Wandering Eyes

Alexis Badel is hoping to take the momentum of an outstanding season in France into his winter stint in Hong Kong. The popular Frenchman returns to Sha Tin for a third time, having made a good impression in his first two short-term stretches, winning seven races first time around before doubling that to 14 last season. It means Badel arrives with a spring in his step and he is determined to go to another level. “My season was fantastic, I won my first Group One in Deauville, the Prix Jean... View the full article

EXTRA BRUT has landed Darren Weir a Victoria Derby win with the premier trainer’s first runner in the $2 million race. View the full article

EXTRA BRUT has landed Darren Weir a Victoria Derby win with the premier trainer’s first runner in the $2 million race. View the full article

Tim Glyshaw still has the halter. A piece of forelock. A sales catalog with a horse on the cover, suspended in midair. The memories are all around Barn 3 at Churchill Downs. He's learned to hold onto the good ones. View the full article

THE all-important Melbourne Cup barrier draw is held tonight at 6.30pm (AEDT), shortly after the final 2018 field is confirmed. View the full article

All-sources handle for Friday’s first day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs was $52,216,685, the fourth highest total for a Friday Breeders’ Cup and the sixth time the card has exceeded $50 million. The Future Stars Friday card featured five Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-old horses for the first time since the event expanded to its current two-day format in 2007 and Breeders’ Cup officials said they were encouraged by fans’ reaction to the new format. “It’s always exciting when the Breeders’ Cup returns to Churchill Downs and especially today as we focus on our sport’s future stars and highlight the connection between our championship races for juveniles and the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Kentucky Oaks,” said Craig Fravel, Breeders’ Cup President and CEO. “We want to thank all of today’s participants and congratulate all of today’s winners as we look forward to tomorrow’s outstanding showcase of the best international racing.” Friday’s attendance was 42,249, a 29% increase over last year’s event at Del Mar, where attendance was capped because of the size of the venue, and a 4% increase over 2011, the last time the event was held at Churchill Downs. Friday’s on-track handle for the 10-race card was $7,251,466. View the full article

Schroeder Farms and Welton Mansfield's homebred Give Me a Hint continued to roll through the ranks in Southern California with a 2 1/2-length victory in the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

Daughter of Lope de Vega is unbeaten in three starts View the full article

A hard-charging Rocketry issued a late challenge in the final furlongs of the $200,000 Marathon Stakes Presented by TAA (G2) to claim his first graded win Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

The trainer, who may be the best ever when it comes to winning the GI Kentucky Derby, won Friday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with an undefeated horse that will be named 2-year-old champion. The talent, the pedigree, the trainer, the 2-year-old season…every box is checked. Can we just concede right now that Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) will win the 2019 Derby? Not so fast. It may not seem like it, but there are actually a few things about Bob Baffert that indicate that the trainer is mortal and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is one of them. This was the fourth time that Baffert has won the Juvenile and here are the histories of what happened to his previous winners following the Breeders’ Cup: New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}): The 2013 winner never ran again. Midshipman (Unbridled’s Song): The 2008 Juvenile winner did not make any of the Triple Crown races. He was sold to Godolphin and won only twice after the Breeders’ Cup, in an allowance race at Belmont and in a $110,000 race in Dubai. Vindication (Seattle Slew): He won the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and never ran again. Meanwhile, Baffert has won the Derby five times and not one of those horses started in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Like most trainers, Baffert has changed the way he manages his horses over the last decade or so and now seems at his best when bringing horses along slowly when it comes to winning the Classic races. Justify (Scat Daddy) didn’t make his first career start until Feb. 18 and American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) was sidelined by an injury after winning the Sept. 27 GI FrontRunner S. (which was renamed in his honor this year) and did not reappear until the following year in the Mar. 14 GII Rebel S. If there was ever any temptation to push American Pharoah toward the Juvenile, Baffert resisted it. None of which means Game Winner can’t win the Kentucky Derby as there were things to like and not like about his race The bay’s Juvenile victory was a good one, but not a breathtaking one. Many will no doubt point to the fact that the horse he beat, Knicks Go (Paynter), was a 40-1 shot, and Game Winner didn’t exactly blow him away. Also, Complexity (Maclean’s Music), the second choice, threw in a clunker. Plus, the highly regarded Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) was scratched. Game Winner’s winning time of 1:43.67 was a hair slower than the fillies ran in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, where Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) won in 1:43.62. The good news is that he overcame a less-than-perfect trip. A horse that is normally right on top of the pace at the outset, he was lackadaisical in the early going and wound up sitting seventh while four or five wide on the first turn. Under Joel Rosario, he made steady progress while playing catch-up to the leaders, but again went wide on the second turn. From the three path, he kept going and once he collared Knicks Go at the sixteenth-pole the race was no longer in doubt. There’s a long way to go between now and the 2019 Kentucky Derby, but right now Game Winner is absolutely the horse to beat May 4 and Baffert is the trainer to beat. But could he win with someone else? Some may look at Friday’s card and wonder if Game Winner was not the best 2-year-old Baffert ran. That’s how impressive Improbable (City Zip) was when winning the one-mile Street Sense S. by 7 1/4 lengths. Because of the caches of the Kentucky Derby, most of the hype coming out of Friday’s card will go to Game Winner. But by no means was he the most impressive winner on the day. That accolade goes to GI Juvenile Turf Fillies winner Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Had this been a more prominent Breeders’ Cup race, her performance might well be regarded as one of the best in the history of the series. Likely sensing that the inside was not the place to be on the Churchill turf course, Irad Ortiz, Jr., had Newspaperofrecord out in the middle of the track the entire trip. At the top of the stretch, she was only 1 1/2 lengths in front and when Ortiz called on her, she took off like a Nolan Ryan fastball. The ‘TDN Rising Star’ jumped away from the field in an instant and was then geared down before crossing the wire 6 3/4 lengths in front. Owner Seth Klarman and trainer Chad Brown might want to look into flights for Royal Ascot right now. She’s too good to be running next year for the modest purses offered to 3-year-old turf fillies in the U.S.. The Breeders’ Cup portion of the card kicked off with a win by Bulletin (City Zip) in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint for Todd Pletcher and the team that brought you Justify, owners WinStar Farm LLC, China Horse Club and SF Racing LLC. It’s a bizarre Breeders’ Cup for Pletcher. He is known for developing top dirt 3-year-olds, but all six of his Breeders’ Cup starters have been entered in grass races. By City Zip, there’s no reason to believe that Bulletin won’t be able to handle the dirt. Surely, they’ll give it a try. In the Juvenile Fillies, Jaywalk proved that two turns and added distance was no problem for her. She could be part of a dynamic duo next year for Chuck Zacney’s Cash Is King Stables, who is the part owner of both this filly and the very impressive 2-year-old colt prospect Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief). In the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, there was an inquiry as Line of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) definitely bumped Uncle Benny (Declaration of War) approaching the wire, but it didn’t appear to cost Uncle Benny the race and the stewards made the right call. The Breeders’ Cup keeps tinkering with the Friday format and never seems to stick to any one for too long. This year all the Breeders’ Cup Friday races were for 2-year-olds. They picked a winner. The races were exciting, we saw some horses who we can’t wait to see come back next year and the most important Breeders’ Cup races were all saved for Saturday. That’s the day they belong on. Let’s hope this is a Friday schedule they will stick with for years to come. View the full article

Saifudin, Vorster suspended View the full article

Freedman applies for Ford to replace Clark on Mr Clint View the full article

In his first top-level try, Godolphin's Line of Duty rallied in deep stretch to secure a narrow victory in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

Daughter of Lope de Vega is unbeaten in three starts View the full article

John Sadler handles questions about his Breeders' Cup record with the same aplomb he does his barn: patience, thoughtful analysis, and the belief in his methods. 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. Saturday’s Insights features a daughter of a G2 Queen Mary S. heroine. 12.50 Newmarket, Novice, £8,000, 2yo, f, 7fT JADEERAH (GB) (Frankel {GB}) debuts in the silks of her owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the John Gosden stable which handled her dam Maqaasid (GB) (Green Desert). She beat Churchill’s dam Meow (Ire) (Storm Cat) in the 2010 G2 Queen Mary S. before going to be third in the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G1 1000 Guineas and it is probably no coincidence that her trainer has chosen this race in which her daughter Nawassi (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was successful 12 months ago. View the full article

‘TDN Rising Star’ GAME WINNER (c, 2, Candy Ride {Arg}–Indyan Giving, by A.P. Indy) cemented his status as the year’s top juvenile colt and kept his perfect record in tact with a determined victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs Friday. Hammered down to even-money favoritism, Game Winner raced three-wide in mid-pack as fellow ‘Rising Star’ Complexity (Maclean’s Music) clicked off opening splits of :23.24 and :46.87 with GISW Knicks Go (Paynter) in tow. Progressing up the outside on the backstretch, Game Winner ranged up three-wide outside of new leader Knicks Go in the lane and gamely battled past that rival who came out on him multiple times in mid-stretch. Game Winner determinedly surged clear late to win by 1 3/4 lengths. This is the second win in this event for Gary and Mary West, who teamed with Bob Baffert to capture the 2013 renewal with New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}). An impressive debut winner at Del Mar Aug. 18, Game Winner proved he was the Baffert runner to watch when defeating his more fancied stablemate Roadster (Quality Road) in the GI Del Mar Futurity S. Sept. 3. He passed his two-turn test with aplomb with another dominant score in the GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita Sept. 29. Lifetime Record: 4-4-0-0. O-Gary & Mary West; B-Summer Wind Equine (KY); T-Bob Baffert. View the full article

LOUISVILLE, KY–The Europeans left it until the last chance they had to record a victory on the Breeders’ Cup Future Stars Friday card, but Godolphin’s Line Of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) ensured Team Europe didn’t go home empty handed on the opening day of Churchill Downs’s two-card extravaganza, coming home a dramatic winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for Godolphin, Charlie Appleby and William Buick. The Europeans had already been shut out in the GI Juvenile Turf Sprint and the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf, and for a few anxious moments in the Juvenile Turf it looked like it would be more of the same as Uncle Benny (Declaration of War) and Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown) battled it out down the stretch. Suddenly, Line of Duty came swooping down the outside and hit the lead in the dying strides. Having bumped Uncle Benny in the midst of his move, however, Line of Duty-winner of the G3 Prix de Conde last out–had to endure a lengthy inquiry before being declared the official winner. He therefore enjoyed a better fate than his dam, Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), had done under similar circumstances in the 2010 G1 1000 Guineas; she crossed the line first but was disqualified and placed second for interference. Charlie Appleby has extended his enviable record at the Breeders’ Cup; he recorded a first winner with a first starter in this race in 2013 with Outstrip (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), and can now claim three winners from five starters after Wuheida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) took last year’s GI Filly & Mare Turf. Interestingly, Appleby also ran Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in this race last year. He finished just sixth that day behind Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy), but would of course go on to win this year’s G1 Investec Derby. (Click here for a pre-Breeders’ Cup feature on Charlie Appleby by Chris McGrath) Line of Duty was a member of the first draft of Galileo yearlings purchased by Godolphin at last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, his pricetag 400,000gns. He wasn’t the only Tattersalls October graduate to win on Friday’s card; Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), farmed by Klaravich Stables, Chad Brown and Mike Ryan from Book 1 last year for 200,000gns, stayed unbeaten in three outings with a sparkling victory in the GI Juvenile Fillies’ Turf. When Seth Klaraman’s Klaravich Stables crossed the Atlantic to harvest from Book 1 last year, it may have looked like an unusual move for a stable that has become synonymous with dirt success in the U.S. But one must not forget that the man at the helm at Tattersalls was Klaravich’s primary trainer Chad Brown, who was on the ground at Park Paddocks for the first time selecting the horses himself, and Klaraman was simply playing to the strengths of the man who has an undeniable stranglehold on grass racing at the highest level in the U.S. Brown and Klaravich, who worked with agent Mike Ryan, brought home six yearlings from Book 1 last year ranging from 100,000gns to 400,000gns, and the experiment began to look like a smart move at Saratoga in August when one of the those fillies, Newspaperofrecord, romped by 6 3/4 lengths in a turf maiden and was named a ‘TDN Rising Star’. The gamble looked brilliant on Friday when she scored by the same margin at Churchill Downs to hand Klaravich his first Breeders’ Cup trophy. That effort followed a 6 1/2-length score in the GII Miss Grillo S. at Belmont in September. “Seth’s given me an unbelievable amount of trust to really make the final call when we acquire horses or sell horses, and we have a team that helps us, led by Mike Ryan,” said Brown. “He’s our chief bloodstock adviser, and we’re really partners in deciding ultimately what gets purchased for Klaravich Stable.” Brown, who had won his first-ever Breeders’ Cup races in this event in 2008, said he was confident he could source superior turf talent from Europe. “We decided to go over [to Tattersalls] and try a new market because we’re always looking to change our model a little bit, and studying the races over here–yes, I’ve had success in this race before with the American-bred horses, but I also have a division of my stable where I get a lot of imported horses that we try to buy or owners just send to me from Europe.” “Just thinking forwardly, I said to Seth, ‘would you be open to buying some yearlings [in Europe]?’ Part of his business model is not buying horses that are racing already. We try to buy our own horses unraced, a yearling or 2-year-old almost exclusively, and developing them ourselves. So if we want to have some of these European-bred horses that I feel on the average just have better blood for running on turf courses–like this today and at a high level all over the world–then we’re going to have to go in and buy some unraced ones. He said, sure, we’ll go over there and try it. Lucky enough, Mike Ryan was on my short list when I got there, and we went over it and narrowed it down to the horses that really fit for Seth.” At 200,000gns, Newspaperofrecord represented the median of last year’s Klaravich Book 1 haul. None of the other purchases have yet started, but that didn’t dissuade the team from returning this year, where they bought 10 for between 40,000gns and 325,000gns through Mike Ryan. Those included two more by Lope de Vega as well as the progeny of proven sires like Sea The Stars (Ire), Dansili (GB) and Invincible Spirit (Ire), as well as exciting up and comers like Australia (GB), Kingman (GB) and Golden Horn (GB). Asked if Newspaperofrecord could be classified as a superstar after her third straight visually impressive victory, Brown said, “She’s well on her way. I think that today she showed how good she really is. And for her to win as easy as she did is remarkable. So I’d say right now she’s well on her way.” “I’m more reserved about saying superstar and such until they’re a little deeper into their career and seeing how far they can really go. Obviously, this is a horse that’s done everything we’ve asked and she’s done it really easy. I don’t think I’ve ever trained a horse that after their first three starts we never let her run. I don’t believe the horse has been let to run yet.” View the full article

Game Winner overcame a wide trip throughout and contact from runner-up Knicks Go in the stretch to draw away late and win the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) by 2 1/4 lengths at Churchill Downs Nov. 2. View the full article

In his first top-level try, Godolphin's Line of Duty (IRE) rallied in deep stretch to secure a narrow victory in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

Lael Stables' No Dozing notched his first graded stakes win with an emphatic 9 3/4-length score in the $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) Nov. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

Godolphin’s LINE OF DUTY (IRE) (c, 2, Galileo {Ire}-Jacqueline Quest {Ire}, by Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) became the 75th Group 1 winner for his superstar sire Galileo with a thrilling success in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Bet down to 7-2 from a 10-1 morning-line while adding Lasix for this American debut, the chestnut kept a watchful eye on pacesetter Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown) from mid-pack, riding the rail through a first half-mile in :48.46. Swung out to the center of the course to make a run in the lane, Line of Duty came flying up the outside to tag Uncle Benny (Declaration of War) and Somelikeithotbrown on the wire, winning by a half-length in 1:40.06. He had to survive a stewards’ inquiry after exchanging a bump with Uncle Benny in the final sixteenth. It was the 28th top-level win of the season for Godolphin and their 11th this year with trainer Charlie Appleby. Second in his first two attempts, debuting at Sandown July 6 and then at Haydock July 21, Line of Duty broke through at third asking at Goodwood Sept. 4. He followed suit with a win in Chantilly’s G3 Prix de Conde S. Oct. 1. Lifetime Record: 5-3-2-0, O-Godolphin; B-Triermore Stud (Ire); T-Charles Appleby. View the full article

In many years, the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)—where older horses meet the best 3-year-olds with $6 million on the line—decides Horse of the Year honors, but this year the title already could be settled in favor of Justify. Or is it? View the full article

Breeders’ Cup day at Churchill Downs will conclude with the one-mile GII Chilukki S., which has attracted a field of eight fillies and mares. Divine Miss Grey (Divine Park), favored on the morning-line, is coming off a runner-up effort behind GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff contender Wow Cat (Chi) (Lookin at Lucky) in the Oct. 6 GI Beldame Invitational. The 4-year-old filly aired by 7 3/4 lengths in the Dr. James Penny Memorial S. at Parx last timeout Sept. 8. Berned (Bernardini) bested Divine Miss Grey to win the July 29 GIII Molly Pitcher S. She was sixth in the Beldame. Shenandoah Queen (Henny Hughes)–sixth in last year’s Chilukki–stormed home an 8 1/2-length winner of the Aug. 24 Tranquility Lake S. at Del Mar. She set the pace before settling for third behind Distaff contender Vale Dori (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) in the Sept. 30 GI Zenyatta S. View the full article

Let go as one of the roughest chances in the field at 36-1, OXY LADY (f, 2, Oxbow-Renaissance Lady, by A.P. Indy) came with a rally into the final eighth of a mile and pulled away late to record a daylight victory in Friday’s GIII Tempted S. through the fog at Aqueduct. The homebred showed decent speed from the gate and ultimately sat a covered-up trip from the box seat into the turn. Right on the heels of the leading trio nearing the lane, she was switched out four wide in upper stretch, was in front just inside the furlong and came away to become the second graded winner for her GI Preakness S.-winning sire (by Awesome Again). A debut second in the slop at Indiana Grand Aug. 15, the bay won her maiden first time long at Belterra Park Sept. 3 and was exiting a close third in a one-mile Keeneland allowance Oct. 10. Oxy Lady was giving former Doug O’Neill assistant Jack Sisterson his first graded winner out on his own. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-1. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Jack Sisterson. View the full article