Wandering Eyes

The patchy trade seen throughout the breeze-up season so far this year continued at the first French auction of the year at Osarus’s traditional venue of La Teste de Buch racecourse. From an original catalogue of 102 plus three supplementary entries, 81 horses ended up being offered for sale on Tuesday, with 49 of those finding a buyer at a rate of 60%, which was in fact up two points from last year’s sale. Though the median figure dropped slightly from €14,000 to €13,000, the average posted reasonable improvement, settling at €23,585, up from €18,156 in 2017. Overall, turnover just breached seven figures, at €1,039,800. Haras de Saubouas took up its familiar position at the head of the list, selling the top lot and the only six-figure juvenile of the day. The filly from the second crop of Haras de Bouquetot stallion Planteur (lot 78), a half-sister to three winners out of the Testa Rossa (Aus) mare Hijaziyah (Fr), clearly impressed Saubouas principal Paul Basquin throughout her sales prep to the extent that he ended up signing the ticket for her on behalf of a syndicate which plans to send her to local trainer Christophe Ferland. “We liked her a lot and wanted to give her a chance in training,” he said. The Pau-based consignor has now been the leading vendor at the Osarus breeze-up for the last four years and this time around sold eight lots for a total of €280,000. They included another who is heading to Ferland’s stable adjacent to La Teste racecourse, lot 74, a colt by Le Havre. Sold for €70,000 to the trainer, the April-born colt is out of the Thunder Gulch mare Grenadia, a listed-placed winner in France as well as being placed in the GIII Pin Oak Valley View S. in the U.S. Wherever his offspring end up in sales, Dark Angel (Ire) regularly plays a prominent role in proceedings and his sole offering at La Teste (lot 40) was the second-top lot of the day, bought by trainer Frederic Rossi for €90,000. The wild-card entry, consigned by Yann Creff, is out of the unraced Manduro (Ger) half-sister to the Aga Khan’s G1 Prix Vermeille winner Shareta from a strong black-type family which also includes the G1 Irish Oaks winner Shawanda (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) and her St Leger-winning son Encke (Kingmambo). Already named Sharela (Fr), the filly was bred by Haras de Beauvoir. One of the early leaders and another from Creff’s draft was lot 22, a Rajsaman (Fr) half-brother to the G1 Sun Chariot S. winner Sahpresa (Sahm) as well as six other winners. The colt was signed for at €75,000 by Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore Agency along with Sylvain Vidal and he will race for a partnership including Gerard Augustin-Normand. Overseas buyers at the sale included British-based trainers Paul Webber, Gay Kelleway and George Baker. Assessing the day’s trade, Osarus managing director Emmanuel Viaud said, “The figures have improved from last year so I am happy with that. We know that this has been a difficult market this year but our average price has improved and the good thing is that we have welcomed a number of new buyers to the sale this year. George Baker has previously bought at our September Yearling Sale but not at this sale and it was good to see him as well as some new faces from France. “We have had lots of feedback from vendors and we know that it’s important to offer a sale like this in the middle market in France as the market is very strong in Deauville for yearlings and breeze-up horses. We will now be starting our yearling inspections and we will be looking at between 800 and 1,000 horses for a catalogue of around 270 in September.” View the full article

When Leonard Powell was eight, he wasn’t like the other kids. Football. Scuffles. Comics. Cops and robbers. All the usual mischiefs his snot-nosed peers were getting into were quietly shunned by the young Powell in favor of something altogether more…cultivated. “Me and my brother were pedigree buffs,” explained the French-born trainer recently, the mid-morning sun beating through his Santa Anita office window. “During school at recess, at night, we would teach ourselves who was the great grandad of whatever horse won a couple of days ago. We could recite eight or ten generations.” Not that Powell feared rapped-knuckles for insubordination. “My parents encouraged it,” he said. Which is hardly surprising. For, home happened to be the family’s historic 200-acre Normandy stud farm, le Haras du Lieu des Champs–a timbered-barn glimpse into the 18th Century. Some of the farm’s alumni have gone on to be champions. The 2000 Guineas winner Pennekamp was a product of one of their mares. The last three winners of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris were born and raised there. But this is a farm that seems to have played no small part in shaping the humans nurtured there, too. One of Powell’s brothers, Freddy, is head of bloodstock at Arqana. Another brother, Richard, now runs the farm. Powell’s step-brother, Arnaud Delacour, has been rocketing up the charts on the U.S. East Coast after less than six years a licensed trainer. While over here on the West Coast, Leonard Powell, 41, has been steadily carving these past 14 years a niche for himself as a particularly canny and patient operator at the helm of a barn currently some 18-horses strong. “Even if a horse is doing well, I like to give it a spell for six weeks, which is enough time to freshen it up without losing too much fitness,” Powell said, about a strategy he says has been integral to the remarkable success he’s enjoyed with the gelding Soi Phet (Tizbud), now a resplendent 10 years of age, and poised for yet another campaign. Last year, Soi Phet won his sixth stake race, the E.B. Johnston at Los Alamitos. And his career earnings are just over $100,000 shy of the million-dollar mark. Not bad for a horse Powell claimed for $16,000 five years ago. Then there’s the ex-French filly, Fatale Bere (Pedro the Great), who in just four stateside starts has claimed last year’s Surfer Girl S. and this month’s GIII Providencia S.–a tidy score-card made all the more meritorious considering the tactics Powell has to employ to keep the lid on in the mornings. “She’s very, very tough. She gets a lot out of her gallops,” he said, with dead-pan understatement. Another telling feature of the Powell ethos is an Ernest Shackleton-esque readiness to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in. When Powell is not exercising his own horses, he’s out there on his pony. If you can’t find him on the track, chances are he’s bustling up and down the shed-row. Indeed, a good portion of the interview was conducted with Powell lugging around from stall to stall his ultra-sound machine. “I don’t expect any of my help to do anything I’m not willing to do myself,” he said. When this is your modus operandi, what helps is a grounding that’s pock-marked with a little bit of everything–as his is. He rode as an amateur in France on the flat and over jumps, with a handful of victories to his name (including a 120-1 winner). He’s been a stable lad. Foreman. Assistant trainer. He’s got a business degree from the University of Caen, Normandy. But it all started with the family farm, his father “very much” the slave driver, Powell said (with what seems like a note of pride). “You need a lot of patience when you’re in breeding. It teaches you all the basics.” With high school done and dusted, Powell packed his bags-first off, to Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, and what seems a rite of passage for those masochists with big ambitions. “Mandella was tough. Very tough,” Powell said (again the understatement). But he credits this experience as having the greatest impact on his career. “I was a blank book back then,” he said. “I learned about the general care of horses–more than I did in Europe.” At the turn of the millennium, Powell found himself in Sydney, working for trainer John Hawkes, at Warwick Farm. There, he learned most about fitness, he said-more specifically, the art of keeping horses simmering nicely without boiling over. “The work times don’t matter so much over there,” he said. “It’s all about keeping a horse fit instead of grinding and grinding…They’re very good about not going over the top.” When it came to the 2-year-olds, the Hawkes approach was simple, he said: “stress them early” and then back off. “We would train them hard for a week, two weeks, then send them out–then the next batch come in,” he said, explaining the physical and mental imperative of conditioning young horses. “To me, it’s like a kid that misses pre-school–it’s very hard to catch up.” And it was with Hawkes that Powell saw how beneficial “spelling” a horse could be. “Giving a break to a horse when it’s still on top is far more beneficial than weight. Horses age really well in Australia. You can see it with Winx,” he said, admitting that he would use this strategy more often with his own horses–if able to. “It’s not easy because of the economic factor,” he said. “Some owners, it’s not easy to tell them that his horse is sound and healthy, but he needs a break.” On his way back from Australia, Powell had a two-day stop-over in Singapore. “I ended up staying six months.” He worked for trainer Michael Kent, in a land where, when it rained, “it really rained,” he said. “I remember riding out, it had rained so much, I took my riding boots off and it was like a river that’s pouring out.” Kent’s approach was rooted in science. “He checked blood levels all the time.” Kent used a lactate reader–a device to read the lactic acid levels of his horses, “and he was very acute about the feed–had a good feed program.” Which brings us neatly back to Powell’s own magpie-like approach, taking an idea or two from here, an idea or two from there. “I’ve tried to take the best from everybody,” he said. Like Kent, for example, he monitors the heart-rates of his workers. “That gives me a good idea of their fitness.” But the art of training is more than just the repackaging of other ideas, he said–it’s repackaging them into something identifiably yours. “Patrick Biancone told me, ‘When you train, you cannot just do like everyone else. You have to do something different, otherwise people won’t want to have horses with you,'” Powell said. “And I think what makes me different from other trainers is the time we spend on horses,” he added. “We do seven sets when other guys rush to do ten, twelve.” That, and walking, walking, walking. “It’s a great way to keep your fitness without stressing the joints as much…very good for their red blood cells.” The need to separate and differentiate yourself from the competition is perhaps more keenly felt than ever, considering the current economic climate for trainers in California. “We lack owners,” he said. And as for many of those owners already involved, “they’ll tell you that the big trainers are too big, but they’ll still send their horses to them.” So, how do you expand and grow in an industry that’s contracting? “You have to concentrate on quality,” he said. “You have to buy quality horses because they’re the only ones making money.” He prefers to buy his own horses, find three or four partners only. “That way, you’re spreading the risk, but it still feels like your horse.” And he’ll often keep a share himself–or rather, a share in the name of his wife, Mathilde, his sweetheart from their university days, when she was an economics major. They have three daughters: Louise, 13, Blanche, 12, and Jeanne, 8. “The one thing I’m most proud of is the fidelity of my owners–all my owners have been very loyal to me,” he said, attributing a portion of this to the shares he keeps in Mathilde’s name–i.e. there’s nothing like skin in the game to demonstrate sincerity. “I really see the owner-trainer relationship as that of husband and wife. You have to trust each other.” Which in turn pivots us all the way back to the beginning, for there’s an interesting duality to Powell which harkens back to those childhood days, his nose buried in pedigree books. That’s because, for all his forward thinking, the ferreting out of new techniques to bring about that extra length or so of improvement in his horses, there’s a deeper appreciation for the fundamentals of the game, grounded in loyalty and hard work. A respect for the foundational traditions. Just take a glimpse at the bookshelf at his barn: “Les Grandes Courses Francaises 2004,” a faded “International Horseman’s Dictionary,” and a dusty looking “History of the Thoroughbred in California.” One on John Henry. Another on “The British Racehorse.” And the rose bushes decorating Powell’s barn are given extra resonance considering the books he has at home on Sir Henry Cecil. And so, when Powell tells the story of how Richard Mandella–a name synonymous with the “old school” as any–once complimented him after a win, it’s easy to understand why that particular trainer’s words have stuck with him above all others. I had, of course, to do a bit of fact-checking, make sure the anecdote isn’t apocryphal. “He did good–I thought he did a good job,” Mandella said, dusting off the old memories. Then, he added: “I admire him. He’s got a great little family. He does a good job with his horses. And I’ve been impressed with how he conducts his business.” Can’t say fairer than that. 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There was just one seven-figure yearling sold during the second session of Bloodstock South Africa’s National Yearling Sale on Wednesday. That was a son of Ideal World (Kingmambo), himself a son of the blueblooded Group 1 winner Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill) (lot 340) bought by trainer Dennis Drier for R1,000,000 ($80,168/£57,496/€65,837). Consigned by Mauritzfontein Stud, which also provided Tuesday’s top lot, the colt is the second foal of the placed Alouette (SAf) (Spectrum {Ire}). Mauritzfontein and Ideal World also provided the session’s highest-priced filly (lot 232), who was picked up by Jehan Malherbe’s Form Bloodstock for R500,000. GI Kentucky Derby winner Flower Alley, who stands in Japan at Big Red Farm, is the sire of a colt from Wilgerbosdrift Stud that made R650,000 from Worldwide Bloodstock (lot 284). That one is the first foal out of the stakes-placed Square Dance (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), herself a daughter of the G2 Gold Circle Oaks and G2 Dubai City of Gold S. winner Front House (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). View the full article

Great jockey championships happen in slow motion but if this season’s title race could be said to have had a moment when the vague mirage of a contest between Joao Moreira and Zac Purton took on real form, it was the final race at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. A white-hot Purton had already slammed home four winners to Moreira’s one, closing his deficit to eight wins. But when it looked to all the world like the Magic Man had edged his lead out again when Storm Signal hit the... View the full article

Crossed Baton debuted with a sixth, behind subsequent G2 Royal Lodge S. victor and G1 Racing Post Trophy runner-up Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy), in an Aug. 18 one-mile novice event at Newmarket. He shed maiden status over the same trip at Sandown in his only other juvenile start Sept. 15 and lined up for this black-type bow coming off a snug defeat of the dual stakes-placed Tigre du Terre (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) in a 10-panel all-weather heat at Kempton last time Mar. 31. Sent to the fore after the initial exchanges, the crowd’s second choice made a smooth transition through Tattenham Corner and kept on relentlessly under ever-increasing persuasion inside the final quarter mile to hold the late surge of My Lord And Master (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for a career high. He follows in the hoofprints of Christophermarlowe (Tapit), So Mi Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) to provide the John Gosden-Frankie Dettori axis with a fourth straight score in a contest elevated to listed level this year. Crossed Baton is a half-brother to the 2-year-old filly Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and a yearling colt by Mastercraftsman (Ire), and he is one of two scorers, and the leading performer, produced by a winning daughter of Listed James Seymour S. victress Quandary (Blushing Groom {Fr}), herself a half-sister to three stakes performers headed by G1 Prix du Moulin heroine All At Sea (Riverman). The homebred bay shares Quandary as a second dam with MG1SW sire Twice Over (GB) (Observatory), G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victress Passage of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and G1 Falmouth S. winner Timepiece (GB) (Zamindar). Wednesday, Epsom, Britain INVESTEC BLUE RIBAND TRIAL-Listed, £50,000, EPS, 4-25, 3yo, 10f 17yT, 2:11.35, gd. 1–CROSSED BATON (GB), 127, c, 3, by Dansili (GB) 1st Dam: Sacred Shield (GB), by Beat Hollow (GB) 2nd Dam: Quandary, by Blushing Groom (Fr) 3rd Dam: Lost Virtue, by Cloudy Dawn 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £28,355. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $52,089. 2–My Lord And Master (Ire), 127, c, 3, Mastercraftsman (Ire)–Affability (Ire), by Dalakhani (Ire). (65,000gns Ylg ’16 TAOCT). O-T Bridge. £10,750. 3–Dee Ex Bee (GB), 127, c, 3, Farhh (GB)–Dubai Sunrise, by Seeking the Gold. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. £5,380. Margins: HD, 1 1/4, 2. Odds: 2.75, 5.00, 1.85. Also Ran: James Cook (Ire), Simpson (Ire), Zabriskie (Ire), Miles Christianus (Ire), Technological (GB). Click for the Racing Post result. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. View the full article

Four-time group race winner Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is currently standing his first season at the National Stud in Newmarket, will shuttle to New Zealand’s Little Avondale Stud this year after that operation purchased his Southern Hemisphere breeding rights. He will stand for NZ$10,000. National Stud Chairman Guy Roxburghe said, “We are hugely excited to be teaming up with New Zealand’s longest-established stallion stud to offer Time Test to breeders there. His first season at stud here in England has been a great success and we really couldn’t have wished for a stronger list of breeding right supporters, all of whom have sent him some really wonderful mares.” Little Avondale principal Sam Williams said, “We are extremely proud and excited to be standing Time Test here at Little Avondale. It has been over four decades since we stood the English-bred Oncidium, who won the [G1] Coronation Cup and went on to become New Zealand’s champion sire. Time Test has a wonderful pedigree by a champion sire and from a very strong female line. He is an impressive, athletic individual with a very kind eye; however, it was his performance on the track that really caught my attention. He had a unique toughness and a super turn of foot. It is these credentials that Time Test brings with him that will appeal to New Zealand breeders.” View the full article

Hong Kong-based jockey Nash Rawiller has been banned for 15 months for tipping, and having bets himself, on horses he rode. The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s charges stated that the 43-year-old Rawiller on two occasions accepted, “pecuniary or other gifts or other considerations for providing tips in respect of horses he rode,” and also that he had an interest in bets placed on horses he rode on multiple occasions. “The Club’s handling of this matter demonstrates the expert nature and strength of the Club’s systems for the prevention and detection of breaches of the Rules of Racing, and our unwavering resolve to ensure the highest standards of the integrity in Hong Kong racing,” said Andrew Harding, Executive Director of Racing for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Rawiller, former stable rider to Gai Waterhouse and the partner of such luminaries as More Joyous (NZ) (More Than Ready) and Pierro (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), currently sits third in the Hong Kong jockeys’ standings. The ban is effective immediately. View the full article

Trainer Tony Cruz is confident jockey Kerrin McEvoy can handle the pressure of riding Pakistan Star in Sunday’s Audemars Piguet QE II Cup after the Australian was revealed as the problem horse’s new rider. British-based Brazilian Silvestre de Sousa had been booked to ride Pakistan Star but informed connections he could not make the trip on Wednesday. Cruz turned to McEvoy, a winner of more than 1,400 races with extensive international experience and a rider Cruz called “world... View the full article

Twenty-six colts were left in the May 5 G1 Qipco 2000 Guineas at Wednesday’s latest scratching stage, and 20 fillies were left in the following day’s G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas. Aidan O’Brien has left six in the 2000 Guineas, headed by G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and G2 Superlative S. winner Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). G3 Craven S. winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) remains eligible, as does last weekend’s G3 Greenham S. winner James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) and the Mar. 3 Listed Spring Cup winner Headway (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}), who galloped over the Rowley Mile on Wednesday morning. “His gallop this morning was exactly how I hoped it would be,” said Headway’s trainer William Haggas. “He’s in pretty good shape and just needed a nice blow out. I wanted him to work with two other decent horses to encourage him to relax. He handled the dip well and he’s on top of his game. He needs fast ground so it suited us to bring him here for a gallop rather than race him on soft. We wouldn’t run him in the Guineas on soft ground.” “On pedigree he should stay, he just needs to relax,” Haggas added. “We hope that he can improve and he has a turn of speed that gives him a chance in an open year.” Aidan O’Brien has also left six fillies in the 1000 Guineas, headed by two-time Group 1 winner Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who just missed at the top level on a few occasions last year. Other entries of note include Godolphin’s G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Wild Illusion (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and G1 Fillies’ Mile winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). View the full article

Seven countries are represented among the initial entries for Royal Ascot’s Group 1 races. The potential visitors include 12 from the U.S., three each from Australia and Japan and one, G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize winner Lucky Bubbles (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}), from Hong Kong. Nick Smith, Director of Racing and Communications at Ascot, said, “We’re very pleased with the variety and quality of the Royal Ascot entries this year. Seven countries, including Britain, are represented, and amongst them a Hong Kong Chairman’s Sprint Prize winner, two U.S.-trained Breeders’ Cup winners and a dual winner of the Group 1 Newmarket H. in Australia. One of the great storylines of the 2017 meeting was the owners’ title, which went to the final race, the Queen Alexandra S., with Coolmore just pipping Godolphin. With a record 110 entries from Ireland, a large number of them naturally from the Coolmore team, and after the flying start to the year by Godolphin, it looks like the 2018 competition will be just as competitive.” The U.S. contingent is led by defending G1 King’s Stand S. winner Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) as well as 2017 Breeders’ Cup winners Stormy Liberal (Stormy Atlantic) and Rushing Fall (More Than Ready). Australian Group 1-winning sprinters Redkirk Warrior (GB) (Notnowcato {GB}), Shoals (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Merchant Navy (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) are expected to face off on the meeting’s final day in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. Japanese trainer Kazuo Fujisawa could send two for the G1 St James’s Palace S.: Godolphin’s Tower Of London (Jpn) (Raven’s Pass) , as well as Fast Approach (Jpn) (Dawn Approach {Ire}). Hong Kong’s Lucky Bubbles will attempt to defend his Chairman’s Sprint Prize title on Sunday, and trainer Francis Lui said, “Royal Ascot is one of the most prestigious race meetings in the world and it will be a great honour for us to participate. As we have a suitable horse to be entered for the meeting, I decided to have an entry and would say that Lucky Bubbles will have a great chance to go.” View the full article

I Am Invincible (Aus), currently second behind Snitzel (Aus) on Australia’s general sires’ table, will stand for A$192,500 this year, up from A$110,000 in 2017. The son of Invincible Spirit has been on an upward trajectory since being crowned champion first-season sire in 2013/14, and his 18 stakes winners this season is also second only to Snitzel. I Am Invincible had five seven-figure yearlings at the recent Inglis Easter sale and was that sale’s second-leading sire by average behind Fastnet Rock (Aus) (three or more sold), with 34 sold averaging A$548,529. I Am Invincible will be joined at Yarraman Park this season by his Group 1-winning son Hellbent (Aus), who is offered at an introductory fee of A$27,500. Hellbent capped his career on Mar. 23 with a win in the G1 William Reid S. over 1200 metres. Yarraman Park also stands Snitzel’s three-quarter brother Hinchinbrook (Aus), whose Seabrook (NZ) won last weekend’s G1 Champagne S. after contesting all three legs of the Sydney 2-year-old Triple Crown. Click here for a video with Yarraman Park’s Arthur Mitchell discussing the service fees. View the full article

Top Australian jockey Nash Rawiller has been banned for 15 months after Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards charged him with accepting money or gifts in return for race tips. The jockey was charged at a Jockey Club hearing at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday morning and was given two 15-month bans that will be served concurrently. Rawiller was charged with having breached Rule of Racing 59 (2) and (3). Rule of Racing 59 (2) states that “no jockey shall accept or agree to any pecuniary or... View the full article

The last time Blizzard ran over anything further than 1,400 metres, he was four years old and undergoing the regular rite of passage for good horses of that age in Hong Kong, persevering his way through classic events that were not really his forte. He soldiered through bravely with placings in the Classic Mile and Classic Cup before failing in the Derby, then trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fai switched him back to sprinting for his next 15 starts. So, with Blizzard coming off a solid fifth in the... View the full article

If there were any questions about Tommy Berry’s readiness to ride again after a trial fall on Tuesday, they were answered at Sha Tin trackwork on Wednesday morning as his Japanese mount in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize on Sunday answered some questions of his own. The jockey fell at Sha Tin when his mount, Agree, collapsed and died in a trial but Berry was confident there would be no interruption to his week as he heads towards Champions Day on Sunday with the sit on the talented... View the full article

Sprint or Mile a Gray area for Lim's Cruiser View the full article

Sky Rocket ready to explore new heights View the full article

Polytrack main hurdle to Aramco's bid for second Leg View the full article

CC Wong suspended two days View the full article

OCALA, FL–The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s April Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds sale got off to a good start Tuesday in Central Florida with steady trade and an increase in average and median over last year’s opening session. A total of 151 of the 210 juveniles offered sold for $15,083,000 compared to last term’s opening session, when 185 of 222 youngsters to pass through the ring sold for a gross of $15,675,700. The average was up 17.8% from $84,734 to $99,887 and the median increased 14.6% from $48,000 to $55,000. “We are off to a good start,” said Tom Ventura, OBS President. “I am very pleased with how the day went. There was a lot of concern about how the buyers would react to the day that was affected by the weather on Monday’s breeze show. The times were a little slower than the rest of the week. We do have a sophisticated buying base here and the results showed that. Our top five horses sold to five different buyers and there was good activity below that.” Fifty-nine 2-year-olds failed to sell for an RNA rate of 28.1%. At the close of business during the 2017 opening session, 53 horses failed to meet their reserves for a buyback rate of 23.9%, but after post sales were included, the buy-back rate fell to 16.7%. The session was topped by an $800,000 Quality Road filly (hip 95) purchased by Frank Fletcher Racing. She was consigned by Eddie Woods, who was Tuesday’s leading seller with 11 horses bringing $2,040,000. Alex and JoAnn Lieblong bought the day’s highest-priced colt in Hip 144, a $550,000 son of freshman sire Strong Mandate from the consignment of Randy Miles. “The market seems fine,” Miles said after the colt went through the ring. “I’ve had four horses sell so far and they all sold except for one. I think it is a good market. We’ve had some big ticket items sell, so it seems fine. We were a little worried early when we first got started. I’m having a good day so I’m not complaining.” Ten juveniles brought over $300,000 compared to 2017 when only five surpassed that number. Selling continues Wednesday through Friday with sessions beginning at 10:30 a.m. Fletcher Strikes for Quality Road Filly Arkansas businessman Frank Fletcher, who has been a major factor in absentia at recent OBS sales, was on hand to personally sign the ticket at $800,000 to acquire a filly by Quality Road during Tuesday’s first session of the April sale. “I’ve been buying colts down here for years and I decided I needed to get on the other side of the track a little bit and buy some ladies,” Fletcher said. “She looked very good.” The dark bay filly (hip 95) is out of Betty Brite (Medaglia d’Oro), who is out of a full-sister to Tiznow. She was consigned by Eddie Woods and worked a quarter during last week’s under-tack preview in :22 flat. Fletcher, whose business interests include the Fletcher Auto Group, purchased a colt by Into Mischief for $400,000 at last year’s OBS April sale and set a then-record at the June sale in 2015 when going to $575,000 for another son of the same sire. “I haven’t been here personally in two or three years, but I’ve bought a lot of horses here,” Fletcher said. “I haven’t been here since they started remodeling, but I love Ocala. This is a great place and hopefully I’ll be able to buy two or three more horses at the sale.” He continued, “We are excited. It’s always a gamble, it’s a gambling business. But it’s a fun business and I travel all over the country going to races–it’s what I do for fun.” Bred by John Gunther, Eurowest Bloodstock and Celebre Investments, hip 95 RNA’d for $190,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale. After the buy-back, bloodstock agent Pete Bradley purchased a 50% interest in the filly from Gunther. “She just kept getting better all along,” Bradley said of the filly. “Eddie Woods and Angela did such a great job with her because she was backwards when we bought her. The frame was there and she had the natural talent, but they got her to be what she brought.” Of the filly’s final price tag, Bradley said, “We knew she would sell well, but that was more than we had expected.” Quality Road, sire of last year’s Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly Abel Tasman and champion 2-year-old filly Caledonia Road, was also represented Tuesday in Ocala by hip 127, a bay filly from the King’s Equine consignment who sold for $310,000 to Susan Moulton. —@JessMartiniTDN Lieblong Strikes For Strong Mandate Colt Alex Lieblong had his eye on Hip 144, a son of freshman sire Strong Mandate, before he ever stepped foot on the sales grounds and he was the last man standing at the end of a spirited round of bidding at OBS Tuesday to take the juvenile home for $550,000. “I liked everything about him,” the Arkansas native said. “Anyone that can work :10 flat in that wind is a big step above. Bo [Hunt] breaks a lot of my horses, so when I am buying something off Bo I have complete faith. He did a great job with him and I got to watch the horse train. They’ve done right by the horse all along.” As for the price, Lieblong said, “I’ll be honest with you, I thought he’d go a little higher, but I’m glad he didn’t.” Lieblong plans to send his new purchase to Ron Moquett, who was seated alongside the owner when he signed the ticket. “Ron will probably get that one,” said Lieblong, who campaigned Grade I winners The Big Beast (Yes It’s True) and Embellish the Lace (Super Saver) with his wife JoAnn. “I have to make sure I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings if I say that too quick. He’s had a little illness, but he is getting over that, so this might speed up his recovery.” Hip 144 is from the first crop of GI Hopeful S. winner Strong Mandate (Tiznow), whose offspring have proven quite popular in the sales ring. He was represented by an $825,000 filly at last term’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and a $775,000 colt at last month’s OBS March sale. “I love him,” Lieblong said of the young stallion. “He’s by Tiznow and I saw him when he won at Saratoga. For a Tiznow to be able to do that early, it pumps me up a little bit because I know the Tiznows are good later on, but when they start doing that early, it shows me a little more athleticism.” Consignor Randy Miles expressed similar sentiments about the Three Chimneys stallion. “We’ve had three at the farm this year,” he said. “They are all good, big, rugged horses and seem precocious. I like them.” Miles bought Hip 144 through his Royal Flush Racing partnership for $60,000 at last term’s Fasig-Tipton October sale. Bred by Robert Lail, the dark bay is out of Callous Effect (Majestic Warrior) and hails from the family of Grade I winner Pharma (Theatrical {Ire}). “We stretched to buy him as a yearling because we liked him so much,” Miles said. “We bought him from Brandywine at the October sale. We got him home and we have loved him ever since.” While Miles was not surprised by the colt’s final prize, he was shocked when he saw who the buyer was. “Bo works on these horses and Mr. Lieblong is a client of ours,” Miles said. “We had no idea he was going to buy this horse. He fooled us. He watched the horse on the farm and saw him here at the barn, but when I saw he was signing the ticket, I was shocked. It was a good surprise. It’s nice when your own people have faith in you, and he does. He has a lot of faith in what Bo does for him.” —@CDeBernardisTDN Daisy Dukes Produces for Eisamans Barry and Shari Eisaman enjoyed sales success as breeders Tuesday in Ocala when a colt by Big Drama sold to Klaravich Stable for $475,000. The Eisamans bred the juvenile (hip 245) under their Eico Ventures banner out of the mare Daisy Dukes (Ghazi). “We’ve had that mare since she was a weanling, so everything that she has done has been for us,” Barry Eisaman said. “She’s been a good mare. She’s retired now.” Daisy Dukes is also the dam of Japanese stakes winner Surplus Singer (Songandaprayer). Her Big Drama colt, who worked a furlong in :10 flat last week, was a standout, according to Eisaman. “He is an outstanding prospect,” Eisaman said. “They got a wonderful, wonderful race prospect. That was a generous amount of money, but I think Big Drama might have been something that would maybe have held some people back. But this is a superior athlete. He’s fast, healthy and correct.” —@JessMartiniTDN He’s Had Enough Juveniles Proving Popular The first crop of juveniles by He’s Had Enough (Tapit), runner-up in the 2012 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, are turning heads in the sales ring this spring. Lane’s End Bloodstock, on behalf of West Point Thoroughbreds and Robert Masiello, went to $370,000 to secure hip 276 from the Grassroots Training & Sales consignment and about an hour later bloodstock agent Gary Young purchased a gray colt (hip 305) by the stallion for $320,000. “He’s had a bunch of good-moving horses,” Young said of He’s Had Enough, who stands at Woodford Thoroughbreds for $5,000. “I tried buying the one that Grassroots had earlier that was really nice and Ciaran Dunne had one at Barretts that was nice. The one that Ciaran had at Barretts and this one here were grays. The one that David McKathan [of Grassroots] had that I tried to buy about an hour earlier was chestnut. But they are good, long-striding horses. They don’t look like they are going to be 5 1/2 furlong horses.” Dunne’s Wavertree Stables sold a colt by He’s Had Enough (hip 40) for $160,000 at last month’s Barretts Spring Sale. Of hip 305, who worked a quarter last week in :21 3/5, Young said, “I just really liked this horse. He looks like Tapit. And He’s Had Enough looks like Tapit. We’ll see.” Consigned by Eddie Woods, the gray colt was purchased by Quarter Pole Enterprises for $40,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton July sale. He is out of Elizabits (Forestry), a half-sister to the dam of graded stakes winner Onlyforyou (Malibu Moon). Grassroots purchased hip 276 for $62,000 at the Fasig July sale. The chestnut, a half-brother to stakes wiinner Discreet Lover (Repent), worked a furlong in :10 flat last week. Asked if he was surprised to have to pay that much for a son of the young stallion, Young said, “Before the 2-year-old sales started I would have been surprised, but there are other people who can tell you, he throws a good-moving horse. He was a nice horse as a racehorse, but he throws a nice-looking horse and a nice-moving horse. I hope we get to prove that right in about five months.” —@JessMartiniTDN View the full article

Double Doors Racing, LLC, owners of GII Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks winner Chocolate Martini (Broken Vow), have agreed to donate 5% of any earnings from the filly’s run in the GI Kentucky Oaks to the Retired Racehorse Project. The funds will go toward helping the organization’s mission of increasing the value and demand for Thoroughbreds once they retire from racing. “Our love of horse racing stems from our love for the horses,” co-owner for Double Doors Racing Amanda DaBruzzo said. “As such, we recognize and appreciate that the real stars in horse racing are these tremendous athletes. Double Doors Racing is committed to ensuring that all horses, not just the champions, have a bright future after their time on the track. We hope that our commitment to the Retired Racehorse Project will further their mission and this cause.” View the full article

Trainer Todd Pletcher's four Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) hopefuls arrived at Churchill Downs at 2:30 Monday afternoon with the trainer following a few hours later. On Tuesday morning, it was back to work. View the full article

In common with all European breeze-up sales this season, the Osarus sale, which takes place at La Teste de Buch racecourse today, has an increase in numbers catalogued. From 102 in the book and three supplementary entries, 15 had already been withdrawn at the time of writing but it’s still a rise from the 62 offered last year, when just 36 sold for a total of €645,000 at an average price of €18,156. Paul Basquin’s Haras de Saubouas has been the leading vendor at this sale since 2015 and last year sold the top two lots, headed by a Wootton Bassett colt at €77,000. At this ninth edition of the Osarus breeze-up, which moved to La Teste from Pornichet three years ago, Saubouas again has one of the biggest drafts, with 11 juveniles set to be tested in public for the first time. They include the sole lot in the sale by Reliable Man (GB), who recently transferred from Germany to France and is represented by a colt (lot 43) from the family of Anna Nerium (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who last week added victory in the listed European Free H. to her juvenile success in the G3 Dick Poole Fillies’ S. The largest consignment, however, is that from Haras de Saint-Arnoult and it’s not just numbers alone that will bring potential purchasers to Larissa Kneip’s boxes. Two of her offerings received a significant update a little over a fortnight ago when Barkaa (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) won the G3 Prix Vanteaux at the opening meeting of ParisLongchamp. Lot 57 is Barkaa’s half-brother and one of three juveniles in the sale from the first crop of Haras du Quesnay’s Anodin (Ire). Just four lots later (61), a Siyouni colt from a half-sister to Barkaa’s dam Dentelle (Fr) (Apeldoorn {Fr}) will go through the ring. A three-time provincial winner in France, Dentelle is also the dam of treble listed scorer My Old Husband (Fr) (Gentlewave {Ire}), whose 11 wins have come in France, Italy, Switzerland and Slovakia. Anodin’s fellow French freshman sires Joshua Tree (Ire) and Sommerabend (Ger) are also among those stallions with offspring catalogued, but the sole representative of Olympic Glory (Ire) has been withdrawn. The horses will breeze on the turf at La Teste from 8.30am and the sale is set to start at 1.30pm. View the full article

Frank Stronach, the founder and honorary chairman of The Stronach Group and a leading Thoroughbred owner and breeder, will be presented with the Dinny Phipps Award at the Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration on Thursday, June 7, at the Bryant Park Grill in New York City, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation announced Tuesday. Earle Mack, an active participant in Thoroughbred racing and breeding for more than five decades, created the award in 2017 to honor an individual or individuals who have demonstrated dedication to equine health. The Phipps family received the inaugural Dinny Phipps Award at last year’s charity celebration. All proceeds from the event benefit the ongoing research of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to improve equine health for all breeds. “Frank Stronach has been committed to improving all aspects of the horse racing industry since entering the sport more than 50 years ago,” said Mack. “I am thrilled to bestow the Dinny Phipps Award to an individual who prioritizes the wellbeing of the equine in all areas from breeding to racing to racetrack management.” Dell Hancock, chairman of Grayson, added, “From his support of Grayson’s work to his efforts to ensure the highest standards of health and soundness for his horses and all horses that compete at his racetracks, Frank Stronach epitomizes the essence of the Dinny Phipps Award, and he is extremely deserving of this accolade.” Additional information about the Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration can be obtained by contacting Nancy Kelly at nkelly@jockeyclub.com. View the full article

Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus}), ruled out of consideration for the GI Kentucky Derby with a minor infection, will resume training next week in preparation for a tilt at the GI Belmont S., owner Phoenix Thoroughbreds, Ltd., announced Tuesday. He has won four straight races, including the 32red Burradon S. “Gronkowski the horse is recovering very well from a small infection, ” said Tom Ludt, Vice President of equine operations for Phoenix Thoroughbreds. “He’s extremely strong and we are excited about getting him to the U.S. to compete at the Belmont.” The Phoenix race team also includes the dark bay’s namesake, New England Patriots all-pro tight end and two-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski. “This horse is a fighter and a winner,” Gronkowski said. “As an athlete, I understand the need for rest and recovery time. I’m glad that he’s recovering quickly, and I look forward to meeting him soon and taking some selfies!” View the full article

Never mind Emmanuel Macron. France has a new president and he’s not one who has parachuted into his position of power in the blink of an eye. In February, French racing lost its doyenne, Criquette Head-Maarek, whose retirement saw her yard sold to rising young trainer Henri-Francois Devin. Her responsibilities as the president of the French trainers’ association, however, have been passed on to fellow long-serving Chantilly trainer Nicolas Clement, whose statesmanlike demeanour and 30 years with a licence stand him in good stead to represent his colleagues. “Criquette was president for 20 years and I was part of the board for 15 years so she asked me to take over,” says Clement during a pause between lots on one of the first warm mornings of the year in Chantilly. “Obviously my priority is training my horses but sometimes you have to get involved and there’s a good team behind me, some young blood like Francis Graffard and Mikel Delzangles in Chantilly, and good people from the country like Philippe da Cruz and Etienne Leenders.” The giant magnolia tree in Clement’s immaculate garden is struggling back into bloom, just as the 70 horses in the yard on the other side of the house are surrendering the last of their winter coats, both processes encouraged, finally, by the appearance of the sun. “It’s a big continuity game, training,” says Clement. “I love to see the offspring of stallions and mares we’ve previously trained. We’re fortunate that four or five years ago we had some very nice Classic colts, like French Fifteen (Fr) who was second to Camelot (GB) in the Guineas, then [Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner] Style Vendome (Fr) came a year later, which was very satisfying as we bought him with Tina at the sales from Haras de Colleville for one of our longest standing owners, Comte Andre de Ganay.” ‘Tina’ is the trainer’s partner, the effervescent bloodstock agent Tina Rau, a graduate of the first Darley Flying Start course and German by birth but impressively multilingual, like Clement himself. The pair work closely at the sales and Rau’s valuable input closer to home is clear as she tours the boxes, reciting the pedigrees of the horses within and their progress to date. Among the current intake are several youngsters by the aforementioned Style Vendome, the son of Anabaa now standing at Haras de Bouquetot with first 3-year-olds this season. That debut crop includes the Al Shaqab-bred Talbah (GB), who made a winning debut at Deauville in March before returning a month later to take third in the G3 Prix Imprudence. “Talbah seems very promising,” says her trainer. “She was great after her race but we won’t go for the Guineas as she’s only run twice. We’ll try to go an easier way with a listed race in early May then the Prix de Sandringham in June at Chantilly, which is a Group 2 over a mile. Let’s hope she lives up to expectations.” Representing the first crop of the Gestut Fahrhof-based Maxios (GB) is another 3-year-old who appears to have a bright future in Woodmax (Ger), an expensive purchase by Mayfair Speculators from the BBAG Yearling Sale who became one of his sire’s first winners last season when saluting at Evreux and following up that success with a metropolitan win at Maisons-Laffitte. The neat dark brown colt ended his season with a fourth-place finish in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere just behind recent wide-margin Craven S. winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) but struggled in his seasonal debut at Longchamp in the G3 Prix Djebel. Clement says, “You need to write off Woodmax’s race the other day as the ground was too heavy and he probably blew up, but he showed that he was very close to the top in the Lagardere. It’s the same thing for him really. We’re tempted to go for a listed race at the end of April then decide if we go for the French Guineas, or we might be tempted to go for the German Guineas. He might also be a good horse to travel. There are very good purses in America and a race like the Belmont Derby might be ideal for him, but we’ll take one race at a time.” Clement, who trains from the yard previously run by his late father Miguel, has particularly close links to America though his brother Christophe, who eventually settled thousands of miles away from his Chantilly home and now has teams based primarily at Belmont Park in New York and Florida’s Payson Park. The brothers liaise regularly, particularly on the subject of filtering horses to each other’s stables. “Christophe and I speak twice or three times a week, sometimes more depending on runners that I might have sent him or the other way round. We’re very close and he tries to come here once or twice a year and I try to do the same,” says Clement. The older brother by two years, Nicolas Clement briefly entertained the idea of an alternative career before setting out on the path already trodden by his father and becoming, in 1988, the youngest person ever to hold a training licence in France. Prior to that, he put flesh on the bones of his experience with stud farm stints at Haras de Clarbec and Taylor Made in America, where he went on to work for a young John Gosden and then on to Gosden’s former mentor, Vincent O’Brien. Eventually returning home, he studied at the hand of his father’s old friend Francois Boutin, whom he describes as “a great trainer but an even better man”. He says, “At 18 I was going to be a vet but I lasted only two months at vet school because I got bored, there wasn’t enough action. I wanted to be a trainer, I guess.” Clement continues, “I’ve been doing this for 30 years now but it seems like it was only yesterday that I started. There used to be an age limit of 25 to have a training licence in France but we had special authorisation for me to take it a year early and after that it went down to 21. I had the passion to train so I thought I’d give it a go and fortunately I love what I do. I still have the drive and the energy—I’m always looking towards the next runner or the next winner.” Just two years into his training career, a colt arrived in his yard from Henry Cecil’s stable who would give him the start every young trainer dreams about. Saumarez (GB) (Rainbow Quest) was in the process of switching ownership between Charles St George and Bruce McNall, and thanks to Clement’s bravado, ended up winning the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. “I was very fortunate, thanks to Narvick International and Emmanuel de Seroux, who bought the horse for Bruce McNall, as he was supposed to move to Charlie Whittingham but as he was working so well I begged them to supplement him for the Grand Prix de Paris,” he recalls. “It wasn’t an easy thing for a young trainer to convince some senior owners and managers but they listened to the young trainer and the horse won by six lengths with Steve Cauthen. That got me going. Then he went on to win the Arc in the autumn.” Clement is a walking promotional tool for Chantilly, clearly still under the magical spell of France’s premier training centre as he describes the benefits of the place he has called home for most of his life. Situated between the town of Chantilly and its neighbouring training hub of Lamorlaye, Clement has the best of both worlds, his horses being able to gain easy access to the gallops on Les Aigles and Les Lions. “We’ve seen some changes here over the years but one thing that has not changed is that Andre Fabre was starting to lead the table when I first set up and he’s still leading the table. We have to praise him because he’s broken all the records in longevity and he’s still teaching us a few things,” Clement says with a smile. “French racing has gone a step higher in the quality of horses. We have some very good trainers and some good ambassadors, the likes of Goldikova (Ire) going to the Breeders’ Cup and also Talismanic (GB), but also horses like Dunaden (Fr) winning the Melbourne Cup and in Hong Kong, and Vazirabad (Fr) winning in Dubai. You can train at a very high level in this country, particularly in Chantilly, which is close to the airport for shipping the horses. But in the south there are some very capable trainers too, like Jean-Claude Rouget. It’s a tough circuit.” The subject of travelling horses is one to which Clement, with a varied international client base, frequently returns. And it’s not just America in his sights. “Racing has gone global. Our purse structure is good in France but sometimes it’s better abroad for certain horses,” he says. “With my close links with my brother sometimes I can send him some nice horses and target some US races but I would also be very keen to run in Australia. The Melbourne Cup is a race with a great reputation and it’s a big aim for me. Year after year we’ve seen European horses do well there. I think in Chantilly we train horses to develop at a later stage. Of course you can train a 2-year-old here but they are given a bit more time here and in Britain and you end up with a horse like Gailo Chop (Fr) who is still doing well in Australia [at age seven]. We are building up an athlete. The 2-year-old year is important but we are looking ahead and ensuring that they can have a longer career.” Wit an eye on the long term, the trainer is not afraid to trade when the time is right, whether it’s to give a horse an opportunity to race in another country or under a different code. Only last week at Fairyhouse, the steady preparation of a Clement stable graduate was seen to good effect when Saglawy (Fr) (Youmzain {Ire}) won the G2 Juvenile Hurdle for Willie Mullins, having previously been listed-placed on the Flat in France. “I’m pretty open to ideas and I went to visit Willie Mullins last year which really opened my eyes,” says Clement. “I think you have to be open and progressive in your training. You should never say ‘that’s wrong’. There are many ways to train a racehorse. Some people canter four furlongs, five furlongs, interval training, others will go long. You have to take the best of everything and try to have a bit of a scientific approach and try to understand why something is working or not working. There’s a lot of common sense needed in our game. The wellbeing of the horse is most important, making sure they are happy. I guess it’s a bit of an instinct, and observation is a key thing, when to step up and when to step down.” He adds, “The time I spent in America was very good experience because you see so many different things, the leg work, the work pattern, which is very different to Europe. Wherever you are in the world around racehorses you can always learn.” No matter one’s level of experience, a willingness to keep learning is paramount for success, but Clement has plenty to teach, too. His training colleagues in Chantilly and beyond appear to have found the perfect man to represent them, both at home and abroad. View the full article