Wandering Eyes

5th-TOK, ¥13,400,000 ($119k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1300m EVACUANT (c, 2, Street Boss–Ever So, by Medaglia d’Oro) fetched $130K as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling, then was purchased for $200K post-RNA after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 flat at this year’s OBS April Sale. A May 5 foal, the bay is out of a half-sister to Grade 1-winning sprinter Yes It’s True (Is It True) and to MSW Honest Deceiver (Is It True). B-Godolphin (KY) 5th-KYO, ¥13,400,000 ($119k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT DERMA KATRINA (f, 2, Ghostzapper–Ruthian, by Rahy), a $100K Keeneland September acquisition, is a daughter of the stakes-winning Ruthian, who has far exceeded her racetrack accomplishments in the breeding shed. Now 22, Ruthian is the dam of Rutherienne (Pulpit), winner of the 2007 GI Del Mar Oaks, as well as her Grade III-winning full-sister Ruthenia. Both were convincing debut winners over a distance of ground. B-Payson Stud Inc (KY) 11th-TOK, Keio Hai Nisai S.-G2, ¥72m ($639k), 2yo, 1400mT ASTER PEGASUS (c, 2, Giant’s Causeway–R Heat Lightning, by Trippi), the first foal to make the races out of his Grade I-winning dam-who was also runner-up in the 2011 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies-puts his perfect career record on the line here. A $150K KEESEP grad, the chestnut debuted with a smooth victory going 1200m at Hakodate June 24 and doubled up with a narrow success in that track’s G2 Hakodate Nisai S. July 22 (video, gate 6). R Heat Lightning was purchased by Stonestreet for $1.6 million in foal to Bernardini at KEENOV in 2013. B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY) View the full article

When Susan Forrester first got into the business of selling Thoroughbreds, she dreamt of presenting a full shedrow at the Kentucky sales. However, she soon realized that did not fit with her very hands-on approach and shifted gears to offer consignments that, while small in number, were laden with quality. The lifelong horsewoman brings just that to the Fasig-Tipton November sale with five weanlings in her consignment that she calls the “best of the bunch.” “When I first started I did have a few great, big consignments, but that was short lived,” Forrester said. “I brought 10 to Fasig October and I have five for November. That is a number I am more comfortable with. I can manage them better and I can give my clients 110%.” She continued, “I am very hands on. I exercise all my yearlings myself. I watch every weanling walk in the mornings when they are getting ready for a sale. If I have to clean stalls, I clean stalls. If I have to groom horses, I groom horses.” Forrester raised each one of the five weanlings in her consignment at her Glenridge Farm outside of Midway, Kentucky, which was the birthplace of dual Classic winner Real Quiet. “I went through and picked the best of the bunch,” Forrester said. “They are all very, very nice or I wouldn’t have put them in that sale. Hopefully the market will support them and we can cash in on the fact that they are nice individuals.” One of her more popular weanlings is likely to be Hip 65, a full-brother to GIII Schuylerville S. heroine Catherinethegreat (Uncaptured). A $170,000 OBSOCT yearling purchase by John Oxley, Catherinethegreat romped by 10 1/4 lengths second out at Gulfstream June 23 and scored a decisive victory in Saratoga’s Schuylerville July 20. With that success, she became the first graded winner for her freshman sire (by Lion Heart), who was quite popular at this year’s 2-year-old sales. Their dam Classy City Lady (Carson City) was also scheduled to sell Sunday evening, but was a late scratch. “The breeders decided to put the full-brother to Catherinethegreat in the sale and see if they could benefit from that filly’s success,” Forrester said of the colt, who was bred in Florida by Wendy Christ and Kathy Haines. “The colt is extremely nice. He’s a big colt with a lot of body and a lot of leg. He is just a really nice individual. He is a nice weanling and he is going to be a dynamite yearling. We are going in very positive.” She added, “I think the fact that Uncaptured has been successful at stud will help, but Catherinethegreat’s success is probably going to help more than anything.” Forrester also offers a colt from the first crop of GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf victor Hit It a Bomb (War Front). Bred by Forrester in partnership with JLC Horses, Hip 49 is out of the MSP Smart Strike mare Whiletheiron’shot, a half-sister to MSW and GI Kentucky Oaks-third Sneaky Quiet (Seeking the Gold). “He has been a nice baby since day one,” Forrester said. “Spendthrift did come out and photograph him and he was in their early advertisements of [Hit It a Bomb]. He’s nice, he’s correct, he’s big. I hope he is what the people are looking for when we take him over there in November. He would make you want to breed back to that horse.” Another standout in Forrester’s group is a colt from the second crop of Grade I winner Strong Mandate, who also proved popular in the sales ring this year. Bred by Forrester and Equus Farm, Hip 96 is out of I’m Fantabulous (Forestry). “The Strong Mandate is to die for,” Forrester said. “He is big and I don’t have words for his body, it’s so nice. There is a lot of horse there. He is nice.” A pair of fillies round out the consignment, Hip 54, a Bodemeister filly out of SP You’re Kidding (Lemon Drop Kid); and Hip 60, a daughter of Munnings who is the first foal out of Brandyafterdinner (Afleet Alex). While Forrester has spent the last few decades in the Thoroughbred business, she got her start with saddle horses. “I started out with saddle horses in Georgia,” she explained. “I had a friend that lived up here in Kentucky and I came to visit. We were in saddle horses together. I ended up staying. I was in the saddle horse business a little bit up here, but ended up changing over to Thoroughbreds. I started when I was about 20-years-old and I’m a bit older now. It’s been quite a while.” Forrester foals about 30 to 40 mares a year at her farm, half of those mares belong to hers and the other half belong to clients. “I probably have a few more horses than I need to have, but it is a mix of clients, my own and partnership horses,” Forrester said. “It is a nursery, I foal, I breed. I used to sell primarily weanlings and made an extremely good living. When the bottom started falling out of the market, I tried to regroup and go to yearlings because the weanling market wasn’t quite as strong. Now I am getting back into selling weanlings. I really enjoy it and I do well in it. I’d rather get my money there and hopefully somebody makes a little bit of money off me and comes back to the well and we keep going around like that.” The Fasig Tipton November Sale gets underway Sunday at 3 p.m. at Newtown Paddocks. View the full article

Trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori stand on the cusp of history in the quest for an unprecedented group/grade 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-Breeders' Cup double. View the full article

Ashbrook Farm and BBN Racing's Concrete Rose will contest the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. View the full article

NEWMARKET, UK–Frequent rain around Park Paddocks on Thursday tested the resolution of all those remaining for the final session of the 2018 Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale, but it would certainly be incorrect to describe the event itself as a damp squib. At the close of four days’ trade, there were 1,181 lots offered, compared with 1,255 last year and the aggregate was a healthy 26,853,500gns, just 3% down on the record 27,282,200gns set 12 months ago. The clearance rate was a respectable 89% across the four-day extravaganza, which included purchases by a raft of cosmopolitan visitors, compared with 85% in 2017, with the median up 9% at 12,000gns. The average was virtually unchanged at 25,599gns against 25,617gns, also comparing favourably with the records since the turn of the century. The final day is the lowest-key of the sessions by a considerable margin, and there had not looked to be anything listed in the catalogue which was likely to threaten those in the top 10 overall, which would have required a bid of upwards of 240,000gns. Furthermore, it would have required a new record in this sale’s history again, after the 1-million gns bid from Newsells Park Stud on Wednesday night for Aljazzi (GB) (Shamardal) shattered the previous highest mark by 300,000gns. Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: “While the new record price of 1-million gns was the obvious highlight, it is the huge number of overseas buyers we have welcomed this week that has been the standout feature of another successful sale at Tattersalls. There is truly no other sale quite like the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale and it continues to attract buyers from all corners of the world for whom the sale is an unmissable annual event. We have regular buyers at this sale who attend only one bloodstock sale a year and it is the diversity of the buyers which sets it apart from any other sale of this type.” Whilst Aljazzi is set for retirement, the four-highest priced lots beneath her are heading for warmer climes, with Corrosive (Uncle Mo) bound for Saudi Arabia for 450,000gns along with Archetype (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire} (335,000gns). Lucius Tiberius (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who was sold for 320,000gns, and Fawzi Nass’s 400,000gns purchase Euginio (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) are likely to be seen next at the Dubai Carnival. Mahony continued: “The top of the market has been as strong, if not stronger, than ever and the sale-topping filly Aljazzi is a tribute to the quality broodmare band assembled at Blue Diamond Stud by Tony Nerses on behalf of Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar, much of which will be offered for sale at the forthcoming Tattersalls December Sale. It is only the second time we have had three lots sell for 400,000gns or more at this sale and with the buyers of the top 20 lots coming from England, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Australia and the USA, it is clear that the demand for quality European bloodstock continues to thrive. The beauty of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale is that there are numerous buyers, both domestic and international, competing in all sectors of the market. British and Irish Flat and National Hunt trainers always make a massive contribution to this fixture and alongside the vast number of buyers from the Gulf region, we have also had notable participation from Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Spain.” “In the course of every year we try, alongside our overseas representatives, to explore as many overseas markets as possible, and the success of this week’s sale provides encouragement as we approach the equally international Tattersalls December Sale.” Kingwood Filly Bound For America There were still orders to be filled from far-flung places around the world on Thursday, especially from those without unlimited resources as proceedings drew to a close, and a filly from the Kingwood Stud operation of Mehmet Kurt topped the final session. Space Talk (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), who was with Harry Dunlop, had added a win on the Lingfield Polytrack to her page since the catalogue was published and arrived early in the programme at lot 1269. Kingwood in Lambourn, also the home of the owner’s innovative Kurtsystem for pre-training, consigned a few yearlings at Book 3 and Book 4 and has also raced a few with a handful of local trainers. She attracted a handful of interested bidders before Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock made the decisive move for 80,000gns. “She is a consistent filly with form on faster ground and she put in some good sectionals the other day,” Boman explained. “She’s going to America and she will suit the racing programme there.” Dunlop’s words provided a commendation for the Kurtsystem, the mechanised track upon which horses are not ridden but loosely harnessed to cabins which monitor them. Kurt, a Turkish businessman, believes it reduces the injury rate both in the present and the future. It opened for public use last year and although not widely in the consciousness of the wider racing community, small success stories such as this will do it no harm. “This filly was bred at the stud and she also did some pre-training on [the Kurtsystem],” he said. “I trained her for the majority of the summer and she was very consistent, placing three times. She won in quite a tough race at Lingfield and we were thrilled with the price. I’m sure there’s some lucrative money to be won with her.” Baker Getting In The Spirit George Baker was in an upbeat mood after selling his 125-1 surprise Goodwood winner Feel Glorious (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) for 130,000 gns earlier in the week. The Chiddingfold-based trainer dipped his toe back in the water as he gave 55,000gns for Cristal Spirit (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire} (lot 1336), a winner over a mile and a half for William Haggas at Kempton just over a week ago. “He was bought for a gang who were looking for a fun, dual-purpose horse and we’ve had a few Nathaniels already,” Baker said. “It’s unlikely we’ll be improving him from his former trainer but we got him for a good price.” Reflecting on Feel Glorious, Baker said: “I got left with her after buying her and ended up leasing her to the Turf Club. We managed to get her listed placed in Hannover just before the sale and it looks as if she’s going to be continuing her career in America.” Two others are bound for hurdling careers in exactly the same direction. Colm Sharkey signed firstly for lot 1502 from Joe Murphy’s Highfort Stables, the twice-raced Made For You (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) for 34,000gns. The ink wasn’t dry before he had collected his stablemate, Redemptorist (Ire) (Frozen Power {Ire}) (lot 1503) for 24,000gns. “They are both going jumping for Olly Murphy,” said Sharkey. “We had a bit of luck with Compatriot from the same yard last year.” Another of the more interesting lots was number 1252, Hidden Pearl (GB) (Dunaden {Fr}), whose pedigree had appealed to SackvilleDonald and trainer Ed Walker, who picked the chestnut up for 48,000gns. Overbury’s Melbourne Cup-winning stallion is quietly making a bit of an impression and his daughter, who had some speed on the dam’s side, had been spotted by Walker in one of her two maidens. She is also eligible for Dunaden owners’ premiums offered by the stallion’s owner Sheikh Fahad. “She finished a good fourth behind Ginistrelli, whom we think a lot of, in a Newmarket maiden,” he said. Al Malki Makes His Mark Quite a few hardy Middle-Eastern souls saw out the week or left instructions to their agents to secure some of the final available horses. Conrad Allen was on the phone to Qatar in order to seal the deal for 3-year-old Zamandas (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) (lot 1353), a lightly-raced Hesmonds Stud homebred from the stable of Roger Varian with two recent all-weather wins to his name. “He’s been bought by Ibrahim Al Malki,” said Allen of the 55,000gns purchase. “We just thought he was progressive and he vetted well.” Alex Elliott had only just taken another of the Varian draft from Carlburg Stables (lot 1352) in the similarly unexposed Noble Expression (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) for 40,000gns. “He’s for Kuwait,” said Elliott, who signed for Nader Al Afraji. “The client saw him yesterday and left instructions.” Qatari owner Abdulatif Hussain Al-Emadi, who bought Juddmonte’s Jewel House (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for 215,000gns the summer before last, picked up the promising 2-year-old Shape Of Water (Ire) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) for 50,000gns as lot 1581. “She is for fillies and mares races in Qatar,” explained his associate Abdulatif Hussain Al-Emadi. Houldsworth Shows His Power Good things come to those who wait and it was evident that a few shrewd faces were waiting around until the last knockings. It was clearly for lot 1601, Heart Power (GB) (Poet’s Voice {GB}), a granddaughter of Hascombe And Valiant Studs’ mighty Rebecca Sharp (GB) by way of Miss Pinkerton (GB) (Danehill). Matt Houldsworth’s persistence paid off when he landed her for Howson & Houldsworth Bloodstock for 72,000gns “She’s got one of the most alive pedigrees going,” he said, revealing she was for “an undisclosed Irish client.” He added: “I think the dam has four foals who are already breeding. I went to see her last week to make an offer – she was the one I wanted.” View the full article

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint – First inclination was to avoid this race, as it seems pretty impossible, but have to have a few bucks on #11 QUEEN OF BERMUDA (IRE) (20-1). She seems most likely to relish the soft conditions given her impressive score over heavy ground three back. She hasn’t been far at all behind a few of these, and will be a much bigger price than them. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf – It’s hard to love the post, and Newspaperofrecord might just be too good, but #14 EAST (GB) (20-1) is sneaky talented and will offer excellent value close to her morning line. The Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale record setter is just a gorgeous mover and was extremely impressive overcoming trouble to score last time in the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon. How she’ll handle the ground is a bit of a question mark, but she’s pretty compact, so she should get over it well enough. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf – #2 UNCLE BENNY (15-1) might be one of the best bets of the weekend. He’s won his first two starts on pure talent at distances shorter than what he’ll be best at. His pedigree top and bottom screams more ground, and he certainly gives that impression in the flesh–he’s a big, scopey, good-looking horse whose coat couldn’t have looked better when out on the track earlier this week. Line of Duty seems like the Euro you want, so will be aggressive here and only use those two. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile – #8 STANDARD DEVIATION (12-1) looks a little slow on Beyers, but he actually earned a huge number for his debut on Thoromanger. He obviously had no chance given dynamics last time, and the blinkers should help keep him more within striking range behind an honest pace. He’s got some shades of Good Magic. His 4-year-old Lonhro half-sister was claimed for $16K at Gulfstream in September, so it looks like someone will be rooting hard for him. View the full article

Sea The Stars (Ire), whose standout progeny in 2018 have included dual Oaks winner Sea Of Class (Ire) and champion stayer in-waiting Stradivarius (Ire), will remain at a fee of €135,000 at the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud in 2018. Sea The Stars stands next to his dual Derby-winning son Harzand (Ire), whose first foals were born this year and who will be available for €10,000. Heading the Aga Khan’s French roster at Haras de Bonneval is Siyouni (Fr), who is priced at €100,000. Four-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) is one of 24 stakes horses for Siyouni this year. Dariyan (Fr), whose first foals arrived this year, will be stand for €8,000, and Zarak (Fr) completes the Gilltown roster at €12,000. View the full article

Gary and Mary West’s hot pink and black diamond silks will be flown by two high-profile colts in the Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs this weekend. Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}), undefeated in three starts, a multiple Grade l winner, and the pro tem leader of his division, will be favored in the Gl Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday; and West Coast (Flatter), the champion 3-year-old colt last year, will be the likely second choice after Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in the Gl Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday. The Wests are in an enviable position to sweep the two most prestigious Breeders’ Cup races for stud prospects, with millions in breeding values and purse monies at stake over the next two days, not to mention an Eclipse Award for Game Winner, but Gary and Mary West are pragmatic owners who have raced horses for nearly 40 years and know better than most that anything can and will happen in a horse race. They’re confident going in but are not taking anything for granted. As for the millions on the table? Well, they’re self-made billionaires in second careers as hard-core philanthropists who have given away more than $200 million to date through their Gary and Mary West Foundation, primarily to help reduce healthcare costs and improve quality of life for the low-income elderly. [Full disclosure: The Wests and their racing manager Ben Glass are retained clients of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc.] The Wests, both 72 and married for 50 years this year, now live in tony Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego but are straight out of a Horatio Alger story that began for them in the backwater of 1960s Omaha. “I was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, but our family, when I was about four or five years, moved to a little town, a little farming community called Harlan, Iowa,” Gary West said. “That’s about 50 miles away from Omaha. My dad owned a four-lane bowling alley. We grew up poor-to-lower middle class. Both of us came from poor-to-lower-middle-class families, so we learned early in life what it was like to struggle, and that was a good thing.” Mary West was born in Miami and moved to Omaha with her family when she was a teenager, and that’s where Gary West met and later married her when they were 22, in 1968. Their improbable rise to the heights began when they started a business together. “Our families could not afford to send us to college. So neither one of us were formally educated with a college degree. We’ve done okay in spite of that. Would I have liked to have gone to college and got a high-powered education like other people? Sure, but it was one of those things that wasn’t even possible. So we kind of scuffled around and ended up finding a real business opportunity that, uh, just exploded, and we rode that wave for 20 or 25 years, and it was a company that kept growing and growing and growing, but I kept getting older and older and older and I knew that at some point in time we had to have a liquidity event, i.e., selling the business or part of the business to do some of the philanthropic stuff that my wife and I both swore to do some day because we had been so lucky.” In 2006, Forbes listed West at #354 on the list of the 400 richest Americans with a net worth of $1.1 billion and noted that the couple was to receive $1.6 billion and 20% of the new company after their publicly traded West Corp., an audio and video conferencing company, went private through a leveraged buyout with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Quadrangle Group. The following year, Mary West, co-founder of West Corp., was ranked #95 by Forbes among the 100 most powerful women. The Gary and Mary West Foundation was established in 2006 and has been the couple’s main focus since, except for the horses. “Mary thoroughly enjoys watching our horses run. I enjoy watching anyone’s horses run. I’m a racing fanatic, and it is really the only hobby that I have. I still work about 100 hours a week in terms of being the chairman of the board and the founder of our philanthropic organizations,” West said. Compassion for people and horses The Wests were inspired to concentrate their philanthropic efforts on helping seniors because they had first-hand experience caring for their own aging parents and saw that government attention to this at-risk segment of the population was minimal. “We love elderly people and had a special compassion for them, and so we are pretty much devoting our life now to them. We’re out of the money-making stage of life, and with the wealth that we’ve accumulated we’re helping the poor, elderly population with their medical needs and their social service needs or anything like that, and that just gives us warm, warm, warm feelings. It’s kind of like winning a Breeders’ Cup race, when we get up every day and know that we’ve helped tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people have a better life later in life when nobody else is there for them,” West said. “We don’t have any children, so when we pass away, 100% of everything that we have is going to go into our endowment and foundation. And the good work that our staffs are doing will continue for years as a result of that.” Horses became their passion in 1980, a few years after they’d started one of their first businesses, WATS Telemarketing, in 1978. They claimed a 3-year-old named Joe Blow (Son Ange), who was trained by Ben Glass at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha. Joe Blow never got claimed again, though he raced for the Wests until he was eight and retired with 21 wins from 118 starts and $145,784 in earnings in 1985. “Benny was out in a small town just north of Omaha. And at that time he and his dad had a horse farm, and so he was the only person in the area that we knew of that had a horse farm, and we went out and visited him, and I liked Benny from the minute I met him. He was a good, honest person, which is not always the case in the horse business,” West said. They’ve been together ever since. The West stable started to grow and improve. It went from claimers to allowance horses and then to national-level stakes runners like Rockamundo, winner of the Gll Arkansas Derby in 1993 for Glass and the Wests. After training for them for 13 years, Glass became the couple’s racing manager, a position he’s held now for 25 years. With Omaha-based veterinarian Dr. Doug Brunk in tow, he’s a regular at the Keeneland September sale shopping for the Wests, who’ve been among the sale’s leading buyers for most of the last decade. They eschew turf types and concentrate on buying only dirt horses bred for the Classic distances. West Coast was a $425,000 purchase in 2015 and Game Winner was a relative bargain at $110,000 in 2017. “He had a few issues, but we thought he could run through them,” Glass said of Game Winner. “Nobody else liked him. I was the only one that scoped him.” Together, the Wests and Glass have experienced the highs and the lows of the game over four decades, from hardscrabble claimers in the early years to elite graded winners nowadays. It’s that longtime experience with dirt horses from the bottom up that has formed West’s opinions on Lasix. He views the use of the controversial drug as a therapeutic necessity for the compassionate treatment of racehorses. “For me, it’s a humane thing,” West said. “Here’s the way I look at it: If I had a son or daughter, and the doctor told me that if they go out and run cross country, they’re going to bleed in their lungs. Alternatively, they could take a water pill and they wouldn’t bleed in their lungs. What would I do if it was my kid? Because horses are like kids to us. We really care about the animal. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, and I’m not the god of racing, but I just don’t understand why people think it’s okay to let horses do something that you know every time they do it, they will bleed.” West estimates that he’s scoped his horses more than 3,000 times over the course of nearly 40 years and has his own bank of data on which to base his opinion. “People who say that very few horses bleed just haven’t scoped all that many horses or they’re getting their information from a source that’s not really reliable,” he says. “Just because blood isn’t gushing out of the nose doesn’t mean a horse didn’t bleed [in the lungs or trachea]. A lot of horses even bleed a little bit with Lasix. But if it prevents the worst bleeding, you know, you minimize it to a real significant degree.” Game Winner and West Coast Game Winner and West Coast, like all the West yearlings, were broken in Ocala by Jeff Kirk, a longtime member of the team. The Wests’ burgeoning broodmare band is boarded at Dell Ridge Farm in Lexington under the auspices of manager Des Ryan, another valuable cog in the operation as the homebreeding part of the equation increases, with more colts going to stud. “Des does an absolutely outstanding job for us,” West said, “and Jeff has been breaking our yearlings for 25 years. We have never had a trainer who has not said, ‘Gary, the 2-year-olds that you send us, we don’t consistently get any better, well-behaved, well-schooled, well-trained horses from anywhere than we do from your guy.'” Bob Baffert, of course, trains Game Winner and West Coast, as he has most of the Wests’ recent California-based graded stakes winners, and he fits their programs on several fronts. For one, he’s based in the same state as them and it’s a convenient trip to see their horses run, especially at Del Mar, which is four miles away from the couple’s residence. And he’s primarily a dirt trainer, a natural fit for the Wests’ program. He’s developed all of their recent stallion prospects, such as Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}), Grade l winner Power Broker (Pulpit), and Grade ll winner Flashback (Tapit)–all of which all started off at Hill ‘n’ Dale, and Grade lll winner American Freedom (Pulpit), who’s at Airdrie. West Coast will stand at Lane’s End next year after he’s retired, and the offers are coming in strong for Game Winner, said West, who plans on supporting his best stallions with his best mares as a commercial-breeding enterprise. “We will sell at auction in the future some of our best yearlings from our best mares in order to promote and make our stallions,” he said. As a dirt man, West’s bucket list is made up of four Grade l races: the Kentucky Derby, Travers, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He’s won two of the four already and will shoot for the Classic on Saturday and, hopefully, the Derby next spring. He’s cautiously optimistic for the weekend. He noted that West Coast was only “70 to 75%” ready for his last start and should improve, and that Game Winner is “push-button and will do whatever the rider asks,” but West’s main hope is that his– everyone else’s–horses come back okay. “People can believe this or not–and they may think this is bullshit–but the first thing I say is a prayer for everybody’s horse to come back safe after the race. Okay. That’s my number one thought. Then number two, I want our horse to win the race, and if he doesn’t win the race, I want him to do as good as he can do. I’ve been on the bad end of horse problems in races, and I know that gut-wrenching feeling it is for people who love their horses so much, and I don’t wish that on anybody.” Those are the refreshing words of someone who has the welfare of others on his mind, even in the heat of battle, and they define both Gary and Mary West. Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks. View the full article

Confidently backed into 8-13 favouritism for his debut in Thursday’s mile novice contest at Newcastle, Khalid Abdullah’s Headman (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was waited with last of the quintet early as Kieran Shoemark had the anchor down. Cruising into contention with mininal effort approaching the final quarter mile, the homebred was shaken up to take command from the long-time leader Repaupo (Quality Road) a furlong later. Drawing away impressively, the March-foaled bay was eased down late to register an emphatic 3 3/4-length success. Mutasaamy (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the son of the G1 Epsom Oaks heroine Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain), was 12-1 at the off and showed little on his racecourse bow in fourth. The winner is a half-brother to the GII Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup winner Projected (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), GSW-US & MSP-Fr, $582,001, and to the G3 Prix Chloe runner-up Delivery (GB) (Rail Link {GB}). The dam, who was a winner over 10 furlongs for Andre Fabre, is a daughter of Dance Routine (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) who captured the G2 Prix de Royallieu and was second in the G1 Prix de Diane before producing the stable’s stalwart Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Successful in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and twice runner-up in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he went on to take the G1 Hong Kong Vase and achieve champion grass horse status as the hero of the GI Sword Dancer S. twice and the GI Manhattan S. Dance Routine’s full-sister Concentric (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) was responsible for another of the operation’s finest standard-bearers in Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who also won by the same margin over the same trip at the same track in the same month as Headman when a juvenile. Now a dual Arc heroine, she also captured the G1 English and Irish Oaks, G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Yorkshire Oaks en route. Deliberate’s yearling colt is by Oasis Dream (GB). 2nd-Newcastle, £8,550, Novice, 11-1, 2yo, 8f 5y (AWT), 1:39.00, st. HEADMAN (GB), c, 2, by Kingman (GB) 1st Dam: Deliberate (GB), by King’s Best 2nd Dam: Dance Routine (GB), by Sadler’s Wells 3rd Dam: Apogee (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $7,028. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Roger Charlton. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

Breeders’ Cup regular Obviously (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) is a perfect example of the maxim, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” The front-running miler possessed the class and consistency to compete in five consecutive Breeders’ Cups (2012-2016) resulting in a third, two fifths, a ninth and a first divided between four consecutive GI Breeders’ Cup Miles 2012-2015) and the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2016. It was the two-time GI Shoemaker Mile S. hero’s gutsy display at Santa Anita in his final Breeders’ Cup appearance that is my fondest memory of the determined gelding. Trained initially Stateside by Mike Mitchell and later on, by Mitchell’s former assistant Phil D’Amato, the Anthony Fanticola and Joseph Scardino colourbearer had been nabbed at the wire in a pair of Grade IIs early in 2016. A win in Belmont’s GIII Poker S. in June proved the competitive spirit still burned in the 8-year-old, but back in California, he ran out of steam in the GII City Of Hope Mile S. after setting the opening half-mile in :43.97 in October. I had noted with interest that Obviously would be cutting back in trip in the Breeders’ Cup and with his record of first or second-place finishes in three downhill starts, thought this was just what the doctor ordered. (Unsurprisingly, this was a commonly held sentiment by the betting public and he duly started favourite at 7-2.) Obviously was hustled up in between horses by Flavien Prat and took up his customary position on the engine. The first quarter sped by in :21.41, the half in :43.08 and it appeared that only Pure Sensation (Zensational) was a threat inside the final 100 yards. I had missed, however, the late surge of Om (Munnings) who was still sixth in midstretch. Fortunately, despite Om’s determined dive, a nostril still separated the duo at the wire and Obviously became the second-oldest horse to win a Breeders’ Cup race (video). View the full article

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky–So who will it be? Who will go out onto that soggy track on Friday and, with apologies to Louis XV, pronounce: “Apres le deluge, moi!” For while the downpour has moved the goalposts for those Europeans who targeted the 35th Breeders’ Cup in the expectation of a test of pure speed, the opening programme– being dedicated to juveniles-remains all about the coronation of young pretenders. Even before the introduction of extra attrition to the turf events, of course, the vagaries of racing mean that the laurels won today will remain contentious. The important thing is that any submission is made with honour. At Del Mar last year, for instance, a future Epsom Derby winner merited only a footnote of sympathy for the traffic he encountered in the Juvenile Turf. But a look back at that form shows just how triumphantly this race has matured since its inauguration in 2007. Besides Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in sixth, the winner Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) and fourth Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) have legitimate shots at the Classic itself on tomorrow’s main card. Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) did not get home in ninth but a few days ago won a Group 1 sprint at Ascot, while the next home James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) was beaten just half a length at that level at Deauville in the summer. Several in the field have more or less disappeared, an inevitable hazard of the game, but others who were out of the money–such as subsequent Kentucky Derby fifth My Boy Jack (Creative Cause)–have managed supporting roles at the top level. True, the incorporation of juvenile turf racing has virtually ended European participation in the equivalent dirt races. That seems a dreadful shame when you reflect on those spectacular rolls of the dice with Arazi (Blushing Groom) in 1991 and–in what has proved a historic moment for the breed, granted the influence of his son Scat Daddy–Johannesburg (Hennessy) 10 years later; never mind the longshot wins of Wilko (Awesome Again) and Vale Of York (Ire) (Invincible Spirirt {Ire}), which showed the rewards available to those of sufficient adventure. But those who have convened from across the ocean have done so with an abundance of that spirit. They have, for instance, produced half the runners for the new Juvenile Turf Sprint, where success for Pocket Dynamo (Dialed In) would be fitting reward for Robert Cowell’s enterprise and imagination in dredging Hip 2934 out of the September Yearling Sale at Keeneland last year for $35,000. Arguably, however, none of the raiders have required more initiative against the odds than Brian Ellison. Here is a man to show how horsemanship can dismantle social and geographical barriers. True, in common with so many other talented trainers in Yorkshire, he might as well be galloping his horses on the moon as regards those owners, managers and agents who, even if they are prepared to place a horse outside Newmarket, will never do so beyond their own social background. Ellison’s father, in contrast, was a fitter in the Tyneside shipyards and his mother a shop assistant. None of Ellison’s seven siblings have shared his vocation for the Turf: they work in factories, classrooms, and so forth. He himself left school at 15, however, rode a winner within 18 months of sitting on a horse for the first time and, after a journeyman riding career, took out a training licence in 1989 with just three horses. And if he has long since established himself as one of the most accomplished dual-licence trainers in Britain, with over 1,000 winners, the fact remains that he has had to find his way to the Breeders’ Cup with a filly purchased for just £9,000. The Mackem Bullet (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), it hardly needs stating, will not be among the favourites for the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf. But she, like her trainer, is making a habit of confounding the odds. She was 25-1 when going down by just a nose to Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the G2 Lowther S. at York in August, with apprentice partner Ben Robinson unable to use his claim. When the two fillies lined up for the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket next time, however, Fairyland started second favourite and The Mackem Bullet under Oisin Murphy was again 25-1. Nonetheless the pair repeated their 1-2 finish, virtually to the pound. One person who had recognised the merit of The Mackem Bullet’s York performance had been Katsumi Yoshida, who bought her in between the two races. That locked in a good profit for Brian Robe, who had found her at the Goffs UK Doncaster Silver Sale and sent her to Ellison after trying him out with a gelding named Little Jo (GB) (Major Cadeaux {GB}). Having arrived in Ellison’s yard this time last year with a rating of 50, Little Jo has since won four handicaps in six starts, most recently beaten half a length in the Silver Cambridgeshire, and lines up at Newmarket on Friday off 81. Little wonder if Robe, whose allegiance to Sunderland is evinced by the name he gave this filly, is prepared to entrust his horses to a diehard supporter of his club’s great rivals, Newcastle United. For it is only in his financial resources that anyone can condescend to describe Ellison as David against Goliath. Yes, it seems incongruous to run into this tough, squat bulldog of a Geordie outside the quarantine barn on the Churchill back stretch. But he has long since proved that his skills are equal to any environment. And while bad luck has repeatedly thwarted his best horses, some day it is all going to fall into place. “Latalomne (Zilzal) only cost £8,000 and fell in front at the second last two years running in the Champion Chase,” Ellison recalls. “Carte Diamond (Theatrical {Ire}) was third favourite for the Melbourne Cup after his run in the Caulfield Cup, and he was bouncing. Then when we took him down to Flemington, the week before the race, the jockey fell off and he went through the rail.” Definitly Red (Ire) (Definite Article {GB}) was one of the favourites for the 2017 Grand National when brought to a standstill by a faller at Becher’s Brook. But the race Ellison has notoriously craved all his career is the Northumberland Plate, part of the folklore in the unprivileged neighbourhood where he was raised. “Especially because I was born on Plate day,” he says. “The chance I had was with Seamour (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) when he went clear and got caught [in 2016]. Now that they’ve put it on the all-weather I’d say it’ll be very hard to win. I’d rather win a Breeders’ Cup anyway.” Two extra furlongs on changing ground would seem the obvious impediment to The Mackem Bullet, but her progress has been so steep that nobody can know where it might end. “She came in late, in fact she was the last of all my yearlings to come in,” Ellison explains. “I don’t like my horses knocked about on their first run, I want them to enjoy it, but Ben came in and said this is definitely a nice filly. On her next start, at Musselburgh, she should probably have won but it was a good race anyway, the second came out and won a big sales race at York. And then she absolutely hosed up at Carlisle. Every run, she’s improved.” Murphy rode The Mackem Bullet into third in her stakes debut in the G3 Keeneland Princess Margaret S. at Ascot. “And Oisin thought they should have been second, they were drawn on the outside and saw too much daylight,” Ellison says. “But he also said she wants further. And Ben said the same at York, she was just touched off but after the line he couldn’t pull her up. There are horses in the family that got a mile and one, a mile and two [furlongs].” Robinson, joining his boss outside the barn, admits that the filly has been somewhat lit up by the novelty of her environment. In principle, however, he reckons that her progress in form has been matched in terms of temperament. “She’s a bit buzzy here so it’s just a case of trying to keep a lid on her,” says Robinson, who again cedes the mount to the more seasoned Murphy today. “But when I think back to her first three races, she buried me in the parade ring every time. Now she’s getting used to it all, and with that she has really been coming to herself.” Robinson plans to preserve his 3lbs claim for next year by a winter riding work in Dubai, but it will soon be back to basics for Ellison. “I’ll be at Hexham next week,” the trainer says. “We’ve a couple of nice jumpers to run there. They’re all horses. Obviously the jumpers have a lot of long steady work to start with, but as they get into it they will still breeze six furlongs too. I started off as a jumps trainer, and if doing both is mainly financial-you’ve got your staff to keep-I enjoy [the year-round action] anyway, absolutely love it. I’ve been in the game 51 years, and the only thing I’d want to change is just to have better horses. “It’s very hard to buy one: anything that’s for sale, and any good, people like me can’t afford to buy them. Malton is great place to train, with some really good trainers, but it’s like football. It’s hard to get the good players to Newcastle, because they all think the world stops at London or Manchester, and owners probably think the same way about Newmarket. “But our horses, they get treated out of this world. I’d think very hard about paying 50 quid for a pair of shoes, if I can get a pair for £20. But I wouldn’t think for a moment about spending a hundred-and-odd pounds for a rug for a horse. We make do with a snack here, a snack there. Whereas they get the best of feed, the best of hay, the best of everything.” Win, lose or draw, Ellison is at least aiming his Bullet to make the most of limited ammunition. In his riding days, he used to keep fit by sparring in the boxing gym and was suitably riveted by a visit to the museum honouring Louisville’s most famous son, Muhammad Ali. And nobody could be surprised if Ellison yet again ends up punching above his weight. View the full article

With jumping superstars on show at Down Royal including the possible second coming Samcro, Pick From The Paddock give us their Best Bet Of The Day and one for every race! Bet of the day 19.45 Kempton A tricky looking handicap contest on the face of it with a number of closely matched horses with very little to choose between them, but the answer may lie with an unexposed type and handicap debutant in the form of James Fanshawe trained, Cuillin. The horse showed a marked improvement when third in a novices event at Chelmsford and showed a likeable attitude that day to stay on well and she was doing her best work near the finish so today’s extra two furlongs should suit and with improvement expected for the step up in trip and a first foray into handicap company, George Wood’s mount can land the spoils here. Fellow handicap debutant Follow Intello would rate as the main danger with similar improvement expected for the Chris Wall team and he has the assistance of the talented Hollie Doyle. CUILLIN (WIN) Kempton: 17:45 – Flowing Clarets (WIN) 18:15 – Milly Monroe (E/W) 18:45 – Silverturnstogold (WIN) 19:15 – Cuillin (WIN) 19:45 – Super Kid (E/W) 20:15 – Diocles of Rome (E/W) 20:45 – The Lacemaker (WIN) 21:15 – Kraka (WIN) Newmarket: 12:30 – Fightwithme (WIN) 13:05 – Madkhal (WIN) 13:40 – Lady Aria (WIN) 14:15 – Livvys Dream (E/W) 14:50 – Alfredo (E/W) 15:25 – Winston C (WIN) 16:00 – Sawwaah (WIN) Uttoxeter: 12:55 – Wenceslaus (WIN) 13:30 – Executive Capilano (E/W) 14:05 – Mystical Clouds (WIN) 14:40 – Claimantakinforgan (WIN) 15:15 – Frozen Flame (E/W) 15:50 – Dawnieriver (WIN) 16:20 – Majestic Lord (E/W) Wetherby: 13:20 – Askari (WIN) 13:55 – Poetic Rhythm (WIN) 14:30 – Chief Justice (WIN) 15:05 – Born Survivor (E/W) 15:40 – Dino Velvet (WIN) 16:10 – Mayohill (E/W) Down Royal: 12:40 – First Approach (E/W) 13:10 – Don’t Hesitate (WIN) 13:45 – Samcro (WIN) 14:20 – Brosna George (E/W) 14:55 – Delta Work (WIN) 15:30 – Monbeg Chit Chat (E/W) 16:05 – Castletown Quarry (WIN) Dundalk: 17:30 – Captainofthebounty (WIN) 18:00 – Evies Wish (E/W) 18:30 – Reckless Lad (E/W) 19:00 – Joe the Crow (E/W) 19:30 – Palmetto Bay (WIN) 20:00 – Face Off (E/W) 20:30 – Geological (WIN) 21:00 – New Direction (WIN) The post Picks From The Paddock Best Bet – Friday 2nd November appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article

After being pre-entered but not cracking the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) field, Al Shaqab Racing's Toast of New York will start in the $200,000 Marathon Stakes (G2) Friday, Nov. 2, at Churchill Downs. View the full article

Gary and Mary West hope to notch their second Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) win with Game Winner, following New Year's Day's score in 2013. View the full article

After going through the most brutal of hardships, Corey Lanerie has come to the Nov. 2 Tito's Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies (G1) with a chance to earn a victory that would leave few beneath the Twin Spires without a dry eye. View the full article

The Churchill Downs that will host its ninth Breeders' Cup boasts millions of dollars of improvements since the world championship races last were held under the Twin Spires in 2011. View the full article

Tickets to the 144th GI Preakness S. to be held May 18, 2019 at Pimlico Race Course are now on sale, The Stronach Group announced Thursday. Tickets, which range from $40 to $720 per person, can be found at Preakness.com. “The Stronach Group is committed to the ongoing success of the Preakness and to modernizing the event experience for all of our guests,” said Belinda Stronach, Chairman and President of The Stronach Group. “From horsemen to fans, the focus on experience is a key driver of our business and we look forward to treating all in attendance to an unforgettable weekend.” View the full article

A pair of Grade I-winning distaffers who raced in the colors of John C. Oxley will be up for auction at Sunday’s Fasig-Tipton November sale in Lexington, and Pretty City Dancer (Tapit) and La Coronel (Colonel John) both figure to be attention-getters based on striking physical attributes that rival their deep credentials on paper. Hip 122, Pretty City Dancer, is in foal to Medaglia d’Oro. “Pretty City Dancer I have always considered royalty,” Oxley told the TDN. “She’s by Tapit and a half-sister to [GISW] Lear’s Princess (Lear Fan). She has always had that ‘star presence.’ What makes her special is exactly what breeders are trying to find these days, and that’s precocity.” Mark Taylor, the vice president of marketing and public sales operations at Taylor Made Sales Agency, will consign both 4-year-old fillies. “Pretty City Dancer, it’s cliché, but she’s the whole package,” Taylor said. “If you look at her, you can see why she was an expensive [$825,000 KEESEP] yearling. She’s just an absolutely beautiful Tapit–just a beautiful head and eye on her; so much class. And then she goes and did what you would hope she would do: She won a Grade I at Saratoga [the 2016 Spinaway S.], and now she’s coming through in foal on an early cover to Medaglia d’Oro, who’s had a career year. She’s the whole package for anybody that wants to play at the very top end of the game, and she’s one of those horses that’s just a privilege to sell.” Hip 213, La Coronel, is a “real stunner” according to Oxley. “The attribute that made her successful was her sheer determination,” Oxley said. “She closed and won, she was the pace and won, and she has a huge turn of foot. She always gave it her best. Her win at Keeneland in the [2017] GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. was very gratifying for me because we knew she had that Grade I talent and deserved that win.” Added Taylor: “Anybody that hasn’t seen this filly, they have to come see her. La Coronel is just absolutely a picture. If there’s a better-looking filly or broodmare prospect going through, I want to see her. She’s just a real beautiful dark bay, a lovely neck and shoulder on her, perfect balance, big hip, and very correct–just a specimen.” From an outcross sire line, La Coronel has major graded stakes winners under her first six dams. “La Coronel comes from a very good, deep family that just keeps producing year after year,” Taylor said. “She’s out of a Chester House mare, so I really like getting [2002 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and dam of Empire Maker] Toussaud back in there on the bottom side. This filly was precocious. She won the GIII Jessamine S. at Keeneland at two, came back and won the GI QEII at three, and is approaching a million dollars in earnings. She’s just a very, very top-class racehorse, and then she’s got the physical. It’s hard to surpass Grade I performance on the track, but her physical is even better. It’s phenomenal.” When asked for his assessment of the current Thoroughbred marketplace ahead of the November sales period, Oxley quipped that it certainly “seemed very strong this year when we were trying to buy yearlings.” Oxley added that “the top of the market is very healthy across the board. I’ve really enjoyed the yearling market over the past couple of years, so I’d like to subsidize that with a couple of these mares when I can.” Taylor credited Oxley and Mark Casse, who trained both fillies, with “doing the heavy lifting” that will make the duo an A-list consignment. “They picked them out and turned them into Grade I winners,” Taylor said. “And now we get the privilege of showing them around to the top buyers from around the world.” View the full article

The Breeders’ Cup has released an updated version of the Official Breeders’ Cup Mobile App, offering new and improved capabilities designed to provide fans worldwide with an enhanced user experience, it was announced Thursday. Available for iOS and Android devices, the updated mobile app provides fans both on-site and remote with fundamental and timely information on the 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, taking place on November 2 and 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The Official Breeders’ Cup App is now available to download on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. Features on the app include a catalogue on all 14 championship races, a Breeders’ Cup virtual reality function and live streams of official Breeders’ Cup events. “We’re pleased to present an updated version of our official Breeders’ Cup app, which we’ve designed with the modern-day fan in mind,” said Craig Fravel, president and CEO of Breeders’ Cup. “Whether through its comprehensive information library, timely push-notifications, or new livestreams and broadcast programs, the app ensures fans will have all the tools they need to make the most out of championship weekend.” View the full article

After a fast-moving construction timeline that began following Kentucky Derby 144, the Kentucky Derby Museum has added 11,000 square feet of new space and renovated an existing 5,000 square feet. It was the largest expansion of the Museum’s footprint since it opened in 1985 and one of the largest renovations since a major refurbishing project following damaging flooding in 2009. The highlight of the expansion is the new exhibit space, which envelops guests into the stories of the famed careers of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, with exhibit entitled “D. Wayne Lukas: The Modern Trainer,” and Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, with the exhibit “Bill Shoemaker: Larger Than Life.” “This marks a historic day for the Kentucky Derby Museum. As our number of world-wide visitors continues to grow each year, we are honored to elevate the guest experience with our new exhibits and unique event space,” Patrick Armstrong, Kentucky Derby President and CEO, said. “D. Wayne Lukas and Bill Shoemaker are icons of the Thoroughbred racing industry and have had such profound influence on the sport. We are excited to share their stories and keep their legacies thriving for years to come.” View the full article

Free nominations for the $125,000 OBS Sprint and $125,000 OBS Filly and Mare Sprint will close Tuesday, Nov. 6. The races are slated to run on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Both six-furlong events are for three year olds and older, restricted to horses who have passed through the OBS sales ring. Entries will be taken Nov. 13, and all starters finishing fifth through last will earn $5,000. There is a fee of $1,250 to enter and $2,500 to start. Nomination forms and the condition book may be found at the OBS website. View the full article

The number of foals registered in Britain for 2018 is up marginally at 1% from the 2017 figure, according to Weatherbys, which on Thursday published its Return Of Mares. The number of registered foals in Britain this year is 4,674, and that follows increases of 2% and 3% the previous two years. After growing 7% and 3% the past two years, the Irish foal crop has fallen 0.5% to 8,987. Foals have continued to be registered since the Sept. 30 cutoff for the Return of Mares, and final figures will be available in February’s Return of Mares supplement. Other significant figures from the Return of Mares include: -7,409 mares (85% of the reported mares at stud) were covered in Britain, and 13,193 (89% of the reported mares at stud) in Ireland. -The total number of coverings in Britain and Ireland (21,297) increased by 478 from 2017. -The number of stallions in Britain is down by 10 (158) in Britain, and up by one in Ireland (252). -Eighty-seven stallions covered 100 or more mares in 2018 compared to 92 in 2017. -Eleven stallions covered 200 or more mares in 2018. In 2017 it was 10. -Soldier Of Fortune was again the busiest stallion in 2018, with 281 mares covered compared to 341 last year. View the full article

LOUISVILLE, Ky – When Mike Stinson hired Tom McGreevy as his advisor last spring, it represented a “pivotal point” for the longtime owner’s racing operation. The 72-year-old native of Texas had already campaigned about a half dozen or so stakes winners in New Mexico, but is clearly playing at an entirely differently level now as he makes his way to Louisville with his first Breeders’ Cup runner in ‘Future Stars Friday’s’ featured Juvenile with impressive Santa Anita maiden winner Dueling (Violence). “The only way that I would participate at the level that I am now is a result of partnering with Tom McGreevy,” Stinson said. “Tom is such a unique talent. It was a very big deal for us to be able to partner with him. In our first crop together to have a colt that is going to the Breeders’ Cup is beyond a thrill for me and my family.” A self-described “small business guy for his entire life,” the now-retired Stinson was one of the partners in the ownership group Taylor Made formed for two-time Horse of Year California Chrome. He also bought into New Mexico hometown hero Pepper’s Pride after she concluded her brilliant racing career undefeated with 19 victories. “I’ve been around it for a long time and love the sport,” said Stinson, who added that he shares his passion for racing along with his wife Linda of 45 years. “I lived in Texas my whole life and we spend summers in New Mexico, so that’s where we’ve run horses for a number of years. I’ve been going to the races in New Mexico since I was six or seven years old. I love it and you have to, to participate in it.” It was through Stinson’s longtime relationship with Taylor Made that opened the door for him to join forces with Rick Porter’s former right-hand man, who selected Fox Hill superstars such as 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) and two-time champion and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Songbird (Medaglia d’Oro). Dueling was the most expensive of six yearlings acquired at last year’s Keeneland September Sale by McGreevy on Stinson’s behalf, bringing $475,000. Stinson has continued to add to his growing stable this year, purchasing six yearlings, led by a $410,000 Distorted Humor filly, at Keeneland September for a total of $1.91 million; a $410,000 Pioneerof the Nile filly and $210,000 Goldencents filly at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga; and a $725,000 Bodemeister colt at the OBS March 2-Year-Old Sale. “We bought 10 yearlings last year and we’ve bought nine horses this year–that’s sort of our model,” Stinson said. “We’ll buy six to 10 a year. We’re not the mega buyer–we have a range that we’re trying to hit. The purchasing end of it from a decision standpoint is all Tom. His record speaks for itself. I’m just along for the ride. He’s the guy and Jerry Hollendorfer trains our horses in California and John Servis currently has some horses for us back east.” McGreevy added, “Mr. Stinson is not only a great owner, he’s a great person. He’s just a pleasure to work for and work with. He’s so enthused about the racing industry. There will be nobody more excited than him to get to the Breeders’ Cup. He followed all the horses that I’ve bought over the years and he wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. He just wanted to give me a chance to do my job and see if we could get lucky enough to get a good horse.” Dueling certainly looks like he could be a good horse. Second in his first two starts sprinting, including a runner-up finish as the 4-5 favorite behind unbeaten ‘TDN Rising Star’ and likely Juvenile choice Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}), he took a big step forward in his two-turn debut, graduating smartly by 2 3/4 lengths last time Sept. 28. The long-striding gray is listed at odds of 20-1 on the morning-line while adding blinkers for the first time in the Juvenile. “I think back years ago when Mr. Gaines had the brainchild of the Breeders’ Cup-I’m not sure very many people could envision what it would evolve into,” Stinson concluded. “It showcases the things that are the very best about our sport-the people, the horses, the human interest stories, etc. It’s just terrific. And of course, for a little guy like me to have an opportunity to have a horse participate, it’s just a dream come true. I couldn’t be happier. I’m a very lucky guy.” View the full article

Iquitos (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) had annexed the 2016 G1 Grosser Preis von Baden and last term’s G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis in 14 prior starts at the highest level and secured the hat-trick with victory in Thursday’s G1 Bayerische Hausbau-Grosser Preis von Bayern at Munich, Europe’s penultimate Group 1 event of the year. Employing patience at the tail of the seven-runner field as last term’s G1 Deutsches Derby and G1 Preis von Europa hero Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) led the way for most of the 12-furlong test, the 18-5 chance crept closer off the home turn and was pushed clear once quickening smartly for the lead with 300 metres remaining to comfortably account for British challengers Defoe (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}) by four lengths and the same. Iquitos has a healthy record in a busy stint at the top table and, as well as the aforementioned highs, posted runner-up finishes in last term’s edition of this event and when attempting to defend his G1 Grosser Preis von Baden crown. Having closed 2017 with a second unsuccessful try at Tokyo’s G1 Japan Cup, he opened this year with victory in Baden-Baden’s June 3 G2 Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft before finishing off the board in the July 1 G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and July 29 G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis at this venue. The bay’s two latest efforts yield a third, behind Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in another go at the Sept. 2 G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, and a second to Va Bank (Ire) (Archipenko) in Hoppegarten’s Oct. 3 G3 Preis der Deutschen Einheit. Iquitos, whose three Group 1 triumphs have been on left-handed tracks, is the first living foal bred from the Irika (Ger) (Areion {Ger}), herself a winning full-sister to the stakes-placed Inanya (Ger). His second dam Ingrid (Ger) (Nebos {Ger}) is a full-sister to G2 Grosser Preis von Dusseldorf placegetter Inkognito (Ger) and a granddaughter of G3 Zukunfts-Rennen runner-up Ipameri (Ger) (Pentathlon {GB}), who in turn is a full-sister to G3 Zukunfts-Rennen hero Imperator (Ger) and the dam of Listed Oppenheim-Rennen and Listed Preis von Schlenderhan victor Illampu (Ger) (Athenagoras {Ger}). Irika has also produced the winning 3-year-old filly International Love (Ger) (Kamsin {Ger}) and has a yearling filly by Wiener Walzer (Ger) and a colt foal by Adlerflug (Ger) to come. Thursday, Munich, Germany BAYERISCHE HAUSBAU – GROSSER PREIS VON BAYERN-G1, €155,000, Munich, 11-1, 3yo/up, 12fT, 2:37.80, sf. 1–IQUITOS (GER), 132, h, 6, by Adlerflug (Ger) 1st Dam: Irika (Ger), by Areion (Ger) 2nd Dam: Ingrid (Ger), by Nebos (Ger) 3rd Dam: Iracema (Ger), by Konigsstuhl (Ger) O-Stall Mulligan; B-Dr Erika Buhmann (GER); T-Hans-Jurgen Groschel; J-Eddy Hardouin. €100,000. Lifetime Record: Hwt. Older Horse-Ger at 9.5-11f, 26-8-7-1, €671,690. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2–Defoe (Ire), 132, c, 4, Dalakhani (Ire)–Dulkashe (Ire), by Pivotal (GB). O-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum; B-Darley (IRE); T-Roger Varian. €30,000. 3–Dee Ex Bee (GB), 128, c, 3, Farhh (GB)–Dubai Sunrise, by Seeking the Gold. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Godolphin (GB); T-Mark Johnston. €15,000. Margins: 4, 4, 8. Odds: 3.60, 1.60, 3.20. Also Ran: Windstoss (Ger), Royal Youmzain (Fr), Racing History (Ire), Tiberian (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. View the full article

The ambition burns brighter than ever at Dan Skelton’s impressive Lodge Hill stables in deepest Warwickshire, and following a record-breaking summer season that has sent him clear in the trainers’ championship, Skelton is heading full throttle into the competitive winter months. From the off in 2013, his business has focused on all 12 months of the year and the first half of the 2018-19 season has been an undoubted triumph, with 101 winners on the board and more than £800,000 in prize-money already banked. But it is not all about quantity for the 33-year-old, who has worked hard to build a team rich in quality for the core jumps season, and when he says his squad is “strong in every department this year” you can guarantee he is well stocked for the second half. “Any year you have 100 winners and over £1 million in prize-money is a great year but everyone knows we’re ambitious and trying to get to the top,” he says. Skelton looks particularly strong in the novice chase division this season, especially over middle and staying distances, and classy hurdler turned novice chaser Spiritofthegames opening his account over fences at Listed level this month could well be a sign of things to come. Star mares Rene’s Girl and Roksana, both second at the highest level at Aintree last year, return to action with their ceiling yet to be reached, while last year’s County Hurdle hero Mohaayed is another big gun Skelton can call on from a yard that has already come so far yet is nowhere near its end destination. Stable profile Yard Lodge Hill Where Alcester, Warwickshire Started training 2013 Horses in yard 130 Members of staff 44 Head lads Tolley Dean, Sam Davies-Thomas & Nick Pearce Assistant trainer Tom Messenger Travelling head lad Phil Haywood Jockeys Harry Skelton, Bridget Andrews and Conor Shoemark Amateurs William Marshall & Tristan Durrell Stable sponsor Ladbrokes Website danskeltonracing.com Twitter @DSkeltonRacing WINNERS IN BRITAIN 2017-18 158 2016-17 118 2015-16 104 2014-15 73 PROFIT/LOSS TO A £1 STAKE 2017-18 -£153.35 2016-17 -£259.57 2015-16 -£156.34 2014-15 -£63.69 TOTAL PRIZE-MONEY 2017-18 £1,738,235 HORSES Aintree My Dream Eight-year-old gelding Saint Des Saints (sire) – Pretty Melodie (dam) Owner: Malcolm Olden Form figures: F14/3- Racing Post Rating: 130 (chases); Official Rating 136 (chases) He had one run over fences last year but I’d say he picked up an injury mid-race and had the rest of the year off with a leg. I’m happy with the way he’s come back in and we’ll crack on over fences. He’s ready to go but loves a bit of soft ground and we’re just waiting for some rain. AINTREE MY DREAM with B Andrews on way to winning Novice Hurdle at Warwick 11-2-17.Al Shahir 6g Robin Des Champs – Sarah Massini N W Lake 1/2221P- RPR 126h OR 125h Held some good novice form last year but everything that could go wrong did in the EBF Final. He wants to go chasing and wants a step up in trip and I’m really happy with him. He could start over fences on November 7 at Chepstow. If I could sum up last season in one word . . . Alright. Anytime Will Do 5g Scorpion – Pellerossa Surrey Racing (at) F1-1 RPR 114h OR – It wouldn’t have been the strongest maiden hurdle in the world but he looked really good winning at Uttoxeter earlier this month. He’s entered at Bangor on Tuesday and has got to go out there and improve but, if he did, I could see him going for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Trial at the BetVictor meeting. A fast-run 2m is good for now but in time I’d say he’d want a trip. Ardlethen 5g Arakan – Itsafamilyaffair Mike And Eileen Newbould 1 (pointing form) RPR – OR – A winning pointer who jumps well and looks like a real stayer. He should be ready to go when we get a bit of soft ground and I like his attitude at home. Aux Ptits Soins 8g Saint Des Saints – Reflexion Faite J Hales 5/21428/ RPR 149h OR 146h He came to us last year but we never got round to running him. He’s high quality and we’re just getting back to where he should be. He hasn’t been to the grass gallop yet and when we do we’ll know a bit more but he won’t be far off a mid-November return I’d imagine. Once he’s ready we’ll then find the right race but he’s going very well and will start back over hurdles. Dark horse Beakstown 5g Stowaway – Midnight Reel Bryan Drew 12- RPR 113b OR – I’m quite excited about him. He got beat in a bumper in February but we hadn’t had him long and looking back he was still getting everything together last season. He jumps nicely and has had a wind op and we’ve got him well prepared for this season over hurdles. He looks smart and will probably start over 2m4f and go from there. Bennys King 7g Beneficial – Hellofafaithful Mezzone Family 104/P- RPR 130h OR 126h New to us and a real soft ground horse. He goes novice chasing now and has some nice form in the book. I like what I’ve seen in training and his jumping is that of a chaser. As soon as the ground is soft he’ll be running and I’m sure we can do well with him. Betameche 7g Kapgarde – Kaldona Judy Craymer 11/ RPR 128b OR – He had a leg last year and we’ve had to take our time but the form of his bumper win at Wetherby is exceptional. If the ability remains he’s obviously going to be exciting but we’ve got to get him back on the track and see where we are. I’d like to start at 2m on soft ground but he’s a little while off yet. Born Survivor 7g King’s Theatre – Bob’s Flame Mrs G Widdowson & Mrs R Kelvin-Hughes 3380-17 RPR 147c OR 139c He hasn’t quite hit the headlines he perhaps promised in his early days but he’s a consistent performer. I would like to go down the Topham route with him and I think there’s a big day in him. He’s fully matured now and is looking strong, so hopefully we can go and get something done with him this season. Cabaret Queen 6m King’s Theatre – La Dame Brune Highclere T’Bred Racing – Cabaret Queen 23-411P RPR 137c OR 130c She’s been good in the summer, winning twice. I had her ready to go again at Fontwell at the start of the month but she hit the first down the hill and Harry pulled her up almost straight away. There’s a Listed mares’ chase at Market Rasen on November 8. She loves a bit of nice ground and 3m around there will be perfect for her. Captain Chaos 7g Golan – Times Have Changed Mike And Eileen Newbould 1415-00 RPR 147c OR 138c He had a great year last term but the handicapper reacted and he’s on a hard mark to win off now. I was really happy with his comeback at Chepstow and he wasn’t too bad for the majority of the way at Cheltenham either. When the handicapper relents, I think he can be be a player and there’s plenty of staying races around Christmas and the New Year that will suit him. Ch’Tibello 7g Sageburg – Neicha The Can’t Say No Partnership 42280-5 RPR 158h OR 148h We put everything into winning at Haydock last season and he was just chinned by The New One. He ran well in the Kingwell too but found another one too good. We’ve tried him in a couple of handicaps since but he just hasn’t been good enough off his mark and the handicapper has got to give him a chance. He’s been a brilliant horse and will hopefully get his day in the sun again. Clondaw Anchor 5g Stowaway – Masiana Highclere Thoroughbred Racing – Anchor 2-2 RPR 117h OR – He looked a good horse in the making when second on his debut for us and he’s a more relaxed horse this year. Time is going to be his biggest friend and he’s going to be a 3m chaser but there’s races to be won over hurdles first. I’m sure he’s going to make into a nice horse and he’s not far off a run now. Cobra De Mai 6g Great Pretender – Miria Galanda Norman Lake & Susan Carsberg 4122-49 RPR 146c OR 138c Had a great season last year and started the new season well at Uttoxeter but we got it wrong at Chepstow last time, dropping in last down the rail and in hindsight it was a waste of time. We’ll get him back on track and I’m sure there’re nice races to be won with him. I could see him turning up in the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham. Denmead 5g Champs Elysees – Glorious Dreams John O’Donnell & Noel Kelly 213041 RPR 129 OR 101 He was good on the Flat but is a great big animal and looks like a National Hunt horse. I’m delighted to have him and he looked smart winning on debut at Huntingdon. He’ll run this week and we’ll play our hand at 2m to begin with but he’ll want to step up in trip eventually. I could see him turning up at the festivals – whether it’s in the graded novices or the handicaps, I’m not sure but he was a high-class Flat horse over a trip, so why can’t he be high-class over jumps? The winner Denmead (Harry Skelton,nearest) jumps the 3rd flight in the 2m novices hurdle Huntingdon 16.10.18 Pic: Edward WhitakerDark horse Destrier 5g Voix Du Nord – Razia Three Celts 0/1152- RPR 131h OR 127h There’s a lot of unfinished business with this horse and I think you’ll find he improves significantly in time, especially over a fence. He’s got to go and prove it but he’s very natural and would take a step up in trip. He gets to start his season off a real nice mark and gets the opportunity to be progressive. He might start at Sandown over hurdles and 2m at the end of next week and then we’ll step up in trip. Eclair D’Ainay 4g Network – Etoile D’Ainay J Hales 2- RPR 116h OR – Second on his only start over hurdles at Auteuil and looks very natural at home. He’ll want a trip in time but will start at 2m and I could see me holding out until the Ladbrokes Trophy meeting with him. He looks pretty smart on what we’ve seen at home. Embole 4g Buck’s Boum – Urielle Collonges Colm Donlon 435103- RPR 121h OR 128h It was all a bit of a rush last year to get him qualified for the Fred Winter but the ground came up too soft at Cheltenham. He’s a very honest horse and would favour better ground. I don’t know how high up the handicap he can go but feel he’s completely untapped. He gives his all and will definitely make a chaser in time. Etamine Du Cochet 4f Martaline – Nuance Du Cochet Mrs S L Edwards 2-2 RPR 106h OR – She’d been off an awful long time before her comeback at Ffos Las where she blew up and I’d have loved to have taken her to the grass gallop once or twice before. She’s got a nice mark and will win a mares’ maiden off it and then we can dictate her future. Race in focus We’re looking at the EBF & TBA Mares’ “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle Finale at Newbury in March for Etamine Du Cochet. We won the race last year with Roksana and she reminds me of her. Get On The Yager 8g Tamure – Florentino Dick And Mandy Higgins 61129P- RPR 143c OR 139c He’s going to have a bit of a later start as he had a little problem behind but it was nothing sinister and he’s back in work. It all came together in the Rowland Meyrick last year but I think he was on ‘the handicap mark’ that day. There’s no reason not to have the same races on the radar again but the handicapper is going to have to help because I don’t see him going and gaining a stone from somewhere. If he ever got in the Midlands National off something like 10st 7lb he’d be a player. Get On The Yager (Harry Skelton) wins division 1 of the 2m 5f novices hurdle Kempton 10.2.17 Pic: Edward WhitakerHear No Evil 6g Getaway – Listening John Magnier 32/131- RPR 126h OR 135h He was very good first time up last year and is on-course to go to Cheltenham for the 2m5f intermediate hurdle on BetVictor Gold Cup day. We gave him a wind op through the summer and he’s always looked decent. I’m not saying he’ll be a Grade 1 horse but I’d like to think he will be able to go and win some tidy races at least. Idee De Garde 5g Kapgarde – Idee Recue Robcour 1- RPR 112b OR – He was bought out of Nicky Richards’ stable having won his only bumper in heavy ground at Ayr. He’s by Kapgarde and definitely wants a bit of soft ground but looks a smart novice. Knight In Dubai 5g Dubai Destination – Bobbies Storm Mr & Mrs Ben Houghton 1340-F RPR 139h OR 135h A good horse last year but he has to go left handed and I think he might have won that Grade 2 at Warwick last year under different circumstances. He made a typical error at the ditch going up the hill and came down on his chase debut at Cheltenham on Saturday. He was going well at the time and seems fine. He deserves to be in the better novice chases we still feel and will I’m sire he will be making amends pretty soon. Maire Banrigh 6m King’s Theatre – La Marianne J Hales & J Diver /87-11 RPR 121h OR 112h We’d worked it out by her third start last season and she won well after a wind op and with a tongue strap fitted. She’s a lovely mare and jumped very well when making a winning return at Carlisle last week. We are toying with going to Cheltenham’s November meeting for a novice handicap hurdle. She’s completely untapped and next year, when she goes over a fence, is when she’ll be at her best. Mohaayed 6g Intikhab – Reyaada Mrs June Watts 10231-4 RPR 145h OR 146h He gave us a great day when winning the County Hurdle last season, although I was gobsmacked he went on the soft ground. It was a good comeback at Ffos Las where he just looked a bit stuffy. I think it was a really strong race but maybe he’ll just be a bit sharper for the run. The one thing we haven’t done yet but which warrants discussion is going up in trip. If there was a nice race over 2m3f I’d be encouraged to try. I’ll enter him for the Greatwood but we’ll see where the season takes us. MOHAAYED Ridden by Bridget Andrews (Harry Skeltons Girlfriend trained by his brother Dan) wins at CHELTENHAM 16/3/18 Photograph by Grossick Racing Photography 0771 046 1723Molly The Dolly 7m Flemensfirth – Pistol Flash Dermot Hanafin 2/1422-1 RPR 127h OR 127h She hacked up in a mares’ hurdle last year at Warwick but I could never get her right again after that. She’s a big mare and jumped brilliantly to win on her chase debut at Aintree on Sunday. Quite where we go next I don’t know but I probably won’t be messing about too much and, while the ground is okay, I’ll get her out and get her some experience before making a nice spring plan or two. New Quay 5g Mahler – Beg La Eile Norman Lake & Susan Carsberg 833- RPR 112 OR 115 Another who could leave his form behind this season and will start back in a novices handicap hurdle at Ascot on November 3, a race we won with Willow’s Saviour a few years ago. He’s more of a chaser but there’s no reason why he can’t get a bit of business done over hurdles first. No Hassle Hoff 6g Craigsteel – Endless Patience Simon Munir & Isaac Souede 149300- RPR 141h OR 136h He’s been a good horse for us but was probably over the top at the festivals last year. He gets the chance to go novice chasing now off level weights. Hopefully we can go and get a few ones by his name and I could see a race like the Towton Novices’ Chase – 3m miles on soft ground – suiting him. He’s not the biggest but jumps proper. Nube Negra 4g Dink – Manly Dream T Spraggett 12135- RPR 135h OR 135h Not many Spanish horses come over and do well but I liked him from the second he arrived and he was brilliant last year. He’s big and bold and probably a chaser but I’d imagine we’ll start in the Greatwood Hurdle – he’d be my main one for that race. I think 2m on good to soft is his ideal. As a chaser he could go the whole way but we’ll more than likely to stick at hurdles this year to give him the experience. Second from right is NUBE NEGRA with H Skelton 1st from next left PRESENT FROM DUBAI 2nd in Novice Hurdle at Doncaster 26-1-18.Oldgrangewood 7g Central Park – Top Of The Class Chris Giles & Sandra Giles 3/331P4- RPR 152c OR 145c He definitely looks like 3m is his trip now and he’ll have a later start to the season. He prefers going left-handed and likes a bit of decent ground, and I see him in the springtime turning up at the better meetings over a trip. His owners come from Ayr and I don’t see why one day he couldn’t be a Scottish National horse. One For Billy 6g Midnight Legend – Saxona Paul & Clare Rooney 621122RO RPR 151c OR 145c He’s been magnificent over the summer and I was gutted about what happened at Cheltenham on Friday. It wasn’t his fault, he was just following the rail, but he was in the process of running another fantastically improved race. I’d like to take him for the Rising Stars Novices’ Chase at Wincanton next as long as the ground remains on the quick side. He’ll go on his holiday after that before coming back in the spring for some of the better races like the the Pendil. Present Ranger 5g Presenting – Papoose Dick And Mandy Higgins /533-3 RPR 119h OR 121h A full brother to Ballabriggs and we’re taking it steady with him but it was a lovely start to the season when third at Aintree on Sunday. He just got tired at the last but I was really pleased with that. He wants a trip and wants a fence and is a longterm project but I think he has every chance of making it. Red Rising 7g Flemensfirth – Fugal Maid Paul & Clare Rooney 13121P- RPR 141h OR 139h A good horse last year and goes chasing now. We’ll start over 2m4f and work up from there. How high he can go over fences as a novice I’m not sure but I can see him being the type of horse who turns up for races like the Midlands National and Classic Chase down the line. Those staying chasers is what we’ve historically lacked so it’s nice to have a few coming through. Star quality Rene’s Girl 8m Presenting – Brogella Andy & Sharon Measham F13112- RPR 149c OR 144c I was gutted to get beat in a Grade 1 at Aintree last season but she was beaten by a proper horse who is sadly no longer with us. We were thinking about going straight for the Ascot Chase but off 144 the handicapper has said ‘go and have a go in a handicap before the big league’ and we’re going to start this season in the BetVictor Gold Cup and go from there. She goes well fresh, is going well at home and there’s no reason not to be confident about her running a big race. Robin Waters 5g Irish Wells – Skandia Colm Donlon 1/3316- RPR 142h OR 141h He was never going to be able to show his true ability over hurdles because he’s a chaser. He was bang there two out in the Albert Bartlett but just got outpaced by horses who were better than him last year. I think we can bridge the gap over fences but how far he can go I don’t know – but I wouldn’t rule him out of any grade as a chaser at this point. We’ll get him started over fences soon. Roksana 6m Dubai Destination – Talktothetail Mrs Sarah Faulks 4/31112- RPR 144h OR 142h A proper mare who just got chinned in a Grade 1 at Aintree last year and I feel she will improve again this season. She looks fantastic and we’re going to start in the Ascot Hurdle and then look at all the good races. She’s very good, gets 7lb against the boys and we’ll see how far we can go. Shannon Bridge 5g Flemensfirth – Bridgequarter Lady M Boothright G Lovett P Deffains 122P0-3 RPR 132c OR 138h Ran nicely over 3m on chase debut at Cheltenham on Friday and would probably like it a bit softer. He will probably go back there for the November meeting but he’s only five and I don’t want to be over racing him. I can see him taking a decent standard and I was delighted with that first run. Shantou Rock 6g Shantou – Cool Cool Mr & Mrs Gordon Pink F/12223- RPR 155c OR 148c Absolutely brilliant fresh and that’s why we’re going to Ascot on November 3 for a valuable 2m handicap first time up. After that we’ll have to plan but the key is getting him as fresh as possible and on the best ground possible. He could run in the Desert Orchid over Christmas and something like the Red Rum in the spring but if he wins a race like Ascot’s he’s had a good season. Solomon Grey 6g Sulamani – Sardagna Mrs Sarah Faulks 2/22131- RPR 136h OR 135h Clearly very talented but was always growing and strengthening last year. He looks fantastic and we’re going to start him in the Elite Hurdle on November 10 at Wincanton. I hope they get some rain – good ground is no problem – and if they do he’ll definitely be a player. We’ll plan from there and he has the option of going chasing this season. Star quality Spiritofthegames 6g Darsi – Lucy Walters N W Lake 12357-1 RPR 152c OR – I really like him and always have and was delighted with his winning chase debut at Chepstow. He’s best fresh and in hindsight I wish I hadn’t run in the Betfair Hurdle or at Cheltenham and gone to Aintree fresh last season – I think he might have won. We’ll go to the Ladbrokes Trophy meeting at Newbury next to give him a nice gap and make a plan after that. He’s just getting started over fences and I think he could be really good. It’s not all about Cheltenham for him – he could end up turning up at Aintree fresh if he proves good enough in the interim. SPIRITOFTHEGAMES Ridden by Harry Sakelton (Green & red) wins at Ayr 24/10/17 Photograph by Grossick Racing Photography 0771 046 1723Supremely Lucky 6g Milan – Lucky Supreme Malcolm Olden P/21-4 RPR 121b OR – Looked good when winning his bumper at Chepstow last season and ran really well in a very good novice hurdle back at the same track a couple of weeks ago. He finished fourth but the improvement to come should be massive. Symphony Of Angels 6g Sulamani – Flying Lion Good Evans Racing Partnership 1137-11 RPR 133h OR 134h He came to us in the summer and has won two quite authoritatively. If he wins another it’s going to be a big one as we’ll chip him into a good race now and then he’ll go chasing. He’s pretty good and always has something up his sleeve, so there might be a bit more to come. Tokay Dokey 4g Gold Well – Charming Present Colm Donlon 11 RPR 118h OR – He was good when winning the other day at Uttoxeter. He was a little bit keen but I think the first two are good horses and we really like him. I’d like to give him another run in a small race before thinking about going up in grade. I’ll probably look at Wincanton on Elite Hurdle day if the ground is safe. If he wins his next novice I’d probably look at the December meeting at Cheltenham. He’s always looked like a good horse. Tommy Rapper 7g Milan – Supreme Evening Judy Craymer & Nick Skelton 1119-3 RPR 132c OR 138c If you hit the front too soon on him you’re going to get beat but he won three last year and it was a good start over fences at Ffos Las the other day in what was a good novice chase. He stayed on well and will improve for the run. He’s going to go to Cheltenham next in November for a 3m novice chase and I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t end up a better chaser than hurdler. Rival to watch You’ve got to admire Tiger Roll. You’d love to have a horse like that, he’s just magical. Value At Risk 9g Kayf Tara – Miss Orchestra D M Huglin 1651-8 RPR 142c OR 138c He was running well in the Old Roan before turning in and then he checked out very tamely. He’s a very in-and-out horse and frustrating for his owner who loves him dearly. He could run in the Badger Ales next or perhaps go to Newbury for the Ladbrokes meeting, but he goes well fresh and I can actually see us running him in the Grand Sefton. VALUE AT RISK Ridden by Harry Skelton wins at Ayr 20/4/18 Photograph by Grossick Racing PhotographyVirgilio 9g Denham Red – Liesse De Marbeuf C J Edwards, D Futter, A H Rushworth 1/8PF-11 RPR 159c OR 157c He’s not that big and not that easy to train but tries his hardest and wears his heart on his sleeve. He fell at Becher’s in the Grand National and I thought that might have been it but then he came back and won his next two which was just brilliant. He’s already won a big one this year at Uttoxeter but he’s on a career high mark now and it’s going to be hard for him. We’ll enter for a handicap at Ascot and the Charlie Hall at Wetherby at the weekend. If he’s in the top three or four on ratings he will go for the Charlie Hall, if not it will be Ascot. Whatduhavtoget 6m Presenting – Smooching Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-Presenting F403-11 RPR 137c OR 135c She’s got a little hind suspensory issue and you probably won’t see her until Christmas at the earliest, but I’d say black type over fences is a formality. We might even wait a little longer for something like the Pendil and I think there’s plenty more to be achieved with her. Horse to follow Nube Negra Dan Skelton is making giant strides in most parts of jump racing, but one area where he is particularly adept is in 2m handicap hurdles. Given this dominant era of Irish jumpers, two County Hurdle wins in three years is some record and proves Skelton is a force to be reckoned with in that sphere. Nube Negra, who is being targeted at the Greatwood, could be a big Lodge Hill improver. Just a four-year-old, his best form is at Cheltenham and he’ll improve for better ground when he gets it. James Hill JUVENILE HURDLERS AND BUMPER HORSES King D’argent, who has a good attitude and jumps well, made a winning debut for the yard at Wetherby and he’ll go back there for the Wensleydale on Friday and we’ll see where we are with him. Normally the early juvenile form is more Fred Winter than Triumph but I like what I see. We’ve a German horse who’s rated in the 90s on the Flat called Aronius and if he transfers that as a juvenile we’re going to be in business. Protektorat is a real big National Hunt horse, as is Flegmatik. They ran in separate divisions of the Listed Prix Finot at Auteuil and both look pretty good juveniles. I’m really happy with the bumper horses too. There are too many to mention but the idea is we’re trying to improve the quality every year. We’ve bought some real nice horses that I’m sure we can mould into the next generation of novice hurdlers and novice chases. The post Dan Skelton Stable Tour appeared first on RaceBets Blog EN. View the full article