) 15:25 – Burren Life (E/W) 16:00 – Caravation (WIN) Wincanton 12:40 – Grand Sancy (WIN) 13:15 – Capeland (WIN) 13:50 – If You Say Run (WIN) *ITV 14:25 – Bags Groove (WIN) *ITV 15:00 – We Have A Dream (WIN) – NAP *ITV 15:35 – El Bandit (WIN) *ITV 16:10 – Espion (WIN) The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Saturday 10th November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

European Exports is a series where TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley catches up with people who have left their home countries to make a new life in the racing industry in America. Today, we kick off the series with Four Star Sales’s Tony Lacy. KR: Where are you originally from? TL: I’m from Ireland, County Offaly, which very few people have ever heard of unless you’re from there. KR: When did you move to America, and why did you decide to go there? TL: I came to America in 1994. I was actually in France working with Emmanuel Chevalier du Fau and I was just wrapping up things there. Beau Greely had become a good friend of mine over there, and he said, “Why don’t you come to the States and work for my dad?” A few months later I arrived at Wintergreen Farm in Midway, and that was my first experience of America. I’d had no real intention of coming to America in the beginning. France was an option that I had, and I did it, but then after coming to the States, I just fell in love with the place. KR: What do you miss most about Ireland? TL: Obviously family. I think the way of life in Ireland is cool and I think it’s something that you can’t replicate anywhere else. I think Kentucky, funnily enough, having so many Irish here, I think it replicates it probably closer than most places, because there are so many Irish people here and there is an ingrained culture that you can absorb yourself into. A lot of people may say food, but you can get it here now. The world’s small. {"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Tony Lacy: European Exports, with Kelsey Riley","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/298253100.sd.mp4?s=f6812012dc031aed2d55449c8969cc8f6b271691&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/281450037.sd.mp4?s=32d35ac734035791c9c8185a75c624d05695df60&profile_id=165","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"http:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"} KR: What do you think American racing can learn from Irish racing? TL: I think they treat it as a sport in Ireland more so than they do here. I think everybody looks at racing here and they want to see the bottom line; what’s your return on investment? And I think in Ireland it’s very much a sport, and I think we’ve lost that direction somewhat here because everyone is looking at betting, attendance. All of that is very important and it’s a critical part of racing, but I think everybody’s lost the fact that this is a sport. I’m not a gambler, and I see a lot of people that want to see how much money you made in every race, and I just enjoy racing. KR: Vice versa, what can Irish racing learn from America? TL: The focus on days like the Breeders’ Cup and the Kentucky Derby are just incredible. The hype is amazing, and I think that’s something that we can focus on with Irish Champions Day, which is gaining more traction, but probably could be improved on over time. KR: What was your biggest adjustment coming to America? TL: Frankly, coming here wasn’t that much of an adjustment. I think going to France was probably a far greater adjustment. Not only from a language standpoint, but cultural too. I think just having to be very open-minded as far as the different ways of doing things, and realizing that because you do it at home a certain way does not mean that it will work here. I think learning that you have to adjust yourself, and not allow yourself to be ingrained and very stubborn in your opinions. You have to be very open-minded, and I think that’s something that takes a little time. View the full article

It was nice to get a win last weekend with Raise A Spark and I was very happy to see Chti Balko run so well at Ayr on his seasonal debut. This weekend is going to be a relatively quiet one, as we continue to wait for the rain to arrive. It’s frustrating as I wanted to run more horses including Fin And Game but the ground is still too quick. So I have declared four runners in total, two head to Aintree and two are bound for Kelso on Saturday. Craig Star Track: Kelso – 12:45 Jockey: Brian Hughes He’s a very honest, little straightforward horse and we are quite fond of him, he’s owned by Richard Hales, the jockey agent and it’s a race he should have a chance in if he stays. He isn’t very big but he is consistent, honest an generally runs his race. William Of Orange Track: Aintree – 1:35 Jockey: Lorcan Murtagh “William” is probably handicapped on summer form and it’s getting tougher but the ground is still there at Aintree so we will go and take a punt and see what happens. He has two ways of running and until you put the saddle on, you don’t really know which way it will be. Saying that he’s already won three this year and I’d imagine this will be one of the final runs of his season. Viserion Track: Kelso – 2:30 Jockey: Brian Hughes He’s had a wind op since he last ran, he wants some nice ground and he has been a bit switched off and lazy in previous races. He’s run some good races but has also let us down on occasions and I’m hoping the wind op will help him as he has the ability to run well. Robbing The Prey Track: Aintree – 3:20 Jockey: Will Kennedy He is having his first run for us and looks like a nice type of horse, he wants some nice ground and is probably in between trips of 2 to 2 1/2 miles. Similar to a lot of the horses’ opportunities at the moment are quite limited, so we are going to Aintree to get him started for the season. I think he is going to find this very different to running in novice handicaps, with some seasoned two milers in opposition but he’s ready to get started and it was just a case of finding a sensible place to go. Best Chance: Craig Star The post Donald McCain’s Blog appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

G1 Prix Morny winner Unfortunately (Ire), the best son of the late Society Rock (Ire), will enter stud at Cheveley Park Stud next year at a fee of £7,500. “We are delighted to be standing ‘Rock’s Star’, Unfortunately, a very good-looking son of the much-missed Society Rock, who we feel ticks all the boxes for both owner-breeders and commercial breeders alike, being a Prix Morny winner in the second-fastest time in half a century,” said Cheveley Park Stud Manager Chris Richardson. “I feel our stallion roster for 2019 further strengthens the significant contribution Mr and Mrs Thompson make to the industry and they hope that breeders, at all levels, will support the great value and opportunities offered by the stallions standing at Cheveley Park Stud.” Unfortunately, who rounded out his career on Sept. 30 with a win in the G3 Renaissance S. at Naas, joins Dutch Art (GB) (private fee), Garswood (GB) (£3,500), Intello (Ger) (£20,000), Lethal Force (Ire) (£4,500), Mayson (GB) (£6,000), Pivotal (GB) (private), Twilight Son (GB) (£8,000) and Ulysses (Ire) (£17,500) at Cheveley Park Stud. View the full article

Wincanton plays host to the tracks biggest racing fixture of the season on Saturday, with lots of exciting prospects making the trip to the Somerset track in search of graded glory. Rising Stars Novice Chase This is the first graded race of the day and this early season contest has been won by some very big names, most notably Gold Cup winner See More Business (1996), the Grand National-winning Bindaree (2000) and multiple Grade 1 winner Silviniaco Conti. This year’s contest has attracted some exciting new recruits to chasing, with the Harry Fry-trained Bags Groove chief among these. The son of Oscar was a smart horse over hurdles and ended last season with a mark of 145, which should translate quite well to the larger obstacles. He came up just short o chasing/seasonal debut at Uttoxeter but made amends at Ffos Las last month. This form gives him leading claims but I would say, he is vulnerable to an improver. Paul Nicholls runs the talented Secret Investor and he is my idea of the winner, he competed against some high calibre horses last season including Gowiththeflow and Chef Des Obeaux. He has won his last three starts including a smooth victory in the Grade 2 Persian War at Chepstow on seasonal debut. That run was his first after a win op and it’s very interesting to see him go straight over fences following that run. Whatever happens on Saturday, Secret Investor is an exciting prospect with lots of options. The field is made up by Majestic Moll, Theligny and Full. Selection: Secret Investor If The Cap FitsElite Hurdle This has been won by some smart sorts and is one of the early season tests for possible Champion Hurdle contenders. Some previous winners of this Grade 2 affair include Celestial Halo (2009 & 2011) and Zarkandar (2012). Verdana Blue heads the market having already romped away from Old Guard in a listed hurdle at Kempton and winning on seasonal/flat debut in September. Nicky Henderson’s six-year-old son of Getaway has some good form to his name including a fourth place in Mares novice hurdle at Cheltenham behind Let’s Dance two seasons ago. He needs to take things to a new level this season if he wants to win this but these initial runs would suggest that he has and could be a force to be reckoned with. We Have A Dream represents a winning team of Henderson and Daryl Jacob! He is unbeaten since moving to Seven Barrows and won four on the bounce last season with the highlight coming at Chepstow when emerging victoriously in the Grade 1 Future Champions Juvinelle hurdle. It will be intriguing to see if he can continue the winning thread on Saturday and confirm that he has trained on. If The Cap Fits had an immaculate start to life over hurdles with victories at Exter, Bangor and finally Kempton, on his only three runs last season. He wasn’t ever asked a serious question on any of these starts and was one of the talking horses last season. However, injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season and the prospect of seeing him back in action is very exciting. If he resumes where he left off, then the opposition look in trouble Selection: If The Cap Fits Badger Ales Trophy This race has been an early-season target for Paul Nicholls, as the master of Ditcheath has been responsible for three of the last eight winners. Meanus Dandy(2010), The Minack(2011) and Present Man(2017). Many eyes will be on El Bandit who’s having his first start in 543 days and he was last seen running away with a novice chase at Warwick. This was his only start over fences so it’s very hard to asses his handicap mark but if he resumes where he left off then a mark of 139 may prove lenient. It’s another Nicholls’ inmate that tops the weights, Present Man won this last season off a mark of 142 under Bryony Frost. The pair reunite here twelve months on and given his very good record when fresh a repeat victory may be on the cards. Sam Red provided amateur rider, William Marshall, with a big win at Cheltenham last month and Dan Skelton keeps the faith with him for this even bigger prize. He has always promised to land a decent handicap having run so well last season. This blossoming partnership could surprise a few people on Saturday. Selection: Sam Red Rewards4Racing Handicap Chase ITV brings viewers one race from the home of the Grand National and it’s the lightly raced Hell’s Kitchen who looks set to start favourite for his valuable 2M 4F handicap chase. The Harry Fry-trained seven-year-old has only had eight career starts most notably when taking the scalp of Mister Whitaker in a novice chase at Kempton. He was last seen pulling up at Leopardstown but given natural progression, he must hold leading claims on seasonal debut. Romain De Senam will have plenty of supporters on his second start after a wind op and he brings some very good form to the race having been placed at the Cheltenham festival in 2016. Paul Nicholls’ charge ran very well in some top handicap chases last season without getting his head in front and I expect him to run well but come up slightly short. An interesting course and distance winner is the Pauline Robson trained Martiloo. The French-bred son of Martaline was a big improver last season, rarely running a bad race and ending the season 14 pounds higher. A slight negative is that he’s never won off the back of a break and will need to firing on all cylinders to win. Others to consider are the consistent King’s Odyssey and the Philip Hobbs’ trained War Sound. Favourite Royal LineNovember Handicap This 1M 4F handicap is the last big flat race on the final day of the British flat season. It has attracted some very nice types this year with last season’s winning combination of Ian Williams’ and Jim Crowley the logical starting point. They teamed up to land this with Saunter last season and are represented by Reshoun twelve months on. Reshoun had run just adequately all season but showed a real spike in form when putting a decent Haydock field to the sword back in September. This race has obviously been the target since that run and he has a live chance. John Gosden is the joint most winning trainer with five wins in the race and he is responsible for this year’s favourite Royal Line. The lightly raced son of Dubawi has won three of his six career starts and hasn’t been seen since winning an Epsom handicap in April. Gosden will be looking to take the record outright with this improving four-year-old. One of the more likely outsiders is the Kevin Ryan trained Erik The Red, who’s been running well all season without getting his head in front. He’s now only two pounds higher than his last winning mark which also came at Doncaster. The only negative is that he’s never won over a trip this far and he has to prove he stays. Even so, Erik The Red should be bang there at the finish line. Others to consider include Birds Of Prey who’s having the first run since a wind op, Now Children and the classy To Be Wild. Selection: Reshoun The post Saturday Preview – Fry To Find Winning Groove At Wincanton appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}-Exemplify {GB}, by Dansili {GB}), the winner of last weekend’s GI Breeders’ Cup Mile, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at owner/breeder Juddmonte Farms’s Banstead Manor Stud in 2019 at a fee of £20,000. Stud Director Simon Mockridge said, “We are delighted to announce the arrival of Expert Eye to Juddmonte Farms. He is the first British-trained winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile since 1994, further strengthening one of the most exciting young stallion rosters in Europe.” “This precocious, athletic and well-balanced colt is one of the best sons of Acclamation to race, winning a G2 Vintage S. that was described by Timeform as ‘arguably the most striking performance by a 2-year-old in a pattern race all year.’ That early talent was carried over into his 3-year-old season when he captured the G3 Jersey S. at Royal Ascot in scintillating fashion, winning by the largest margin this century [4 1/2 lengths].” “Expert Eye is a fourth-generation Juddmonte homebred whose pedigree boasts the presence of champion 2-year-old filly in Europe and dual Classic winner Special Duty and seven-time Grade I winner Sightseek. He is by Acclamation, a consistent and prolific source of fast horses and the sire of leading stallion Dark Angel. We would like to extend special thanks to Sir Michael Stoute and the teams at Freemason Lodge and Beech Hurst Stables for guiding and developing the career of Expert Eye with such skill.” Expert Eye joins Frankel (GB), who heads the roster at £175,000; Cartier Horse of the Year and exciting first-crop sire Kingman (GB) (£75,000, up from £55,000); perennial top sire Oasis Dream (GB) (£30,000); and Bated Breath (GB) (£10,000), at Banstead Manor. “Heading the Juddmonte roster is of course Frankel, who continues to rewrite the record books as a sire as well as a racehorse,” Mockridge said. “He reached the landmark total of 20 Northern Hemisphere group winners this year faster than any other European stallion in the history of the pattern. He has firmly established himself as one of the leading sires in the Northern Hemisphere, second only to his sire Galileo, by group winners (24) and black-type winners (33) from his 2014-2016 crops. 2018 saw him excel domestically and globally, finishing Royal Ascot as the leading sire and with new group winners in France, the U.S., Japan and Australia as well as the UK and Ireland. Highlights include his son Cracksman winning his second successive G1 Champion S. and 2-year-old group winner East coming second in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.” “Champion miler Kingman has made an exceptional start with his first crop, which has produced five stakes winners to date. Amongst their number is the brilliant Calyx, winner of the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot and fellow group winner Persian King. His yearlings continue to be well-received at the sales, with a 1,050,000 gns yearling at Tattersalls October Book 1 and the highest-priced colt to sell at Goffs Orby (€850,000) in 2018.” View the full article

Invincible Spirit (Ire), whose 19 stakes winners in 2018 include Group 1 winners Eqtidaar (Ire), Magna Grecia (Ire) and Royal Meeting (Ire), will remain at €120,000 at the Irish National Stud in 2019. Irish National Stud Chief Executive Officer Cathal Beale said, “Invincible Spirit once again proved he is the King of Speed with three individual Group 1 winners among 19 stakes winners in 2018. His fee will remain unchanged at €120,000. Alongside our flagbearer, our high-quality roster will be available at exceptional value. We have listened to breeders and our fees reflect the current market sentiment.” Invincible Spirit stands alongside the likes of three-time Group 1 winner Decorated Knight (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who heads into his second season at €12,000; his own Group 1-winning son National Defense (Ire) at €8,000 and G1 Prince of Wales’s S. winner Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) at €12,500. The roster is completed by Dragon Pulse (Ire) (€6,000), Elusive Pimpernel (Ire) (€1,000) and Gale Force Ten (GB) (€3,000). View the full article

Trainer Paul O’Sullivan will unveil one of his most exciting runners on Saturday with New Zealand galloper Smart Patch debuting in Hong Kong. The import has had just one start overseas but the ease of his five-length win has given O’Sullivan reason to be bullish about his future in Hong Kong as he prepares for his first start, some 10 months after his maiden win. The four-year-old was trained by O’Sullivan’s brother Lance before being moved to Hong Kong earlier this year... View the full article

Both the trainer and jockey of excitement machine Little Giant concede they are stepping into the unknown when they tackle Class One company for the first time in the Panasonic Cup (1,400m) on Saturday. The New Zealand import has been beaten just once in his injury-plagued four-start Hong Kong career but faces his toughest test yet as he progresses towards a possible Longines International Races tilt next month. Little Giant could not have been more impressive when returning from injury earlier... View the full article

Superstar jockey Joao Moreira will partner boom speedster Hot King Prawn in next weekend’s Group Two BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint at Sha Tin. Trainer John Size confirmed the booking of the Magic Man ahead of his five-pronged attack on the traditional lead-up race for the Group One Longines Hong Kong Sprint. Moreira is yet to ride Hot King Prawn, who boasts a record of eight wins and a second from nine starts, in a race, but he was aboard for his very first barrier trial at... View the full article

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale marched into Book 3 Thursday in Lexington with continued competitive bidding. Nine horses sold for $200,000 or over during the session, led by the 3-year-old broodmare prospect Saucy Dame (Distorted Humor) who sold to Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings for $320,000. Two weanlings topped the $200,000 mark, with a colt by Speightstown bringing the top foal price of the day when selling to Evergreen Stable for $285,000. In all, 259 horses sold Thursday at Keeneland for a total of $17,381,000. The session average was $67,108 and the median was $52,000. With 76 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 22.69%. “I think it’s great,” Tom VanMeter, whose VanMeter-Gentry Sales consigned the session topper, said of the market. “I don’t think it’s absolutely killer, but nice mares like [Saucy Dame] are selling. I’ve been trying to buy mares and getting shut out. And the weanlings are good. You walk up there, they are ferocious to buy them, if they are good. But we’ve bought a few. So we’re happy and we’re rocking on.” Bloodstock agent Chad Schumer, who sold the day’s second-highest priced weanling, said there were plenty of opportunities in Book 3 of the reformated November sale–which started with a single Book 1 session Monday. “I think this is Book 3, but it really feels like Book 2 to me,” he said. “Book 2 tends to have some soft spots because you’re transitioning from the very top of the market to the more middle of the market. So I try to work Book 2 pretty hard for that reason.” Through four sessions, 833 head have grossed $142,608,000 for an average of $171,198 and a median of $105,000. At this point in last year’s auction, which had a two-session Book 1 section, 660 horses had sold for $144,097,000. The average was $218,329 and the median was $130,000. The Keeneland November sale continues through Nov. 16 with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m. Nothing Like a Saucy Dame Saucy Dame (Distorted Humor) will be joining the broodmare band at Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet after selling for a session-topping $320,000 Thursday at Keeneland. The 3-year-old filly, who sold as a broodmare prospect, is a daughter of Storm Beauty (Storm Cat), a half-sister to champion Gold Beauty (Mr. Prospector). Saucy Dame is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Buffum (Bernardini) and graded stakes placed Stormy West (Gone West) and Renaissance Lady (A.P. Indy). “She was a Distorted Humor, who is a great broodmare sire, and she comes from a great female family,” Stonestreet’s John Moynihan said of the filly’s appeal. “It’s a great female family and all of the daughters from that family have produced. If this one goes on to produce horses like some of the other daughters have, we’ll be in good shape.” This wasn’t the first time Moynihan had purchased a member of the family at auction. “I actually bought her mother years ago as a yearling,” he said. Moynihan purchased Storm Beauty for $650,000 at the 1996 Keeneland July sale. The dark bay went on to win the 1998 Miss Preakness S. and Wilma C. Kennedy S. for Robert Lewis and trainer D. Wayne Lukas. The mare sold, in foal to A.P. Indy, to Brushwood Stable for $2.2 million at the 2004 Keeneland November sale. Saucy Dame (hip 1386) was consigned to Thursday’s sale by VanMeter-Gentry Sales as agent for Louise Lally’s Summerplace Farm. Summerplace purchased the chestnut filly for $200,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2016. She won two of nine starts for Summerplace and trainer Eddie Kenneally. “We are pleased with that result,” said Tom VanMeter. “She is a breeder’s mare. We put her back here [in Book 3] for a reason. We wanted her to stand out and I think she did. She had 100 shows–100 shows is pretty impressive for a mare.” Summerplace Farm sold 2017 GI Ashland S. winner Sailor’s Valentine (Mizzen Mast) (hip 177) for $800,000 during Monday’s first session of the November sale. Speightstown Colt to Partnership A colt by Speightstown was the highest-priced weanling, and second highest-priced lot overall, of Thursday’s fourth session of the Keeneland November sale when selling for $285,000. The weanling is out of the unraced Magical Dream (Malibu Moon), a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Dream Rush (Wild Rush). Dream Rush is the dam of Grade I winner Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy) and the speedy Atreides (Medaglia d’Oro), both of whom were bred and raced by Stonestreet Stables. The operation’s John Moynihan signed the ticket on hip 1282 in the name of Evergreen Stable. “I bought him for a partnership,” Moynihan said. “He may be resold and he may be raced, we’ll just see.” The weanling was consigned by St. George Sales on behalf of breeder Bonnie Baskin’s Blue Heaven Farm. “It’s a great price and he is going to great owners,” Archie St. George said after watching the colt sell. “I wish them the best of luck. Hopefully we will see him down the road and that is the important part. Credit goes to the breeder; they do a very good job. The price exceeded expectations.” Blue Heaven Farm purchased Magical Dream, in foal to Pioneerof the Nile, for $210,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale. The colt she was carrying at the sale returned to bring $300,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. The mare’s More Than Ready colt sold to Spendthrift Farm for that same price this past August at Saratoga. Magical Dream was bred to Candy Ride (Arg) this year. Bachman Restocks Tom Bachman of Fairview was at the Keeneland November sale looking to restock his broodmare band. Before heading for the airport for a flight home to California, the breeder bid $230,000 to secure the 9-year-old Harbor Mist (Rockport Harbor), in foal to Frosted, from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. “She’s a young mare and I think Frosted is going to be a nice sire,” Bachman said. “We’ll breed her to a horse in California and make that [in utero foal] a Cal-bred.” The stakes-winning Harbor Mist (hip 1228) is out of Jaramar Miss (Risen Star) and is a half-sister to graded stakes placed Jaramar Rain (Thunder Gulch). The mare, then in foal to Speightstown, was purchased by WinStar Farm for $410,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. In foal to Distorted Humor, she RNA’d for $270,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. Fairview was represented by three of the top five lots during the final Barretts August Select Yearling Sale three months ago, led by a $230,000 son of Square Eddie. The farm topped the 2017 edition of the sale with a $300,000 filly by Bodemeister. Both yearlings are out of Bachman’s mare North Freeway (Jump Start), who also produced multiple stakes winner Take the One O One (Acclamation). “My broodmare band is getting up in average age, so I’m trying to drop it down,” Bachman explained. “So that’s what this mare is going to do. I bought a Malibu Moon mare earlier and she is going to be in the same program.” Bachman purchased Moon River Gal (Malibu Moon) (hip 487) for $270,000 at Keeneland Wednesday. He agreed the market for mares was tough in Lexington this week. “A young, good-looking mare who is bred right is very tough to buy,” Bachman said. “I was an underbidder four times yesterday, so it’s tough. But it’s getting thin now, so what is going to happen is everybody is going to focus on the same ones. The nice mares and pedigrees, everyone is going to be on the same ones.” Flatter Colt a Score for Schumer, Burke Chad Schumer saw a golden opportunity at Keeneland last January and struck, purchasing Vegas Trip (Aldebaran), in foal to Flatter, for $23,000. The mare’s Flatter colt (hip 1474), co-bred with Glidawn Stud’s Gerry Burke, returned to the Keeneland sales ring Thursday and rewarded the investment when selling for $200,000 to deMeric Stables. “The mare is a half-sister to two graded stakes winners and she had a good produce history,” Schumer said of the 10-year-old mare’s appeal. “Her previous Flatter had sold very well to a great judge in Mike Ryan. So at that price, I couldn’t resist.” Out of group-placed Nawal (Fr) (Homme de Loi {Ire}), Vegas Trip is a half-sister to Grade I winner Mast Track (Mizzen Mast) and Group 1 winner Jemayel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Ryan paid $70,000 for the weanling’s full-brother at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. “He was absolutely lovely when he was born, but he kind of went through an awkward stage and we weren’t entirely sure we were going to bring him here,” Schumer admitted of the weanling. “But he really came on the past three weeks, I mean unbelievably strong. So he is definitely headed in the right direction. And his half-brother, an Into Mischief, sold for $270,000 to Chad Brown [at this year’s Keeneland September sale]. That really encouraged us to go on.” Vegas Trip was bred back to Lea this spring and Schumer said of her, “Another client has the mare, so it’s still in the family.” Of his operation, Schumer explained, “We always dabble a little bit here and there with partnerships. We have been buying for clients for a long time and sometimes we take a leg here and there and we’ve done some breeding partnerships with some of the other consignors.” Burke has been buying weanlings at Keeneland to pinhook in his native Ireland for two decades, but he enjoyed two sales successes in Lexington Thursday. In addition to the Flatter colt, Burke sold a colt from the first crop of GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz for $140,000 as the first horse through the ring in Book 3. He had purchased the weanling’s dam, with the colt in utero, for $36,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale. “We’ve become very good friends and he’s seen what I’ve done and he said, ‘I want a leg of a mare here or there, too,'” Schumer said of Burke. The partners did experience some of the lows of the sales game Thursday, as well, when forced to scratch hip 1196. “We had a beautiful Flintshire (GB) filly in today as well, but we had to scratch her because she got sick,” Schumer said. “That was a bit of a blow. Three weeks ago, I would not have thought [the Flatter colt] would have made the sale and I was sure she would shine. And it flipped. That’s the vagaries of doing this.” Upstart Colt a Career Score for Wente Longtime Indiana breeder Tommy Wente decided to make a change some four years ago and, along with partners Shane and Calvin Crain, leased St. Simon Place and set about setting up a commercial broodmare band on the 380-acre Lexington farm. The new program enjoyed its biggest success to date when a colt from the first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Upstart sold for $195,000 to Clear Ridge Stables Thursday at Keeneland. “When he was born, he was just a knock out from day one,” Wente said of hip 1256, who was co-bred with Scott Stephens. “He was very, very correct and very pretty. He was a pretty colt with a beautiful walk and a beautiful neck.” Of breeding to a first-season sire, Wente said, “I think you can find value because no one has them. They haven’t been on the track, so they can’t ding them on anything. So if you get a good-looking first-year baby, people are willing to take chances. But when you get on that bubble year, when those horses are starting to go to the track, we back off of them. Because it’s hard to make a stallion. A lot of them don’t make it, so you kind of want to stay away from those years. We did well with the first-year studs because you can’t really get hurt and you don’t have to put a whole lot of money into them.” Of Thursday’s result, Wente admitted, “It’s kind of surreal because he was the most expensive horse I’ve ever sold. We just basically got into this. We leased this farm about four years ago.” Wente continued, “I was an Indiana guy–I was breeding these cheap Indiana-breds and I was just not going anywhere. It’s just the same old stuff and you can’t make any money and you’re kind of stuck in a rut. So when I was offered a chance to come over here, it was either now or never because I was 45 or 46 at the time. I wasn’t getting any younger and you kind of know where you want to be, but you’ve just got to get there. We leased the farm and then we had to start from scratch.” The St. Simon Place broodmare band currently numbers 15 head, plus an additional handful of mares owned in partnerships. Wente is looking to improve the farm’s bloodstock little by little over the next several years. “We want to jump up our program every year,” he said. “So we started at the bottom and we are trying to jump our program up. This year’s babies are going to be from higher stud fees and next year’s are going to go up a little bit more.” Joyous Music is an example of that philosophy. The 10-year-old mare is currently in foal to Violence and is booked back to Street Sense. View the full article

Edited Press Release Thoroughbred Charities of America is pleased to announce the winner of the Sixth Annual TCA Youth Essay Contest. Kaelyn Penick, 18, of Appomattox, Va. has been named the winner of the contest. The contest was open to recipients of services, volunteers, supporters or anyone, 18 years of age or younger, that has been impacted by an organization that received a grant from TCA in 2018. To participate, contestants submitted an essay containing a minimum of 300 words and a maximum of 600 words, describing how a TCA grant recipient has affected his or her life. Penick wrote about her experience at War Horses at Rose Bower, a Thoroughbred aftercare organization that provides rehabilitation, retraining, rehoming, and retirement services to Thoroughbreds. The organization will receive a grant of $1,000 for Penick’s essay. Read her essay here. “We greatly appreciate all of the essay submissions,” said Erin Crady executive director of TCA. “Each essay conveyed a personal narrative of the author’s experience with our grant recipients. We congratulate Kaelyn on her winning essay and applaud War Horses at Rose Bower for their continued good work.” View the full article

Beginning in 2019, NBC Sports will expand its horse racing programming by partnering with Churchill Downs on a new magazine-style series while adding two prep races to its previous schedule. The ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ series will debut next spring leading up to NBC’s coverage of the 145th Run for the Roses. NBC Sports Network will debut the first of four 30-minute Road to the Kentucky Derby episodes, showcasing the stars of the 2019 3-year-old crop and describing the stories behind the horses. Keith Wetzler, executive producer of broadcast at Churchill Downs, will produce the series. In addition, NBC Sports will add the $1-million GII Louisiana Derby and the $1-million GI Arkansas Derby to its lineup of 2019 Triple Crown prep races on NBCSN next spring. The first episode of the new Road to the Kentucky Derby series will debut following the Louisiana Derby on March 23. View the full article

Officials at Breeders’ Cup Limited announced Thursday that there were no positive findings for prohibited substances among the 289 horses tested both pre- and post-race at this year’s world championships at Churchill Downs Nov. 2 and 3. Out-of-competition (OOC) testing of horses that had won Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ races and other targeted possible starters in championship races both in North America and overseas began in June and continued right through Breeders’ Cup weekend. Breeders’ Cup engages an OOC testing coordinator, William Farmer, DVM who worked with regulatory associations and with testing laboratories around the world, including the British Horse Racing Authority’s Lab LGC, France Galop’s official Lab LCH and the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California-Davis. All three labs are certified by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The executive council of the IFHA also specifically endorsed the updated protocols of the Breeders’ Cup which were put in place in advance of last year’s World Championships. Some 94% (180/191) of the horses entered for Breeders’ Cup weekend were sampled in three European and 10 North American jurisdictions a minimum of one time, with some runners having been subjected to multiple sampling. Through pre-race testing, 85 of 90 individual trainers that were represented at the Breeders’ Cup had at least one horse sampled. Additionally, all horses underwent pre-race testing for total carbon dioxide (TCO2) levels in blood. Industrial Laboratories then conducted post-race testing of both blood and urine samples for prohibited drugs, including cobalt, collected from the first four finishers in all Breeders’ Cup races and any additional random horses selected by the stewards consistent with KHRC protocols. The program tested for anabolic steroids, blood doping agents and growth hormones, among others. “We would like to extend our gratitude for the cooperating racing jurisdictions here and abroad and to the participating horsemen who cooperate fully in the Breeders’ Cup out of competition testing program” said Dora Delgado, Breeders’ Cup Senior Vice President of Racing and Nominations. “This comprehensive testing program ensures that a level playing field is provided to all participants and continues the expansion of our world class programs of safety, integrity and security for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships event.” View the full article

Maximus puts Korea behind with brilliant comeback win View the full article

First Group win for Ben Thompson, quinella for Brown in EW Barker View the full article

Nowyousee gives them some sight again View the full article

All Thrusters on in Saas Fee Stakes View the full article