Wandering Eyes

With three of the last four winners of the G1 Australian Oaks (2400m) coming through either the New Zealand Derby or the New Zealand Oaks, three of Saturday’s runners come through those form lines, but this year’s G1 Vinery Stud S. over 2000m could prove a better pointer to the result. Won impressively by Mick Price’s Hiyaam (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}), the G1 Vinery Stud S.-winning filly looks to have the right attributes heading into the 2400m, having also finished a pleasing third in the G1 VRC Oaks over 2500m during the spring. Charging late as she so often does, Chris Waller’s Unforgotten (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) was just under two lengths behind Hiyaam in second last time out, but the start prior over 1500m, finished ahead of her, indicating that the Vinery one-two could finish the same here. Dominant in the G3 Lowland S. (2100m) and the G1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m), the Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained Savvy Coup (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) looks to be another one capable of giving a New Zealand-bred their fifth consecutive victory in the race through her strong staying prowess. A winner of the G2 Wakeful S. during the spring before fourth in the G1 VRC Oaks five days later, the John Sargent-trained Luvaluva (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) comes into Saturday’s Oaks off the back of two impressive Group 3 victories over 1600m and 2000m and should be ready fourth up for the 2400m. Failing as the short-priced favourite in the G1 VRC Oaks, Aloisia (NZ) (Azamour {Ire}) has had somewhat of a quite preparation compared to the spring, but heads to the Oaks after a third behind Hiyaam and Unforgotten. Likely to start one of the outsiders of the 13-horse field, Nigel Blackiston’s Naivasha (Aus) (Starcraft {NZ}) is coming off a seven-length win over 2100m at just her third start, showing improvement each time she has step up in trip, and could be a horse for the future. View the full article

With A$4-million in prizemoney on offer, Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}), the world’s greatest racehorse, will face the largest field she has raced against since September last year in an attempt to equal Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus})’s unbeaten run of 25 consecutive race wins, as well as record back to back running’s of the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. Second to Winx in the G1 George Ryder on Mar. 18, before making the G1 Doncaster H. his own last start with a two-length victory, triple Group 1 winner Happy Clapper (Aus) (Teofilo {Ire}) looks ready to achieve his fourth Group 1 second placing to the Champion mare. Set to have his third Australian start, the Anthony Freedman-trained Ambitious (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), has two wins over the 2000m, most recently when defeating dual Japanese Horse of the Year Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}) and if the drop back from a last start second in the G1 Tancred S. over 2400m poses no issue, a forward showing would not surprise at all. Dropping back to his more preferred 2000m trip, Gailo Chop (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}) has seven wins at the trip, including two back in the Ranvet S. on Mar. 24, and the Mark Zahra-ridden gelding is in with place claims. A stablemate to Gailo Chop, the Darren Weir-trained Humidor (NZ) (Teofilo {Ire}) is remembered as running Winx to a narrow margin in last year’s G1 Cox Plate and as a winner over 2000m in the G1 Australian Cup, jockey Blake Shinn should be able to ensure the 5-year-old gets a good run in transit and looks ready for an improved run up to his right trip. The interesting runner in the race is the Ken Condon-trained Success Days (Ire) (Jeremy {USA}), an international who has come over for the race and is having his first Australian start. Beaten with ease at his past two starts behind the world class-Cracksman (GB) (Frankel ({GB}) and Decorated Knight (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), his two starts prior to those were a win in the G2 York S. and a narrow Group 3 second to Johannes Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a horses well-known to Australian’s, having had three Group 1 starts here for a most recent second in the Melbourne Cup. View the full article

Some eight years ago, Green Lantern Stables’ homebred Karelian (Bertrando) came from just off the pace to score by a little more than a length in the GI Maker’s Mark Mile. The Masson family operation is in line for another victory in the race–now known as the Maker’s 46 Mile–Friday afternoon in the form of Karelian’s homebred half-brother Frostmourne (Speightstown). A stakes winner at two, the dark bay padded his resume with victories in last year’s GII Penn Mile ahead of a six-length romp in the GIII Kent S. Fourth to ‘TDN Rising Star’ Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) in the GIII Hill Prince S., Frostmourne made a victorious return to action with a one-length optional claiming success at Gulfstream Mar. 16. Speaking of senior citizens, Hogy (Offlee Wild) is a known commodity in Lexington, albeit at turf sprints, where he has placed three times combined in the GII Shakertown S. and GII Woodford S. But making his 50th trip to the post last time and trying a mile for the first time in 2 1/2 years, the 9-year-old former claimer steamed home to take the GIII Canadian Turf S. by a widening 3 3/4 lengths. Heart to Heart (English Channel) is the likely speed of the speed in here and also has an admirable record over the course, with an allowance tally and back-to-back runner-up efforts in this event. He earned a richly deserved top-level success last time in the GI Gulfstream Park Turf S. Feb. 10, but will be kept honest by the likes of Om (Munnings) and perhaps the rail-drawn Nileator (Pioneerof the Nile). “We space his races and he tells us when he’s ready and when he’s not,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “He’s been a lovely, sound horse throughout his career, so we’ve been blessed with that. He’s just a horse that with racing and time and maturity seems to have gotten better and better.” Ballagh Rocks (Stormy Atlantic), a close fourth in this event last year and third in the GI Shadwell Turf Mile in the fall, is not without his chances, nor is California shipper Next Shares (Archarcharch), who popped a 102 Beyer in a half-length defeat in the GI F.E. Kilroe Mile S. at Santa Anita Mar. 10. View the full article

SYDNEY, Australia–The Chairman’s Sale of Elite Breeding Prospects picked up the sales action in Sydney on Thursday the day after the conclusion of the Easter Yearling Sale. While the Easter sale showed some polarization the Chairman’s sale was markedly tougher, with a clearance rate of just 58% at the end of the day’s trade casting a dark cloud over proceedings. The Chairman’s sale was inaugurated last year and was deemed a success, with 70 sold (86%) from 93 catalogued over the evening session, including three seven-figure lots. With more than double catalogued this year, 105 were sold for A$24,010,000, at an average of A$228,667 and a median of A$160,000. There was one seven-figure sale on Thursday (Editor’s Note: Inglis continues to update the statistics on its website post-sale with private sales). Inglis Managing Director Mark Webster was quick to admit the sales company had got the timing of the sale and the selection criteria wrong. “We introduced the Chairman’s Sale last year with a view that we wanted to assemble and offer a catalogue of elite breeding prospects and we were quite strict about the selection criteria for that sale,” he said. “We kept the catalogue at a manageable level to be held the day after the Easter yearling sale. We had 90 in the catalogue and had quite a strict standard of foals and mares. They sold really well, we had a fantastic sale.” “This year, there were two things we should have done: with a catalogue of 200, we should have moved the sale back a day and given everyone a bit more time to inspect the foals and mares. We weren’t expecting 200, we were thinking we’d get another 90 and just offer an evening session, but it’s ended up being a more challenging day with so many to offer.” “The second thing would be that I don’t think we’ve maintained the standard of the foals and mares in the catalogue, so that has affected the clearance rate. There is plenty for us to improve upon when it comes to this format next year. We did talk to vendors about their preferred time for this sale and a lot of them said, ‘just keep going after the yearlings like you did last year.’ I think we should have changed it and given everyone a day’s break when the catalogue got up to 200. We made an error and that’s affected the overall feel of the sale; we’re happy to admit that we can improve in the future.” The sale included a mix of race fillies, mares, foals, and stallion seasons and shares, with mares filling the top eight prices. A A$150,000 Pierro colt topped a very selective foal section, while Phoenix Thoroughbreds spent A$575,000 on a lifetime breeding right to I Am Invincible (Aus) to top that portion of the sale. Yulong Loads Up… Yuesheng Zhang’s Yulong Investments has made a significant commitment to Australia in recent years, including the development of his Yulong Park breeding and training establishment and the purchase of quality stock to fill it. Zhang will add two more gems to his 80-strong Australasian broodmare band after signing in quick succession for the young Group 2 winner Gypsy Diamond (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) (lot 67) (a sale-topping A$1.35-million) and her dam, Gypsy Tucker (Aus) (Zabeel {NZ}) (lot 68) (A$800,000), at the Chairman’s sale on Thursday. Both mares were offered as part of the unreserved reduction of Finemore Thoroughbreds and Planette Thoroughbred Trading. Gypsy Diamond was a winner three times at group level and was Group 1-placed, and was sold in foal to I Am Invincible (Aus), having produced a Brazen Beau (Aus) colt in 2016 and having slipped when in foal to Tavistock (NZ) last year. Her 13-year-old dam, who has produced three winners from three to race, was sold in foal to Snitzel (Aus). They descend from the same family as the great producer Fanfreluche. “Gypsy Diamond was a great race-performing mare and she’s in foal to I Am Invincible, so the chance of coming back through the sales ring and getting a good return is great,” said Yulong’s Sam Fairgray. “What Mr. Zhang is trying to achieve here in Australia is building a good commercial broodmare band for the future when we eventually stand stallions, so we’ll have a good broodmare band we can support them with.” “We really like the pedigree with Redoute’s Choice, Zabeel, Mr. Prospector; there are so many things that will work with Australian stallions within that pedigree,” he added. “She’s a lovely young mare and a great type of mare and it’ll be great to have her in our broodmare band.” Of Gyspy Tucker, Fairgray added, “We have several Zabeel mares on the farm and she has produced Gypsy Diamond. There are a couple other fillies in the family that have gone to stud so the family will keep on improving. I know both of them well as when I was at Arrowfield we had Gypsy Tucker there when she went to stud and foaled down Gypsy Diamond.” The market across both this week’s Easter Sale and Chairman’s Sale showed some polarization at the top end, and Fairgray said, “I think the way the market is you have to branch out to get these sorts of quality mares. As we’ve seen in the sales ring and the way racing is in Australia at the moment and the international interest, the industry is so strong at the moment. Being able to access mares of this quality and add them to our broodmare band will be good for our future. I think the industry has become a lot more educated on what’s required for yearlings and mares and so forth. People are zeroing in on the certain individuals that have the right pedigrees, are the right type and have the right performance to be able to get a return.” The scope of Yu Long encompasses breeding to race and sell, and the farm offered its first consignment at the Inglis Premier sale last month. “There are 80 broodmares in our band and 20 of them are based in New Zealand as we’re shareholders in Preferment, a son of Zabeel that stands over there,” said Fairgray. “We’re wanting to grow that to 120. We have over 100 racehorses here. It’s all about getting those quality horses. Mr. Zhang has a real passion for the horse and the industry and just in the short time I’ve worked with him it’s fantastic to see his real passion for the horses. When he comes to the farm he goes out and pets them and loves them. He actually knows every horse on the farm when he goes there even though he’s not there that regularly, he can name every weanling, who it’s by, who it’s out of, who the mare is in foal to; it’s as much a business as passion for him.” Sun Bloodstock picked up another daughter of Gypsy Tucker, Here Comes Gypsy (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}), in foal to Gypsy Diamond’s sire Not A Single Doubt (Aus) for her first covering, for A$260,000. Yulong bought seven total mares on Thursday for a cumulative A$4.12-million. That haul also included the A$500,000 Veruschka (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 162), who had also featured at Tattersalls October in 2015 when bought by Coolmore connections for 2.1-million gns. The unraced filly is out of Loveisallyouneed (Sadler’s Wells), herself an unraced full-sister to Group 1 winners Yesterday (Ire) and Quarter Moon (Ire). Global Pedigrees Under The Hammer… Veruschka wasn’t the only well-related European-bred mare offered on Thursday; there were a handful of opportunities to buy into such coveted families at the sale. Paul Fudge of Waratah Thoroughbreds spent 450,000gns on the Oasis Dream (GB) filly My Sanctuary (GB) as a weanling at Tattersalls in 2012 and exported her to race in Australia. The bay picked up two wins to bolster her impeccable pedigree–she is a daughter of the German champion stayer Albanova (GB) (Alzao) and a half-sister to three stakes winners–and My Sanctuary is now headed back to her country of birth after Dermot Farrington secured her for A$600,000 on behalf of Paul Makin. Catalogued as lot 106, My Sanctuary was sold in foal to More Than Ready for her first mating. Fudge was dispersing his breeding stock at the Chairman’s sale but he is not leaving the industry, preferring to focus instead on racing going forward, and indeed he bought a colt by Shooting To Win (Aus) during the foal session on Thursday evening. Debbie Kepitis has the current queen of Australian racing in her racing stable in the great mare Winx (Aus), and Kepitis added a gem to her boutique bloodstock business, Woppitt Bloodstock, when securing the impeccably bred Posing (Medicean {GB}) (lot 117) for A$500,000 on Thursday. Originally a 260,000gns Tattersalls yearling purchase by Demi O’Byrne in 2013, Posing was a winner in four starts for Coolmore connections and was offered by that operation at the Chairman’s Sale. The 5-year-old mare is a granddaughter of the great producer Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk), the dam of Group 1 winners Nathaniel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Great Heavens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Playful Act (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) and the matriarch of almost countless other black-type winners. Posing was covered by Frankel (GB) for her first mating before being exported to Australia. “I saw Frankel race and I loved him, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to buy him, basically, and it’s a very nice mare with a great pedigree that we’ll be able to breed here to all sorts of stallions,” Kepitis said. “It was partly to buy the Frankel but also to get the overseas pedigree.” Kepitis, herself the daughter of the legendary Thoroughbred breeder Bob Ingham, has eight mares as part of Woppitt Bloodstock. She races Winx in partnership with Peter Tighe and Richard Treweeke. “Winx I race as myself, but I have a bloodstock business that I have broodmares, racehorses; it’s a very small team that I just run more for fun but with a business mind to it. I’m only small at the moment, I myself have eight mares and I produce to race and sell, but primarily I’m a racer. I like racing, but to make the business work I do sell my progeny as well.” Another mare with a standout European pedigree on Thursday was Yarraman Park’s Pivotal (GB) mare Solar Moon (GB) (Dubai Sunrise) (lot 140), and Paul Willetts went to A$625,000 to take home the 6-year-old mare in foal to I Am Invincible for her third mating. Solar Moon is a granddaughter of Colorado Dancer (Shareef Dancer), and therefore her dam, Dubai Sunrise (Seeking The Gold), is a full-sister to Dubai Millennium. An Invasion Of Mares… Last year’s G1 Sires’ Produce S. winner Invader (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), who enters stud this year at Aquis Farm, had a few high-quality suitors enter his first book during Thursday’s sale. Aquis went to A$750,000 for the 3-year-old Acqume (Aus) (Sepoy {Aus}) (lot 171). The current-season stakes-placed filly is out of the stakes-placed Acquired (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), a half-sister to the stakes winner and producer Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky), and Aquis confirmed she would visit Invader this year. Acqume was a A$350,000 yearling. Invader has another confirmed mate from the sale in Moqueen (Aus) (Uncle Mo) (lot 102), who was bought by Andy Williams on behalf of an undisclosed client. Aquis, part of the partnership that raced Invader to a win in last year’s G1 Sires’ Produce S., will stand the stallion in partnership with Phoenix Thoroughbreds. Aquis had earlier in the session secured a close relation to Acqume in the Fastnet Rock (Aus) filly Sia (Aus) (lot 137) for A$780,000. Coolmore had sold Sia, a daughter of the Group 2 winner Hips Don’t Lie and a full-sister to stakes winners Ennis Hill (Aus) and Lake Geneva (Aus), to Damion Flower for A$1.1-million at Easter two years ago and the filly raced for a partnership including those two entities and broke her maiden first-out at two last year. Aquis could not confirm what stallion the filly would visit. Trade Tough For Foals… The selective nature of the sale became quickly apparent early in the day when just 12 of 30 weanlings offered changed hands. Tops amongst them was a Pierro (Aus) half-brother to the Singapore stakes-placed Desert Fox (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) (lot 30) knocked down to New Zealand’s Lyndhurst Farm for A$150,000. The colt’s value was likely helped by the fact that the Golden Slipper-winning sire is in current hot form and has produced an Oaks and a Derby winner from his first crop. Pierro is well in front as Australia’s leading second-season sire. The foal session began with the first foal to be offered at public auction by the G1 Golden Slipper winner Vancouver (Aus), a stablemate of Pierro at Coolmore Australia. The colt from Rothwell Park (lot 13), a half-brother to the Group 2-placed Moreau (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), was bought by Gippsland Bloodstock for A$130,000. Two foals were catalogued by another first-crop Coolmore sire, Pride of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}), but they were passed in at A$130,000 and A$100,000. The third six-figure lot was a A$105,000 colt from the second crop of Darley sire Shooting To Win (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) (lot 38). The half-brother to the stakes-placed Hair Trigger (Aus) (Smart Missile {Aus}) was bought by agent Dermot Farrington on behalf of Paul Fudge, who will race the colt. Shooting To Win is the winner of the G1 Caulfield Guineas and is a full-brother to fellow first-crop yearling sire Deep Field (Aus), who stands at Newgate Farm. The buybacks during the foal session included a Snitzel filly with a reserve of A$350,000; An I Am Invincible filly with a A$200,000 reserve and a colt by the same sire with a A$150,000 reserve. Dermot Farrington also signed for the top offering from the stallion shares/breeding rights portion of the sale when acting on behalf of Phoenix Thoroughbreds to secure a lifetime breeding right to I Am Invincible (Aus) for A$575,000. I Am Invincible sits second to Snitzel on the Australian general sires’ table with five crops of racing age and is the sire of four Group 1 winners. I Am Invincible had five seven-figure yearlings at the Easter sale and was second to Fastnet Rock by average. Phoenix, as it has done globally, has been making steady inroads into the Australian industry and was also active as both a buyer and a seller at Easter. Phoenix, through David Lucas’s Lucas Bloodstock, sold seven for A$1.63-million at Easter and bought an I Am Invincible filly for A$500,000. Phoenix has thus far had one runner in Australia from its first batch of 10 2-year-olds, Hard As (Aus) (All Too Hard {Aus}), a winner on debut on the Sunshine Coast in February for trainer David Vandyke. Phoenix has about 22 broodmares Down Under and owns 25% of last year’s G1 Sires’ Produce S. winner Invader (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), who enters stud this year at Aquis. “Our Southern Hemisphere operation is mostly focused on the breeding side so we’re trying to be strong with stallion shares and with broodmares,” said Phoenix’s Amer Abdulaziz. “We also have 2-year-olds and we’ve tried to buy some yearlings but some of them we liked were very highly priced so we passed on them. But the focus going forward is going to be the broodmares and stallions.” “So far with stallions we have 25% of Invader and the share we bought today in I Am Invincible, but we’re looking for other opportunities,” he added. “If the right opportunity comes along we’ll definitely pursue it.” (Click here for a TDN feature on Phoenix’s global operations). First Pharoah Mares Offered… Eight mares in foal to American Pharoah for his first Southern Hemisphere crop were offered at the Chairman’s Sale but even they were not immune to the day’s sticky market, with just three finding new homes. They were: Lot 104, My Conclusion (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), a 10-year-old daughter of the New Zealand Classic winner Clean Sweep (NZ) (End Sweep), bought by Kingstar Farm for A$50,000; Lot 120, Prontezza (Aus) (More Than Ready), a daughter of the G1 Robert Sangster S. winner Rostova (Aus) (Testa Rossa {Aus}) bought by Yu Long for A$370,000; and Lot 129, the stakes-winning Sebring Sally (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}), bought by Belmont Bloodstock for A$400,000. The sales action continues at Riverside Stable on Sunday with the three-day Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale. View the full article

Leading G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas candidate Elarqam (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is on course for a racecourse gallop next week in Newmarket ahead of his Classic date over the same Rowley Mile on May 5. Trainer Mark Johnston had originally planed to give Sheikh Hamdan’s son of Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}) a few away days to work on grass but one such trip to Pontefract was abandoned earlier this month when that meeting fell foul to the inclement weather. Giving an update on last year’s G3 Tattersalls S. winner Johnston’s son Charlie said, “We had a few back-up plans after Pontefract was abandoned, but obviously we haven’t had any turf racing on the Flat for nearly two weeks now. He hasn’t had chance to have that away-day, but he worked at home last Saturday and we were very, very happy with him. Joe [Fanning] came in and sat on him and everyone was delighted.” On galloping plans for next week at Newmarket Johnston continued, “The plan is still for him to go to the Craven meeting next week for a racecourse gallop. We haven’t firmed up which day he’ll go yet, but hopefully that will give Jim [Crowley] an opportunity to sit on him and Sheikh Hamdan an opportunity to see him, if he’s there.” It is 24 years since Mark Johnston won his only 2000 Guineas when Mister Baileys (GB) (Robellino) scored in 1994 and should Elarqam achieve Guineas glory he would be emulating both his parents Frankel (GB) and Attraction who won their respective Guineas’ in 2011 and 2004. That significance is not lost on Johnston junior who added, “The Guineas is less than four weeks away now and we’re counting down the days.” View the full article

This year's BMW Hong Kong Derby form gets its first true test when Exultant and Ruthven step out in the Class Two Kowloon Cricket Club Centenary Cup (2,200m) and both horses' jockeys believe the extra distance will bring out their best. Exultant was third and Ruthven fourth behind Ping Hai Star and Singapore Sling in the Derby and will be tested against older horses as connections look towards the Group One Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup over 2,400m at the end of... View the full article

On the pace was the place to be at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, with the light bias that we see as often as not when the rail goes back in and that made the effort of Jolly Gains an eye-catcher in the second race. The A course at Happy Valley is very fresh ground on the inside and often – not always but often – looks to give some help to horses racing forward and against the inside and the second event was the race that suggested it was in play to at least some extent on... View the full article

In-vogue Italian jockey Alberto Sanna isn’t content with just gaining a licence extension through to the end of this season and hopes his lightweight status can help him push for a full-time place on the competitive Hong Kong roster. Sanna arrived via a successful stint in the Middle East that included a jockeys’ championship in Bahrain and runner-up finish in Qatar, which, while impressive, is a left-field résumé for a club jockey. After a short fill-in stint last... View the full article

POLICE will investigate the attempted sabotage of Thursday’s Kilmore race meeting after two steel rods were discovered protruding from the track. View the full article

POLICE will be called in to investigate “a diabolical act” after two steel spikes were found driven into the racetrack forcing a meeting at Kilmore to be abandoned. View the full article

POLICE will be called in to investigate the circumstances that led to a race meeting at Kilmore being abandoned. View the full article

John Messara, whose Arrowfield Stud was the leading vendor at this week’s Inglis Easter yearling sale, has been appointed by New Zealand Racing Minister Winston Peters to review the industry’s governance structures, and provide recommendations on future directions for the industry. “Racing is a significant industry creating NZ$1.6-billion to GDP annually, it employs up to 50,000 people, and has many passionate supporters,” said Peters. “However, it is vital an assessment is conducted on whether the industry is meeting its full financial potential, and whether its governance arrangements are top-heavy. For this reason it is pleasing Mr. Messara has agreed to conduct a strategic review to provide advice to the government. Mr Messara is considered one of Australia’s most successful racing administrators. As chair of both Racing New South Wales and Racing Australia, he led reforms to increase and secure long-term revenue. His review will also assist the government in determining if the current Racing Act 2003 and the proposed Racing Amendment Bill are fit for purpose.” Messara will commence work on the review later this month with an objective of producing a report mid-year. View the full article

KILMORE races have been abandoned over concerns of a possible sabotage attempt after two 40cm-long steel rods were found driven into the track at the 400m mark. View the full article

THE prize of Australian racing is going for a record-equalling 25 wins in a row at Sydney’s Royal Randwick racecourse this weekend. View the full article

See hopeful Maximus can have Shot at sixth win View the full article

Sunday run to determine if Maximus joins Tan's Chairman's duo View the full article

In the last major prep race for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Magnum Moon will aim to keep touting himself to masses when he and Solomini face seven others in the April 14 $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1). View the full article

In the last major prep race for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Magnum Moon will aim to keep touting himself to masses when he and Solomini rematch against seven others in the April 14 $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1). View the full article

TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) runner-up Lone Sailor returned to the work tab April 11 at Churchill Downs with a half-mile breeze in :47 4/5, his first major tune-up in preparation for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). View the full article

Don Alberto Stable's grade 1 winner Unique Bella, champion female sprinter of 2017, will be out of her element for the first time in the $700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 13 at Oaklawn Park. View the full article

Tuesday’s Texas Thoroughbred Association 2-year-olds in training sale at Lone Star Park concluded with an increase in gross sales and a slight decrease in average compared to last year’s smaller catalogue. A total of 106 horses went through the ring and 84 sold compared to last year when 70 of the 93 head found new homes. Gross sales this year totaled $2,161,900, up 15.4% from last year’s mark of $1,873,900. The average was $25,737, down 3.9% from last year’s $26,770, and the median slipped 18.2% from $16,000 to $13,100. The RNA rate was 20.8% compared to 24.7% last year. “I was really pleased that we attracted a larger catalogue this year after last year’s successful sale, and it was great to see the average almost the same with a nice increase in the gross,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “We had four horses sell for more than $100,000 with a Texas-bred, Louisiana-bred and two Kentucky-breds, so that shows the variety of quality offerings we had.” A Louisiana-bred filly named Charlotte G (Bind) topped the sale with a $140,000 bid from Gary Simms, agent for M&M Racing. The April 30 foal was one of two horses to work a bullet :10 2/5 during Sunday’s under tack show at Lone Star. She is the first foal out of the unraced Summer Bird mare Promise Me G, whose family includes GSW Texas-bred Promise Me Silver (Silver City). Full results are available at www.ttasales.com. View the full article

Steve Peterman has been named the official starter at Gulfstream Park and Gulfstream Park West. He has been the official starter at Turfway Park, Ellis Park, Calder Race Course and Indiana Grand. He also has been an assistant starter at Oaklawn, Keeneland and Churchill Downs. “We’re happy to add Steve to our great teams at Gulfstream Park and Gulfstream Park West,” said Gulfstream’s General Manager Bill Badgett. View the full article

Stephanie Preston’s official title at Morrisville State College, State University of New York (SUNY), is faculty director of the equine racing management program. But her real mission and passion since taking over that job in January is getting the word out about the best-kept secret in obtaining a practical two- or four-year degree to bolster a student’s chance of landing a good job within the racing industry. Preston has been involved in both the Thoroughbred business and in various higher education positions for some three decades, but she readily admits she had never heard of Morrisville’s racing management program until she came across a job posting for the position last year. A lot of other industry insiders also seem to be unaware of this hidden gem, even though it’s located just 2 1/2 hours west of Saratoga Race Course and about the same distance east of Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, with numerous breeding farms dotting the landscape in between. “I had no idea that I would be really interested in taking a job in upstate New York in January,” Preston said with a laugh in a recent phone interview. “But after visiting and seeing the uniqueness of the program, the hands-on emphasis, the real desire from higher administration to make this a program that produces kids with skills that are employable, and then looking at the facilities, there was just no way I could turn it down.” Morrisville’s equine science program is currently second largest program of about 80 offered at the college, Preston said. The school also has a decades-long involvement with harness racing and breeding, hosting its own an annual sale of about 80 Standardbred yearlings. But in recent years Morrisville has been trying to incorporate more Thoroughbred-related learning into the overall curriculum (the racing management program, like the breeding program, falls under the umbrella of that equine science heading). Preston’s recent hiring just might be the catalyst that will enable that endeavor to flourish. After earning her bachelor of science degree in animal science at Texas A&M University in 1990, Preston worked as a Thoroughbred jockey, trainer, owner, pinhooker, and farm manager, most notably at Prestonwood Farm in Lexington and for Oxbow Racing, with divisions in Ocala and Lexington. Along the way, she worked toward a master’s degree in equine veterinary medicine and surgery (also at Texas A&M), and in 2011 Preston obtained a doctoral degree in large animal clinical sciences and veterinary epidemiology from the University of Florida. She has done post-doctoral research and has been a visiting scholar for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky, and has published significant, separate studies involving both lameness in young Thoroughbreds and the use of Lasix in racehorses. But what truly resonates when speaking with Preston about the Morrisville program are three points: 1) The need for prospective students who are already focused on the racing industry to realize the value of a college degree so they’ll have more options later in life if plans change; 2) Drawing from the pool of students interested in other equine disciplines to show them career options in the racing industry that they might not know about, and 3) Making sure all students get one-on-one attention and the ability to tailor specialized areas of focus of their own choosing at an affordable tuition. “When I went to school 25 years ago, there was not really a good educational way to open the door to Thoroughbred racing,” Preston said. “That’s become less of a problem now, but many of us 25 or 30 years ago ended up interning through our animal science degrees with some entity that could expose us to Thoroughbred racing. I really think that if we recruit the right kids and we educate and train them right, we’re going to be very instrumental in having the industry reaching out to us to find qualified applicants, which is a big need.” Morrisville’s equine facilities are home to some 200 horses that comprise the breeding, hunt seat equitation, and Thoroughbred and Standardbred management programs, plus other horses that belong to outside clients of the school’s equine rehabilitation facility. There are three indoor riding arenas, a harness racing half-mile track with a starting gate, a trails network, and numerous outdoor riding areas. When Finger Lakes is in season, Morrisville races a string of 15 or so horses there, with students overseeing the daily training operations. “The facilities here rival any that I’ve been to in Kentucky,” Preston said. “It is truly first-class, and when they developed the Thoroughbred racing management program, they built a new barn. And adjacent to our barn and training facility is a state-of-the-art, world-class rehab center. “So as you and I are speaking right now, my students have two horses on the Aqua Tred [equine hydrotherapy system], two in the swimming pool, and one standing under the solarium,” Preston continued. “I think the highlight for people in the racing management segment are our rehab facilities, because a lot of people cross-train these days. Being adjacent and synergistic with the rehab facilities that we have, I have not seen that opportunity at any other school anywhere.” Preston said it can sometimes be a challenge for teenagers already keen on working in the racing industry to get them to see the longer-term upside of earning a college degree versus going straight to work at the track. “It’s really hard for kids who can get a job walking hots for $500 a week to see beyond that,” Preston explained. But, she tells them, “Do you think you’ll still want to be a groom at age 45 when you’re trying to support your own family?” Preston offers her own life experience as an example. She always loved horses, but as a working mom later in life, she wanted to try a related profession away from the farm and the track. And that wouldn’t have been possible, she said, without having gone to college first. “The only reason I am sitting here today talking to you about this program is because I have an education that got me a job within the university system,” Preston said. “Once you have an education, no one can ever take it away from you. And that’s powerful–because it’s something we all forget at times: We go to school to get the degree to put it on the wall to move on and get a job. And you don’t really have the capacity as a young person to see beyond that next job. Yet, if you have an education, it gives you that opportunity–a passport to the world, I like to say.” Preston likes to point out Morrisville’s affordability (about $7,000 for in-state students; out-of-state students on the associate’s degree track pay roughly $11,000 per year) and flexibility in structuring how students obtain their degrees. For example, Preston said, a student could initially aim for a two-year associate’s degree in racing management, then continue on for two additional years to dovetail a bachelor’s degree in the breeding program. And with the ability for students to choose a specialized area of focus–like aftercare or conversational equine Spanish–“I’m able to customize an individual concentration for a student in a way that they may not be able to do at some of the other comparable schools,” Preston said. Preston also noted that at Morrisville, a student is considered full-time by enrolling in 12 credit hours of coursework. But if ambitious students want to take 18 credit hours instead, they are not charged for those additional credits. “Which is a huge benefit, because most university systems that I’ve been involved with, you pay a per-credit fee,” Preston said. “So if you’re taking extra credits to maximize your educational experience at school, it won’t cost you more. Here in the SUNY system, the kids are not charged for anything beyond 12 credits.” It is mandatory for students to select and complete a 15-week racing management internship. Current students have internships lined up at Saratoga (one with trainer Todd Pletcher), and on the backstretches of Aqueduct and Finger Lakes. The program currently has 15 students, and Preston would like to eventually grow that number to around 50 or 60 in incremental steps. “I wouldn’t be able to offer the same teacher-to-student ratios if 80 kids showed up tomorrow, so I want to evolve gradually toward that goal,” Preston said. Another of her goals is to let the New York racing community know Morrisville’s facilities are available to them as outside clients. “There have been a couple of people within the New York industry who have been very supportive of that already, so we’re developing those relationships where we can provide services,” Preston said. “That’s one of the challenges, to expose both prospective students and industry people to the program, because there are real resources here, not only in the rehab facilities, but in the services we can provide, like breaking and training at a reduced rate. It helps train prospective employees for the industry, and it exposes our students to real-life situations.” Erin Clancy, a sophomore from Rochester, said she chose Morrisville as a way to kick start a bloodstock career “When I came to visit I was very impressed with the hands-on learning we get to do,” Clancy said. “I get to be in the barn with horses every single day. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s also very rewarding. I’m getting my associate’s degree in Thoroughbred racing, and then going on to get a bachelor’s degree in breeding. That in and of itself was very attractive to me. I chose Morrisville because I couldn’t have the option to do both at any other school.” After graduation, Clancy said, “I hope to either be working at a breeding farm in either Kentucky or New York, managing mares and foals–that’s my primary interest. Having my own farm, breeding my own mares and caring for the foals–that’s the end goal.” Hanna Frederick, a sophomore from near Albany, is working on a four-year degree in racing management. “All the programs are very, very hands-on. That was the main thing I was looking for,” Frederick said. “Even in classroom settings with all of the different labs that I’m involved in, and in the barns, everything is very one-on-one with my professors. It’s a country setting and a medium-sized school. I didn’t want a school that was too small, but I also didn’t want it to be so big that I couldn’t get that ideal student-to-professor ratio.” And a couple years down the road? “Ideally I would like to be a trainer for Thoroughbreds at a track, and also I’m interested in breaking babies,” Frederick said. Preston will point those two students–and all her others–in the right direction, opening a few doors for them along the way. But once armed with degrees, it will be up to those students to march through those doors on their own to see what lies beyond in the racing industry. “It’s such a wonderful business, but it has many barriers to entry, such as accessibility and longevity,” Preston said. “My goal is to train and educate people to contribute to the workforce and have future industry, or even non-industry, career opportunities. If that goal succeeds it will feel like an important win-win achievement for people, education, and the industry.” To learn more about Morrisville’s racing management program, click here. To read more on Morrisville’s equine rehab facilities, click here. View the full article

In 2019, Oaklawn will open Jan. 25 and run through May 4, three weeks beyond the track’s usual conclusion date of GI Arkansas Derby day in mid-April. “This is a sea-change in our scheduling,” Oaklawn President Louis Cella said. “This is an idea that has been discussed internally for a number of years and now the time seems right to make the change. The quality of our program is calling on us to present racing in the most favorable weather conditions. There is nowhere in America more beautiful for great racing than Arkansas in the spring.” The change to the racing calendar will also impact the local economy in Hot Springs, A.R. “Oaklawn has always been one of the pillars of our economy,” said Gary Troutman, President of the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and Metro Partnership. “This change to the racing schedule will greatly enhance our local businesses that rely on racing fans coming to town.” Oaklawn will continue to run on a Thursday to Sunday schedule and will also race on Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb. 18. View the full article

Phil Lam, an IT professional in the banking industry from Fresh Meadows, New York, took first place in the Wood Memorial Challenge, held at Aqueduct Racetrack Apr. 7. Lam finished with a bankroll of $3,382.85 and, in addition to that bank roll, took home the first-place prize of $5,000 and earned an additional $500 with the NYRA Bets 10% Challenge bonus. He also won a seat to the Belmont Stakes Challenge. “I was elated,” Lam said. “I tried so many times at NYRA. I was leading at the Belmont Stakes Challenge by $20,000 with one race to go, and I got caught. So, no lead is safe.” Finishing in second-place was Steve Doodnath, with a bankroll of $2,692.75 and $2,389 in prize winnings. Andy Berg, with a bankroll of $2,347.50, took third-place, and won $1,827 in prize money. Booth Doodnath and Berg also won seats to the National Handicapping Championships next February in Las Vegas. The Belmont Stakes Challenge, is the next NYRA handicapping challenge held June 8-9. View the full article