Wandering Eyes

THE HEAVENS have opened and heavy showers have changed the track conditions at Flemington for the 158th running of the Melbourne Cup. View the full article

MELBOURNE Cup Day has arrived, with the great race set to begin at 3pm AEDT. View the full article

Tiffany’s Honour (Street Cry {Ire}–Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister) reeled in a $2.2 million final bid from Northern Farm at Keeneland Monday. Consigned by Lane’s End Farm, the half sister to GI Belmont S. winners Rags to Riches and Jazil was bred by Southern Equine Stables. Offered as hip 221, she is believed in foal to Medaglia d’Oro. View the full article

ROSTROPOVICH is the million-dollar ticket in the Melbourne Cup for Tom Waterhouse, who backed the Irish lightweight on Monday. View the full article

PUNTERS are trying to sort out what looms as an intriguing Melbourne Cup for 2018. View the full article

NO time to do the Melbourne Cup form? Check out our five minute guide with likes/dislikes and verdict on the full field plus a trifecta tip! View the full article

Perhaps under the radar in the hustle and bustle of Breeders’ Cup Friday was the maiden-breaking score by the 2-year-old Jack Van Berg (To Honor and Serve) in the second race on championship weekend. The colt is owned by Mike Waters’ Muddy Waters Stables and is trained by Tom Van Berg, son of the late Hall of Fame trainer for whom the horse is named. “It was surreal,” Waters said of the victory. “I’ve been going to the races for 40 years, but I never experienced anything like that. It was inexplicable. There were people crying, but I was laughing. I was just overcome with joy.” A lifelong racing fan, Waters has been a racehorse owner for just about five years now. He is in the commercial flooring business and is based in Seattle, where he hooked up with trainer Mike Puhich. It was Puhich who introduced Waters to Jack Van Berg. “Alysheba was my favorite horse,” Waters recalled. “I was at Oaklawn and Mike Puhich told me he wanted to introduce me to someone, but I didn’t know who. He asked me who my favorite horse was and I said, ‘Alysheba.’ Jack winked at me and said, ‘Come on in.'” Waters added with a laugh, “It was all down hill from there. We claimed a horse together the very next day. I got to be very close with Jack. He always said we would win the Kentucky Derby together.” Waters and bloodstock agent Christina Jelm were shopping at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale where they purchased a colt by To Honor and Serve for $28,000. “I was at Keeneland and Jack was there buying horses for other clients,” Waters said. “I told him I wanted to name a horse after him. We bought this horse and I showed him to Jack and asked, ‘What about this one?’ and he said, ‘He looks like a winner to me.’ So three weeks later, I was at Keeneland and got him to sign the papers and sent them into The Jockeys Club. It was all approved of by Jack.” Van Berg passed away two months later. His equine namesake made his first two racetrack appearances in stakes company at Emerald Downs for Puhich, including a runner-up effort in the W.T.B.O.A Lads S. “The plan was always to send him to Tom, but these stakes popped up at Emerald Downs and we decided to take a chance,” Waters said. “But it didn’t seem right not to have the horse with a member of the family.” The 2-year-old colt joined the Churchill-based barn of Tom Van Berg in October and made his first start for the outfit last Friday. Let go at 14-1, the bay went wire-to-wire and scored by two lengths (video). “It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly, to have him win on the undercard of the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs and to do it so easily.” Waters said. “It was perfect.” The victory was part of a two-win day for Tom Van Berg, who came back to win the next race on the card with Casino Star (Flatter). With the maiden victory, Jack Van Berg may have earned himself a start in Churchill’s Stars of Tomorrow II card Nov. 24, but Waters said no definite decisions have been made. “We’ll let the horse tell us when he’s ready,” Waters, sounding like the late trainer he so admires, said. View the full article

FORMER champion jockey and 15-times Group 1 winner Simon Marshall gives us his insights into all the runners in the 2018 Melbourne Cup. View the full article

Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Accelerate, runner-up Gunnevera, Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Monomoy Girl, and Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible are all strong possibilities to compete in the Pegasus World Cup (G1). View the full article

FORMER champion jockey and 15-times Group 1 winner Simon Marshall gives us his insights into all the runners in the 2018 Melbourne Cup. View the full article

IT’S three-and-a-bit minutes of drama and intrigue, a torrid, gut-busting test of horse and rider. View the full article

With 22 racing days producing $206.7 million in overall pari-mutuel handle, all sources average daily handle was up 7% compared with last year. View the full article

A colt from the first crop of Derby hero Australia (GB) topped the first day of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale at €52,000. The bay (lot 163), consigned by Shanaville Stables, was purchased by Mags O’Toole and is out of a half-sister to G3 Prix Chloe heroine Sparkling Beam (Ire) (Nayef). The highest price for a filly and second highest yearling overall was a bay filly by Showcasing (GB). Hailing from the draft of Nafferty Stud, BBA Ireland went to €45,000 for lot 244, whose dam is a half-sister to MSW & G1SP Runaway (GB) (King’s Best) from the family of champion Dancing Brave (Lyphard) and MG1SW Jolypha (Lyphard). Of the 255 yearlings offered, 149 (58%) sold, good for an aggregate of €8,622,150. Both the average of €5,786 (-21%) and the median at €3,200 (-36%) dropped compared to last year’s numbers. The sale continues on Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time. View the full article

ALL eyes are on the skies as heavy showers threaten to change conditions at Flemington for the 158th running of the Melbourne Cup. View the full article

At Keeneland Monday, Hip 147, My Miss Sophia (Unbridled’s Song–Wildwood Flower, by Langfuhr) drew a $4 million final bid from agent Steve Young, who also previously signed the ticket on her half brother, GI Florida Derby winner Materiality (Afleet Alex). Trainer Todd Pletcher signed for the $260,000 KEESEP yearling in 2012 and she went on to win at the Grade II level for the trainer, in addition to finishing runner up in the GI Kentucky Oaks. She subsequently sold to Reynolds Bell Jr. for $2.15 million at Fasig Tipton November in 2014. The John Gunther bred is in foal to War Front. 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. Tuesday’s Insights features a ‘TDN Rising Star’. 12.15 Redcar, Cond, £7,000, 2yo, 7fT Lady Bamford’s homebred KING OF COMEDY (IRE) (Kingman {GB}) has not been seen since attaining ‘TDN Rising Star’ status in his July 6 debut over this trip at Sandown. Kin to G1 Prix de Diane heroine Star of Seville (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) and GSW G1 Fillies’ Mile third English Ballet (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the John Gosden trainee’s 15 rivals include Sheikh Nasser Al Khalifa and Sheikh Duaij Al Khalifa’s once-raced Asad (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who is a George Peckham-trained son of MGSW G1 Irish Oaks, G1 Yorkshire Oaks, G1 Pretty Polly S. and G1 Nassau S. placegetter Venus de Milo (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}); and Mohammed Al Nabouda’s hitherto unraced Turntable (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who is out of stakes-placed G1 Fillies’ Mile fourth Masarah (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), from the Simon Crisford stable. View the full article

Buoyed by Sunday’s closing-day Rainbow Pick 6 pool of nearly $8 million, Santa Anita posted increases in both on-track and all-sources handle for its 22-day Autumn Meet. Overall handle totaled $206.7 million for the stand, accounting for a 7% hike in average daily handle from last year. Of that total, $23.7 million was wagered on-track, a 3% increase per day over 2017. Last year’s meet, which spanned 19 days, totaled $167.3 million in all-sources handle and $19.8 million in on-track take. Flavien Prat, who swept the closing day graded stakes aboard Vasilika (Skipshot) in the GII Goldikova S. and River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in the GII Twilight Derby, topped the meet’s rider standings with 20, two better than resurgent Rafael Bejarano. Jerry Hollendorfer and Peter Miller tied for the trainer’s title with 15 wins apiece, one clear of Doug O’Neill’s 14. View the full article

Members of the International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Federation unanimously voted against the use of artificial breeding methods in Thoroughbreds at the General Meeting of the 2018 ITBF Conference Nov. 1 in Lexington. The agreement reaffirms the federation’s long held stance against such processes including (but not restricted to), artificial insemination, embryo transfer, cloning, sexing of sperm, genetic engineering/manipulation. The meeting, attended by representatives of 16 ITBF member countries on five continents, was part of a wider program of events hosted by the Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder Association. Delegates discussed global trends in the Thoroughbred breeding industry, particularly the polarization of the market at sales, the aging demographic of breeders, race prize money levels and racehorse ownership numbers. The ‘middle market’ was discussed by a panel of leading industry figures; Geoffrey Russell (Keeneland), Terence Collier (Fasig-Tipton), Brian Graves (Gainesway), and Pete Bradley (Bradley Thoroughbreds), whilst the success of the Retired Racehorse Project in the U.S. was shared in a presentation by Jen Roytz. A similar presentation was made by the French delegates, who introduced Au delà des Pistes, their official charity for the promotion of retraining racehorses. There was also a full-day veterinary session featuring discussions on equine infectious diseases, the importance of biosecurity measures, EHV vaccine development and genomics research. “The 2018 ITBF Conference was a distinct success,” ITBF Chairman Kirsten Rausing commented. “We have built on the developments from the last conference in South Africa and continue to be united in our passion for the long term health of the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry around the world.” View the full article

Female Turf champion Lady Eli (Divine Park), in foal to leading sire War Front, secured a $4.2 million final bid at Monday’s initial session of the Keeneland November sale. John Sikura, whose Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency consigned the 6-year-old, signed the sale’s ticket on hip 111. Out of Sacre Coeur (Saint Ballado), the bay is a half sister to multiple graded winner Bizzy Caroline (Afleet Alex). The five-time Grade I winner was bred by Runnymede Farm and Catesby Clay. View the full article

Trainer J. Willard Thompson, a Monmouth Park mainstay for more than 50 years, passed away Saturday night after a lengthy illness. He was 83. Born in Atlanta, Ga. in 1935, Thompson got his start in racing as a steeplechase rider before switching to training in the early 1960s. He dominated the New Jersey racing scene in the 1970s, winning three consecutive training titles at Monmouth Park from 1975-1977 and two at the Meadowlands. After a more than 20-year hiatus, Thompson again captured the 2001 Monmouth title. “It’s very hard to imagine Monmouth Park, and racing, without Willard,” said John F. Heims, Monmouth’s racing secretary. “I’ve had the privilege of calling Willard my friend for nearly 20 years. He was kind and generous to everyone in this sport and his passing is a tremendous loss for our industry.” From 17,863 starters, Thompson won 2,137 races and earned $30.5 million in purses. With his longtime assistant, Sergio “Victor” Rabadan, Thompson’s most recent starter as a trainer was Snowday Oct. 26 at Laurel and the most recent starter for his Quiet Winter Farm was Arnold Ziffle, who finished third at Laurel just a few hours before Thompson’s passing. Thompson was predeceased by his wife Carol, an accomplished equestrian, in 2013. He is survived by his sons Glenn and Stewart, his daughter Julia and nine grandchildren: Julia, Parker, McKenzie, Wyatt, Mizuki, Taylor, Landon, Shelby and Bradyn. A celebration of his life will be held next spring to coincide with the opening of Monmouth Park’s 2019 racing season. View the full article

Key to My Heart (Ire), by Galileo (Ire) and out of Grade I winner A Z Warrior (Bernardini), realized a final bid of $1.75M from Summer Wind Farm at the opening session of the Keeneland November Monday. Offered as Hip 105, the 4-year-old filly was consigned by Eaton Sales, agent. She was bred by Triermore Stud. View the full article

Thompson dominated the New Jersey racing scene in the 1970s. He enjoyed a revival of his racing career in the early 2000s, after taking a 20-year hiatus. He captured the Monmouth trainer's title in 2001 with record earnings of $1.6 million. View the full article

You’ll hardly need me to tell you that Saturday was a historic day for Juddmonte Farms, with Prince Khalid Abdullah’s colours being carried to victory in two of the main Breeders’ Cup events. Thanks to Expert Eye in the Mile and Enable in the Turf, Juddmonte has now had seven Breeders’ Cup winners with five of them being products of the Prince’s European operation (the two exceptions are Arrogate, who landed the 2016 Classic, and Ventura, winner of the Filly & Mare Sprint. I still believe Juddmonte’s total should stand at eight. Dansili–a brother to the Filly & Mare Turf winners Banks Hill and Intercontinental–had to be considered an unlucky loser of the millennium Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs. Although he produced a sensational stretch run, having been last but one with only a quarter of a mile to run, he was still a neck adrift at the line. I feared history was about to repeat itself with Expert Eye–whose dam is by Dansili–but his turn of foot helped him avenge his broodmare sire’s defeat. The pedigrees of Saturday’s winners must have made their victories even more pleasurable for their owner-breeder. Prince Khalid bred Enable and her first three dams, Concentric, Apogee and Bourbon Girl, in the space of 31 years, He had acquired the dual Arc winner’s fourth dam Fleet Girl with the purchase of Dr. Schnapka’s Ferrans Stud in 1982. Enable was previously responsible for some significant milestones for Juddmonte. When she gained the first of her seven Group 1 victories in the Oaks, she became the 25th Classic winner bred by Juddmonte and also notched up the 200th Group 1 win by a Juddmonte-bred horse. Even so, there are reasons for the Prince to be even prouder of Expert Eye. Take a look at the bottom half of the colt’s pedigree and you will see that all seven horses in the first three generations are Juddmonte homebreds, including some of the most accomplished in the farm’s history. Credit for the seven goes mainly to the American farm, which bred four of the seven, including Expert Eye’s second dam Quest To Peak and her parents Distant View and Viviana. The colt’s dam Exemplify had a big reputation by the time she made her debut over a mile at Deauville in August 2010 in the Prix des Marettes, a newcomers’ race with a reputation for throwing some very good fillies. The daughter of Dansili started odds on and justified the support, winning under a hand ride. By then she was considered the best of Criquette Head-Maarek’s 2-year-old fillies. This was quite a compliment, as the others included Helleborine, who was winning for the third time when she handed out a five-length defeat to Immortal Verse in the G3 Prix d’Aumale. Unfortunately, neither filly thrived at three, when the Head yard was virus affected for part of the year, but each of them has justified her high reputation by producing a high-class colt, Helleborine being the dam of the exciting Calyx. One fascinating link between the pedigrees of Expert Eye and Enable is that both feature some close inbreeding. Whereas Enable is inbred 3 x 2 to the great Sadler’s Wells, Expert Eye’s third dam Viviana is inbred 2 x 3 to the great Northern Dancer, the sire of Sadler’s Wells. Before everyone starts to consider such close inbreeding, I should point out that Prince Khalid has resorted to this strategy only sparingly, but with some marked success. It is perhaps more than coincidence that Sadler’s Wells’s three-parts-brother Nureyev featured in the close inbreeding to Northern Dancer. Skimming, a dual winner of the GI Pacific Classic and earner of nearly $2.3 million, was sired by Nureyev from a daughter of Lyphard and was therefore inbred 2 x 3. When Nureyev was mated to Nijinsky II’s daughter Nijinsky Star, she produced the sisters Viviana and Willstar. These sisters had every right to be special as their dam Nijinsky Star had the distinction of being a daughter of two varieties of Triple Crown winners in Nijinsky II and Chris Evert, winner of the New York Fillies’ Triple Crown. Both Willstar and Viviana became Grade I producers and their influence is still felt in the Juddmonte broodmare band. Willstar is best known as the dam of Etoile Montante, a classic-placed winner of the G1 Prix de la Foret who also did well in California. Etoile Montante in turn produced Starformer, a Grade II and Grade III winner who looks set to add further glory to this branch of the family. On Oct. 20, Starformer’s War Front colt Flavius won the Trigo S. in a style which suggests he will hold his own at group level next year, and three days later Starformer’s 2-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt Tankerville shaped like a Classic contender when he made a winning debut at Gowran Park. Expert Eye is the fourth Grade I winner descending from Viviana, a dual listed winner over a mile and a quarter in France. She had strong claims to be considered for the Kentucky Broodmare of the Year title in 2003, when her second and third foals rampaged through several of the USA’s top prizes for fillies and mares. Tates Creek, Viviana’s daughter by Rahy, enjoyed Grade I success in the Yellow Ribbon S. and the Gamely Breeders’ Cup H. to take her overall record to 11 wins from 17 starts, for earnings approaching $1.5 million. Even so, Tates Creek was outdone by Viviana’s next foal, Distant View’s daughter Sightseek. Having won four Grade Is in 2003, Sightseek was kept in training at five, when she added another three top-level successes and boosted her earnings to nearly $2.5 million. Oddly, neither Tates Creek nor Sightseek has so far come close to matching Viviana’s success as a broodmare but there is still time for a few last-ditch efforts. Tates Creek has a yearling colt by Frankel and is again in foal to him, while Sightseek has a 2015 Tapit filly called Chamber who was a wide-margin winner at Belmont Park on her second start in late-September. As sometimes happens, Sightseek has been totally overshadowed as a broodmare by a sister who achieved a lot less. Indeed this sister, Quest To Peak, was unplaced on her only start in the U.S. (despite showing very decent ability in her work). She was transferred to Europe after conceiving her first foal, a filly by Hennessy. That daughter of Hennessy was Special Duty, who is doomed to be remembered as probably the only horse ever to win two Classics in the stewards’ room. Coincidentally, both the fillies who were demoted in her favour have done well as broodmares. Jacqueline Quest, who was moved down to second in the G1 1000 Guineas, is the dam of Line of Duty, winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for Godolphin. And Liliside, who was demoted to sixth in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, is the dam of the Japanese group winner Lys Gracieux, who failed by a nose to win this year’s G1 Victoria Mile. It is worth reminding everyone that Special Duty had been an excellent 2-year-old, good enough to defeat Siyouni in the G2 Prix Robert Papin and to win the G1 Cheveley Park S. after a narrow defeat in the G1 Prix Morny. She has been switched from the American broodmare team and is now in foal to Galileo. Quest To Peak’s second foal is Expert Eye’s dam Exemplify, who–like many a mare from the Danehill line–has plenty of size and strength. I was once asked at a lunch why Exemplify had been sent to Acclamation, as the questioner considered the Rathbarry stalwart an untypical stallion to be used by Juddmonte. In fact the top two choices for Exemplify in 2014 were Acclamation and his son Dark Angel. Acclamation got the vote on the grounds of conformation, as he is medium-sized at 16 hands and he isn’t heavily built for a sprinter. It was therefore hoped that he could inject quality into Exemplify, while reinforcing the family’s speed, which Special Duty had demonstrated so well. Acclamation had already shown promise with Dansili’s daughters. One of his first foals bred this way was Lasilia, who contested the G2 Queen Mary S. before being placed in a couple of five-furlong listed races. Acclamation’s next winner out of a Dansili mare was the useful sprinter Direct Times, but his successes came after Expert Eye’s conception. Acclamation has also enjoyed Group 1 success with Aclaim, the Prix de la Foret winner whose dam is by Danehill’s Australian-bred son Danroad. View the full article

THE biggest three minutes of the year are on the way - and we’re all counting down to 3pm when 24 horses will make the 3200-metre dash towards immortality in 2018’s edition of the Melbourne Cup. Follow live below! View the full article

Anthony Oppenheimer’s Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}–Rhadegunda {GB}, by Pivotal {GB}), who ran out an authoritative winner in the G1 QIPCO Champion S. in his final start in October, will stand for £25,000 at Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket. The John Gosden trainee wracked up four Group 1 wins during his career and took his first Champion S. title in 2017. He added this spring’s G1 Prix Ganay and the June 1 Coronation Cup and retires to Dalham Hall with an 11-8-2-1 record and $3,692,311 in earnings. Cracksman will be joined by MG1SWs Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}–Beatrix Potter {Ire}, by Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), who will stand for £20,000 and Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy–Trensa, by Giant’s Causeway). The latter will command £7,500. In Ireland, MG1SW and sprinter Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}–Mike’s Wildcat, by Forest Wildcat) is slated to stand for €8,000. Rounding out the new recruits at Darley in 2019 is proven stayer and G1SW Cloth Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}–Strawberry Fledge, by Kingmambo). The Andre Fabre trainee will stand for €7,500 at Darley’s French arm, Haras du Logis. More to follow… View the full article