Wandering Eyes

By Jonny Turner The race’s first few seconds are likely to decide whether Steven McRae goes home with today’s Shannon Farm Cromwell Cup again. McRae has been a fixture at the Central Otago summer harness racing circuit in recent seasons and is already enjoying another successful trip south before the final meeting at Cromwell. Cinderella Franco was as impressive as any maiden winner south of the Waitaki in recent times when she sped to victory at Omakau on Friday. The filly will be out to make it two from two in what looks like a suitable assignment at Cromwell in Race 3, the On Point NZ Glass Junior Drivers Mobile Pace (2.19pm). “From what she showed us at home we were hopeful she would go well, but we didn’t think she was past the post,” McRae said. “She had only had two trials and she is still very green.” “I said to the owners it will probably take her four or five starts to work it all out.” “With the run she got at Omakau it wasn’t a surprise she was able to win, but the way she did it we probably weren’t picking that.” Typical of any experienced trainer, McRae isn’t counting on Cinderella Franco being a certainty at Cromwell despite her odds suggesting she’s just that. “There are a few wee variables there that she has to overcome.” “She’s on the grass this time and against horses that have had a lot of racing, just with her greenness she is going to have to take that all in her stride.” “She’s a fairly unfinished article at this point.” McRae will be out to add to his good Cromwell Cup record when Amaretto Franco steps out in the meeting’s feature (6.05pm). A scratchy beginning didn’t help her chances when she ran fifth in the Roxburgh Cup on Sunday. The trainer is hopeful a few minor adjustments can help the six-year-old get away cleanly on Tuesday. “She used to get away pretty well but she ran into a couple of false starts and now she can get a bit worked up.” “We are going to try a couple of things with her to help her get away.” “I think the wider spaces at Cromwell might help her.” “Even though she missed away at Roxburgh I thought she should’ve run third but she should be better for it.” “If she got away with them on Tuesday I’d think she would give them something to think about.” McRae will also make gear changes with Ma Belle Amie Franco, who disappointed in her debut at Gore after producing handy trials. “We had a few steering issues at Gore, I wouldn’t imagine she would do that again.” “She goes handy enough but the draw (8) does look tough for her.” Gemma Thornley combines with all three of McRae’s runners at Cromwell. Jonny Turner’s Five to Follow at Cromwell Cinderella Franco – Race 3 What a debut she made at Omakau. The cameras had to keep zooming out down the straight as she got further and further in front of the field. I will put my hand straight up and say I underrated her going into her first start following her handy trial efforts. I doubt anyone will be doing that again after her epic display. She’s probably not one for punters to get excited about outside of Multis, First4s and the like.But if she can repeat her first-up win, Cromwell could prove a stepping stone to bigger things for this filly. Our Twinkle – Race 4 If there’s a horse racing at Cromwell that deserves a victory, it is this guy. Two starts ago he roughed it with smart three-year-olds in the Harness 5000 at Ashburton, putting a listed-level placing next to his name. In his last start at Gore he was wide and parked throughout before going down by a narrow margin. Grass could be the winning factor for Our Twinkle given he’s looked a strong rolling type, rather than a speedster in his short career. The field he meets looks one of the easiest he’s taken on so far and he should be winning if he does take to grass as expected. Harriet’s Moment – Race 5 This mare’s Omakau outing was a difficult watch, she looked to run into a tight spot with runners on her inner and outer. After losing momentum, her day was about done. With new recent misses next to her name, Harriet’s Moment has dropped into what looks a very workable grade for a horse of her ability. A quick glance at the form shows there are absolutely no standouts in her assignment. Whether her recent form will add a bit of value for punters looks unlikely but not impossible.Regardless, Harriet’s Moment looks a nice winning chance. Jaccka Jim – Race 7 Similarly to Cinderella Franco, this guy bolted in at Omakau in his debut. He didn’t power away to win by quite the same margin but he was very impressive. The key to his win was the steady but safe beginning he made. Jaccka Jim gave the leaders a head-start early before handing them a thrashing on the line. While he still has plenty to learn he seems to have real upside. That greenness is a concern but the 2600m staying test he faces on Tuesday looks to give him the time to get away and get comfortable. He’s probably the best horse in his race and one to keep a real eye on going forward. One Mhor For Heather – Race 9 She doesn’t bring the best form and her last-start gallop is a concern. There is no doubting this mare can do things wrong at times and adding to the concern is that she hasn’t featured on grass in her four attempts. However she looks to drop into a very winnable race and a look at the replays show she can get a pass for her previous grass outings. One Mhor For Heather looks a potential value option for Cromwell punters, that is if she can slip under the radar of bookmakers following her last start gallop at Omakau. View the full article

When torrential rain and severe weather forced the third and final under-tack session of last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale into a gallop-only, untimed preview, the adjustment was used as an experiment of sorts. How would buyers react to the change and ultimately, how would the horses that galloped at the sale go on to perform on the racetrack? While the sale defied the storm to produce all-time gross, average and median records, three of the top 10 lots and eight of the top 20 were horses that galloped during the under-tack show. The second-highest priced juvenile, a Violence colt consigned by Top Line Sales, sold for $1.05 million to Donato Lanni. Now that those graduates have officially turned three, their results are starting to accumulate on the racetrack. Of the roughly 240 horses that galloped ahead of the auction, the biggest star to date has been Ground Support (Army Mule). Campaigned by NBS Stable, the Florida-bred filly broke her maiden on Aug. 30 at Kentucky Downs, won the GII Miss Grillo Stakes and placed third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The $1.05 million Violence colt, now named Boyd, was a 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' on debut at Del Mar and remained undefeated in the Nov. 29 Ed Brown Stakes at Churchill Downs for Bob Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables. Three additional Rising Stars in D'Code (Speightstown), Nothing Personal (Violence) and Spectacular Grey (Not This Time) have also come from the group of gallopers. Shortly after last year's sale, Fasig-Tipton announced a new format for the 2026 Midlantic May Sale. No official times will be recorded or published by Fasig-Tipton. In addition, use of the riding crop will be restricted. Riders will not be permitted to remove their hands from the reins to strike a horse at any point before a breeze, during a breeze, or while galloping out. Riders will be permitted to tap on the shoulder while both hands remain on the reins to keep the horse focused. As the industry looks toward the auction, which will be held May 18 and 19 in Timonium, Maryland, the Fasig-Tipton team is optimistic that the key changes will not only shift buyers' focus from the stopwatch to the horse's natural athleticism, but also attract a wider pool of buyers looking for athletes prepared for the longevity of a racing career. “We had been listening and observing what was happening in the 2-year-old sales market for a period of time and were concerned about the emphasis on a single factor–the time that was being reported–being used as a primary evaluative tool in a lot of instances,” said Fasig-Tipton's President and CEO Boyd Browning. “[The 2025 sale] really became an unintended experiment and I think what we saw was an under-tack show that mirrored what we hope could be the long-term vision for the 2-year-old sales.” Under the new format, Browning said he expects to see a diverse range of under-tack performances. While some consignors will still opt for a standard breeze, others may choose extended gallops at varying speeds or traditional two-minute licks. The flexibility allows consignors to showcase each individual's ability, prioritizing their way of going over a published number. “I think that the untimed aspect will eliminate making the breeze on show day maybe the most important day of that horse's life,” Browning explained. “We're trying to allow consignors to present their horse in a professional manner to demonstrate their ability, but also make sure that we give the buyers a product that can move forward.” Buyers on site at the 2025 Midlantic May Sale | Fasig-Tipton Fasig-Tipton's Executive Vice President Bayne Welker said that the goal is to present athletes who are ready to transition to the racetrack without having undergone the physical preparation required for a timed under-tack show “From a purchaser's perspective, the intent is to have horses that are more sound and can move into a trainer's barn to progress right through their training regimen and be closer to a start,” he explained. “The market has seen a high, high demand for horses that are close to making a start. Two-year-old consignors are some of the best horsemen and horsewomen out there. I think this is going to allow them to demonstrate that their horses are going to be ready, sound and fit.” Browning noted that new format will also reward buyers who rely on horsemanship as they navigate the juvenile market. “We've got a great level of confidence in the aptitude of buyers, that they'll be able to evaluate horses based on how they move on the racetrack,” said Browning. “I think there will be a lot more emphasis on the conformation of these horses when they look at them at the end of the shank. It's going to allow really good horsemen and horsewomen to have an advantage.” “I think one unintended consequence we did see last year is that it pushed more people into the barn area to look at those horses on the end of the shank, watch them move, and have a dialog with the consigner,” added Welker. “It eliminated horses falling into a certain criteria because of the time they put down.” Beyond the timing and crop changes, the 2026 Midlantic Sale will also introduce an onsite Safety Officer starting when horses ship in to train up to the sale. Horses flagged by the Safety Officer will be examined by the veterinary team and either be cleared or placed on a probationary list to be monitored further. If a horse is on that list, the consignor will be required to provide a certificate from their attending veterinarian supporting their eligibility to preview for the sale. The sales company will have the ultimate say on the horse's ability to participate in the under-tack show. “It is Fasig-Tipton's goal to make sure what we are presenting to the public on breeze show day and on sale day is a horse that is sound and has been followed through the training process and into the sales ring,” said Welker. In recent years, prominent owners like Mike Repole have been vocal about reforming the juvenile sales model. Browning and his team are hopeful that these steps will bolster buyer confidence and encourage broader participation. “We believe strongly in the 2-year-old sales market,” he said. “We're very much advocates and think it's a critical part of the marketplace. Some of the world wants to paint the brush that all 2-year-old sales are bad and others want to say that all 2-year-old sales are great. 2-year-old sales serve a vital role in the overall Thoroughbred marketplace and they will continue to be a key element of Fasig-Tipton.” The Midlantic May Sale will be held on May 18th and 19th, with the under-tack show scheduled for May 12-14. Entries close February 2. The post Fasig-Tipton Preparing for Newly Formatted Midlantic May Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Young pinhooker and manager of Stanley Lodge Stud Nick Cope reflects on one of the best sales results of 2025, Ethical Diamond's Breeders' Cup triumph and more What is it about this great game of ours that it can turn the hardiest of fellas into mush? In Nick Cope's defence, profiting the price of a small house in one fell swoop would bring a tear to the most seasoned pinhooker's eye, not least this young whipper-snapper making his way in the game. The part-time pinhooker and full-time manager of William Kennedy's Stanley Lodge Stud – producers of the brilliant Breeders' Cup hero Ethical Diamond – enjoyed that emotional success alongside the Brickley brothers – Tom and David – of Ard Erin Stud when selling a Camelot colt that they sourced for 80,000gns as a foal for a cool 475,000gns at last year's Book 2 session at the October Yearling Sale. This is the sort of result that provides so many with that ability to dream. Yes, this pinhooking business has the potential to leave some of the brightest minds pining for a nine-to-five when it goes wrong. But when it goes right? Grown men can turn into blubbering messes. “It was in the heat of battle when I described selling the Camelot as a life-changing result and it really was,” Cope recalls. “I was very lucky to make money on a few pinhooks down through the years but that was the first time I walked out of the ring and struggled to believe what had actually just happened. It was the first proper touch for me.” The Camelot colt was sourced by Alex Elliott on behalf of Coolmore with Anthony Stroud filling the role as underbidder. Two proper judges went toe-to-toe in the ring to further endorse what Cope and co had brought to the market. But, then again, is it any surprise given the calibre of people that Cope has cut his teeth with? “I have been very lucky with some of the people I have worked for in this game,” he said. “Like, my first ever job was with James Hanly at Ballyhimikin Stud. Between James, Helen and Frisk [Jones, stud managers], they were really starting to get going at the pinhooking when I first joined them. I can remember they paid around 30,000gns for a Dark Angel foal and turned it into 200,000gns the following year and I was thinking to myself, 'Jesus, how is that even possible?' Then I went over to Gerry Dilger at Dromoland Farm in America before spending time with Paul McCartan, who is arguably the best of them all. I did the Irish National Stud course in between all of that but, definitely, I was lucky to work for three people who made the pinhooking game look easy. It's when you go away and work a sales complex like Goffs or Tattersalls by yourself, and when it's completely down to you to look at between 500 and 1,000 foals before picking out the two or three foals you can actually bid on, that you realise how difficult it is. There is so much that has to go right for you to turn a profit on the other side so, while I had great advice and mentors, I found it a very different prospect going out and doing it myself.” He added, “Everyone has to start somewhere and I suppose there was an element of me being spoiled in going around and looking at the caliber of foals that I was looking at with James, Gerry and Paul. They were buying the best foals and, when you get used to zoning in on those types of foals, it can be hard to come down a level and tune into chancier foals or foals that were maybe by puntier stallions. There had to be a bit of a refocus there.” Yet, the Camelot didn't take much explaining. Not only was the colt by a stallion that continuously comes up with the goods, but he is also out of the Listed-winning Clodovil mare, Tigrilla, who hails from a good Cheveley Park family. Cope said, “Camelot had just enjoyed a year of all years with Bluestocking winning the Arc and Los Angeles winning the Irish Derby. It was very easy to say we're going to go and buy a Camelot. It's actually funny, because I remember that there were two nice Camelot foals that we followed in that day at Tattersalls. There was an absolute ripper of a colt who made 650,000gns and then we bought our lad for 80,000gns. We just thanked God that our lad fell within our range on the day. We couldn't believe it, really, and we were delighted to have him.” On reoffering the colt at Book 2, he added, “From early doors, we knew we were in business. We had two in the draft – a nice Minzaal colt as well as this fella – and the same faces kept coming back for both horses. The Camelot kept catching people's eye all the time. Even if there was a show going on across the way, the Camelot would come waltzing by and catch everyone's attention – he is just one of those horses that has presence and a bit of swagger about him. I haven't been fortunate enough to sell a horse that has gone on to win any big races as of yet, and hopefully that day will come, but, in terms of results in the ring, selling him for 475,000gns was definitely my best result in the game. I'd say you can't beat the thrill of producing a big winner but, falling short of that, the sales ring is up there and what we did with this fella was just pure magic.” The magic didn't leave Cope after Book 2. It was just four weeks later when Ethical Diamond, by far the most famous horse that his main employer Stanley Lodge Stud had bred, produced a stunning last-to-first performance to swoop to Breeders' Cup glory. Cope recalled, “William had been in touch with Willie [Mullins, Ethical Diamond's trainer] all along, trying to figure out where the horse was going to go. This Breeders' Cup idea was put forward and I was thinking to myself, 'would they not just go away somewhere and get us some simple black-type for the mare?' Ethical Diamond had been very good to us even before the Breeders' Cup – he'd won at Royal Ascot and won an Ebor and, if he went and got some black-type somewhere, it was basically job done for the mare. But the Breeders' Cup? For Willie to be brave enough to go over there in the first place, and then for the horse to deliver, it was just something else. A lot of credit must go to David Casey, who I understand was instrumental in picking the spot for Ethical Diamond.” He added, “That provided us with the update of all updates going into the November Foal Sale at Goffs with his little brother [who sold for €380,000 to Peter and Ross Doyle] and he didn't disappoint. He is an absolute ripper and would have stood up in any draft at any sale all over the world. If you told me that he was by anything, I'd have believed you. We try to pencil our foals into a slot where they would stand out and we were wondering was he the top end of day two or was he a day three foal for Goffs but he just kept on improving and he answered that question for us. He left us with no choice but to put him into the Wednesday session and, even without Ethical Diamond, I think he would have held his own and made a very good price.” Ethical Diamond | Shamela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup Ethical Diamond is the latest star performer to throw the spotlight onto his sire, the Irish 2,000 Guineas-winning Awtaad, who many breeders have long been crowing about being a value option at Derrinstown Stud. Kennedy is one such breeder, given he has supported the son of Cape Cross with at least one mare every season. This year, however, Ethical Diamond's dam, Pearl Diamond (Areion), who is in foal to Australia, is penciled into visit Night Of Thunder for her next cover. As for Cope, he may have earned the price of a nice dwelling near Stanley Lodge in County Tipperary but, in true spirit of the pinhooking game, has reinvested strongly alongside his partners into the foal market. He said, “We signed for six foals – up from three in 2024 – last year. We pushed the boat out on a Shaquille colt at 92,000gns and, overall, very happy with what we got. You're obviously hoping that there could be a result like the Camelot lurking in there but, the foals we landed on, they seemed to be by the first-season stallions. The way the catalogues went last year, it didn't feel as though there was the same offering of foals by proven stallions compared to previous years. I don't think the standard of foal dropped by any means but there definitely seemed to be a lack of foals by proven stallions on offer. But, as I said, we've reinvested in six – by Gleneagles, Twilight Son, Chaldean, Mostahdaf and Palace Pier along with the Shaquille – and hopefully we can be lucky again.” The post Young Pinhooker Nick Cope Reflects On ‘Life-Changing’ Pinhook Result appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Bidding is now open for the flash sale of recent Springboard Mile Stakes victor Express Kid (Bodexpress), announced Fasig-Tipton Digital Monday via press release. Consigned by Paramount Sales as agent, the California-bred son of Bodexpress was most recently seen winning the aforementioned Remington Park marquee and collecting 10 points toward the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. The 6 1/4-length win earned him a career-best Beyer figure of 85. Express Kid has been on the board in four of five lifetime starts and claims earnings of $236,902 with one of those four efforts being a runner-up performance in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes last August. The Wade Rarick-trainee is also a winner going two-turns on the turf. He is available for inspection at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, AZ. Express Kid is out of a multiple winning daughter of Kentucky Derby hero Street Sense, and his second dam is MSW & GSP Stormy West (Gone West), herself a half-sibling to GSW Buffum (Bernardini). A half-sister to that pair went on in her broodmare career to produce a branch of their family which yielded GISP Tonito's (Blame). This is the immediate female family of champion sprinter Gold Beauty, dam of English Horse of the Year and multiple champion Dayjur and his half-sister MGISW Maplejinsky. “Express Kid delivered a career best performance in his two-turn dirt debut winning the Springboard Mile,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton director of digital sales. “He is developing and improving at an exciting time of year with Kentucky Derby-prep season upon us.” The one-horse session may be viewed here. Prospective buyers must register to bid on the site. A HUGE upset! It was all #12 EXPRESS KID ($71.00) who goes gate-to-wire to easily win the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at @RemingtonPark and earn 10 points towards the @KentuckyDerby. The son of Bodexpress was ridden by Jose Alvarez and is trained by Wade Rarick. pic.twitter.com/JOpL2ciijg — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) December 21, 2025 The post Bidding Open on Fasig-Tipton Digital for Springboard Mile winner Express Kid appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Applications to compete in the 2026 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium are now being accepted through Jan. 23, announced the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP). The Thoroughbred Makeover is the largest and most lucrative retraining competition in North America for recently-retired Thoroughbreds and former broodmares. It takes place Oct. 7-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The makeover is the banner event of the RRP and is meant to showcase the athleticism, trainability, and versatility of the recently-retired racehorse. The event awards $139,000 in prize money and is expected to welcome several hundred Thoroughbreds competing in one or two of ten riding sports. The Thoroughbred Makeover also includes the National Symposium, with a vendor fair, horse sale, seminars and demos, networking and social events, clinics, and additional opportunities to be announced throughout 2026. Accepted trainers will be announced Feb. 17 and can acquire their Thoroughbreds for competition at any time. Professionals, amateurs, juniors, and teams are all welcome and encouraged to apply. Horses eligible for competition have raced or posted a timed work on or after July 1, 2024; have not competed in sports other than racing prior to Dec. 1, 2025; and have not had more than 15 retraining rides prior to Dec. 1, 2025. Full eligibility rules for horses as well as the competition format and regulations may be found here. “Over the past decade, the Thoroughbred Makeover has established itself as a vital component of the aftercare ecosystem in North America,” said RRP executive director Kirsten Green. “Without demand for Thoroughbreds from capable riders, the system would not be able to efficiently meet the needs of horses retiring from racing annually. This is where the Thoroughbred Makeover and the programming of the RRP have become influential: both creating the structure and support for riders to find success with the breed and establishing a platform that showcases all that the Thoroughbred has to offer. We're looking forward to welcoming another class of trainers who will take a Thoroughbred beyond racing. To apply for the 2026 Thoroughbred Makeover to compete, please start the application process here. The post Applications for 2026 Thoroughbred Makeover Now Open appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

King Of Change will stand at a fee of £8,500 (October 1, SLF) at Tweenhills for his first covering season in Britain. It was announced on Friday that the son of Farhh had been bought by Tweenhills' managing director David Redvers with a number of partners. King Of Change, the winner of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and runner-up in the 2,000 Guineas, has stood for five seasons in Ireland, first at Derrinstown and most recently at Starfield Stud. “We couldn't be more delighted to see King Of Change settle into life on the farm seamlessly alongside Kameko and Lightning Spear,” said Redvers. “The initial response from breeders on both sides of the Irish Sea has been tremendous and his introductory fee is offered at an incredibly competitive price for a proven stallion with his obvious capabilities. “With the highest percentage of stakes winners to runners of any stallion in Europe aside from Dubawi, breeders are encouraged to come and see him at the farm as he is filling very fast.” King Of Change and Kameko will also be available for breeders to view at Longholes Stud in Newmarket during theTattersalls February Sale, which takes place on February 5 and 6. The post King Of Change Introduced at Tweenhills at £8,500 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

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There might only be four weeks until the Classic Mile but the race for the top seed, a coveted spot in the final field and even Zac Purton’s services remain open. The build-up to the much-anticipated first leg of the four-year-old series ramped up on Sunday, with Brazilian import Sagacious Life staking his claim again with a defiant Class Two success under top weight and Purton. Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s progressive galloper currently boasts the highest rating of the Classic Mile contenders on a mark...View the full article

Caspar Fownes expects to figure prominently in Wednesday night’s trio of Class Three races at Happy Valley as he bids to strike back in his battle with Mark Newnham for the trainers’ championship lead. After overtaking Newnham at the top of the standings with a treble at the Valley’s last meeting on December 23, Fownes has come up empty from three straight meetings at Sha Tin. Newnham’s two victories in that period were enough to give him a 28-27 advantage over Fownes, but the four-time...View the full article

The Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) looms as a possible autumn option for ever-improving stayer Torranzino (NZ) (Tarzino), who on Monday returned to work with Paul Preusker. The Tarzino gelding’s return to stable life comes around two months since his fifth placing in the A$10 million Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m). Preusker was determined to reward his new stable star with a good spell after his career-best campaign and considered giving him a tick-over preparation without a run before resetting for spring, but was now favouring a brief autumn campaign. “He’ll start work Monday and then we’ll just sort of plot away,” Preusker said at the weekend. “I was happy to just put a prep together and go nowhere and spell again, but he hasn’t lost much. “He’s in a good paddock with a couple of mates, so I think he’ll come up alright, and I suppose it’s now just a matter of whether we poke away in Sydney for a little bit.” Torranzino’s autumn preparation will be grounding for another tilt at the Melbourne Cup and Preusker said it was unlikely he would get out to the 3200m of the Gr.1 Sydney Cup. “I’ll probably leave that alone and maybe a Tancred or something like that, just a light staying race, and we’ll see what we can do.” The A$1.5 million Tancred Stakes, a weight-for-age Group One race over 2400m, will be run at Rosehill on March 28. Although six years of age, Torranzino stamped himself a quality stayer last spring with his Melbourne Cup effort coming after a win in the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m) and a second placing in the Gr.3 The Bart Cummings (2500m). He has six wins and nine placings from 34 starts with merely participating in a Melbourne Cup a dream come true for many of them. “They’re all up and about, they’re a great mob of owners – most local people, although there’s a few scattered around – but they were just appreciative to get there and whatever happens is a bonus now.” View the full article

In the third instalment of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Road to the Derby series, we zero in on a pair of Frankie Lor-trained up and comers with the potential to make an impact in the 2025/26 Four-Year-Old Classic Series. With less than four weeks until the first leg of the prestigious series – the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 1 February – and with the 149th HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March on the horizon, Numbers and Regal Gem have both built ratings that will ensure them a start should their esteemed handler choose to head that way. Numbers looks certain to play a part in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series after an impressive last-start victory, with the gelding flashing his stamina with an all-the-way victory in the Class 2 Long Ke Handicap (2000m) on 27 December. Smartly away under Derek Leung, Numbers enjoyed a sedate first 400m in front before injecting some serious pace into the race during the second sectional – clocking 1.22 seconds inside standard between the 1600m and the 1200m – before continuing to apply the pressure and eventually finding enough to hold off Winning Wing by a length. By Tivaci out of Zabeel mare Sheezababe, Numbers came to Hong Kong with his stamina credentials already proven after finishing second in the G1 Queensland Derby (2400m) in June. “It was a nice win. The 2000m was good and I think 2400m will still be okay,” said Lor, agreeing Numbers possesses similar traits to his former charge Dark Dream, who won the Queensland Derby before running fourth behind stablemate Furore in the 2019 BMW Hong Kong Derby. “At this moment I can’t see too many four-year-olds that can handle 2,000m – (Sagacious Life) could be one of them but (Invincible Ibis) only won over 1600m last time. But I think there are still some four-year-old PPs to come out so we don’t know exactly at this moment what the Derby will look like.” After securing his owners, the 23/24 Frankie Lor Fu Chuen Trainer Syndicate – who raced Unbelievable in the 2024 BMW Hong Kong Derby – a HK$3 million Private Purchase Bonus for his victory on 27 December, Numbers will have one more run before likely entering the Four-Year-Old Classic Series in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 1 March. “Maybe we will skip the (Classic Mile) because the 1600m will probably be a bit short for him. The Classic Cup could be better,” said Lor. “I will talk to the owners about his next move – we will give him one more race before the Classic Cup. It’s just whether it’s 2000m or 1800m.” Numbers jumped to a rating of 90 after his first Hong Kong win – he finished third on debut in the city at Happy Valley earlier in December – and he’s joined by stablemate Regal Gem as horses impressing during their Classic season. Sitting on a mark of 83 after three Happy Valley 1200m wins from nine Hong Kong starts, Northern Hemisphere three-year-old Regal Gem is the joint leader of the DBS x Manulife Million Challenge and may target the riches in that competition – which concludes on 4 February – rather than the Hong Kong Classic Mile. Regal Gem is a three-time winner at Happy Valley. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club “Maybe he will go to the Classic Series, but maybe not because we will be looking at Happy Valley first and trying to win the Million Challenge. Maybe we will aim for that. I’ll run him on (14 January) and then we’ll decide,” said Lor of Regal Gem, who was a recent sixth over the extended Happy Valley mile in his first run over further than 1400m. “For me 1600m should be no problem because last time with Zac (Purton) on at his first time at 1650m he jumped and then he couldn’t get cover. He sat second all the way with no cover and he still finished sixth, only two and a half lengths behind the winner, so it wasn’t too bad.” View the full article

Chris Rutten has a knack for selecting Karaka Millions 2YO contenders, and he looks to have struck again, this time with the Roydon Bergerson-trained Sweetest Thing. The daughter of Hello Youmzain impressed when runner-up to Lassified in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1100m) at Trentham on Saturday, with her runner-up cheque of $18,500 putting her on the cusp of qualifying for the $1 million TAB Karaka Millions (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 24. It’s a race Rutten has a strong association with, having won it with Vespa in 2014, and he has collected minor placings with Touche (2013), Kingsman (2016), Yourdeel (2019), Avonallo (2021) and Wolverine (2022), while he also won the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) with Scott Base in 2018. Bergerson trained Wolverine, and the pair also teamed up last year to contest the race with Too Sweet, who was third favourite for the rich feature after her victory in the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) at her previous start, but she was given no favours from her outside barrier in the 14-horse field and finished 11th. The pair could be seeking redemption with Sweetest Thing later this month, however, Bergerson is questioning the timing of the race and said a decision will be made on her immediate future later this week. “I am really happy with her,” Bergerson said. “Wiremu (Pinn, jockey) said she just got a bit lost coming across the crossing, but she hit the line strong and has pulled up well. “She has always shown a lot of ability. She is a beautiful filly and will make a lovely three-year-old. I don’t know what the future plans hold but we will see how she does this week. “It is up to the horse (whether they target the Karaka Millions), I don’t want to push her too hard at the moment, it is pretty hard going into that race second-up. Chris is really keen on the race, he has always tried to win it. “We will likely just give her one or two more (starts) and then put her out and bring her back as a three-year-old. What races we go for I’ll just have to talk with Chris and Ian (Farrelly, part-owner) about it and make up our mind at the end of the week.” Sweetest Thing was purchased by Rutten and Bergerson out of Wentwood Grange’s 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $80,000, and the pair race her in partnership with Farrelly. Hailing from a European pedigree, Sweetest Thing is out of two-time European winner Ocean Drive, a half-sister to dual Group Two winner Indian Days, Group One performer Reply and Group Three performer Binou. Bergerson was impressed when inspecting Sweetest Thing at Karaka on the behest of Rutten, but glancing at her pedigree he questioned her precocious qualities. “She was a really scopey filly, a really nice horse,” he said. “She is a well-balanced filly with a bit of strength behind her. “It was quite surprising when Chris picked her out, I said ‘the mare won over 2600m Chris and you are trying to buy her for the Karaka Million?’,” Bergerson said. “He is a great judge.” Meanwhile, Bergerson said Too Sweet is currently having a freshen-up before returning to the stable to prepare for autumn targets. “She had a bit of a viral infection after her last start, so we put her in the paddock for three weeks,” he said. “She will come back into the stables next Monday and we will just see how she comes back up.” View the full article

Waikato Stud-bred filly La Dorada continues to add further honours to her richly decorated family. The daughter of resident sire Super Seth enjoyed an outstanding juvenile season with success in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). At Trentham on Saturday, she returned to top form with success in the Gr.2 Levin Classic (1400m), with the $1.5 million TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) now in the sights of trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson. La Dorada was a $190,000 purchase for Te Akau’s David Ellis out of Waikato Stud’s Karaka draft and is a daughter of the Savabeel mare Gold Fever, whose dam Gold Rocks initiated the Matamata farm’s involvement in the family. “Gold Rocks was a two-year-old Group winner, and she came to Waikato Stud under the ownership of some lovely people from Australia, Geoff and Heather Nicholls,” Mark Chittick said. “She was in foal to So You Think and unbeknown to me had been to Lonhro first off and they were unable to pay that service fee. “That foal was taken over by Godolphin and raced as Calverite and was a stakes winner as a two-year-old and subsequently left Golden Mile (Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas, 1600m).” Chittick was subsequently contacted by another breeding and racing powerhouse about Gold Rocks. “I got a call from Coolmore and the service fee to So You Think hadn’t been paid so I had a yarn to the owners,” he said. “They knew they had a mare worth breeding from but were a bit out of their depth, they said all we would love to do is to go to Savabeel but couldn’t really afford to carry on. “We came to an arrangement whereby I paid the fee to So You Think, I didn’t have any ownership in that foal and then the mare went to Savabeel. “They had a 10 percent ownership in the foal, which was sold, and then I took over the ownership of the mare. It’s a phenomenal family.” The So You Think foal was Gold Rush and later sold by Phoenix Park to Wexford Stables for $60,000 and won the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes and placed in the Gr.1 Diamond Stakes (1200m) and Gr.3 Eclipse Stakes (1200m). The aforementioned Savabeel filly was Gold Fever, who was offered on behalf of Waikato Stud by Sledmere at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and purchased by Ellis for A$110,000. “She won the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes as well and at that stage, Gold Rocks had three foals and all were stakes-winning fillies as two-year-olds,” Chittick said. “At the end of her career, (father) Garry and I purchased Gold Fever back off Te Akau in a private deal.” Following La Dorada, she produced a son of Tivaci who was sold for A$160,000 to Yulong at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and as Golden Pulse has been a winner. The stud has retained a yearling filly by Ardrossan, and the mare is now back in foal to Super Seth. It is also the family of Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) winner Major Beel, a son of Savabeel who was sold at the Gold Coast to Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds for A$260,000 with Waikato Stud remaining in the ownership. His sister Solid Gold has been retained by the Matamata nursery and has placed in both starts for Roger James and Robert Wellwood. “She was one we wanted to target for our slot in The NZB Kiwi, but unfortunately we had to take a chip out of a joint and she’ll be back in work in the next two or three weeks,” Chittick said. View the full article

Ruakaka trainer Michelle Bradley will line-up a trio of runners at her home track on Tuesday, including No Plan Be, who will attempt to secure the Trigg Construction Northland Cup (2100m) for the local horsewoman. The six-year-old daughter of Tarzino won over the same track and distance last month, giving Bradley the confidence to press on to her home cup, with Courtney Barnes retaining the ride. “She has trained on well since her win, it was good to get that result,” Bradley said. “She is very well and has just been ticking over. “I have put Courtney back on, she knows her and rode her perfectly last start. “The barrier draw (10) is a bit of a concern. I would have preferred to have drawn in but that is just what you have got to deal with on the day. “We just need to get her out of those gates and have her handy enough. “We would like to step her up to 2400m, but we just need to get through tomorrow first and see how we go.” Bradley will also be represented by New Castle in the Lion Red (1600m). “New Castle hasn’t run since Pukekohe on the 6th of December. He was meant to be running at Ruakaka on the 16th but sustained a little injury, which he is over now,” Bradley said. “He is fit and well. I think it is a nice enough field and he has got (apprentice jockey) Sam McNab on, which gets a little bit of weight off him. “I think he should go a nice race tomorrow. Stablemate Shockatillatap has drawn the ace marble in the Moore Equine Transport (1400m), and Bradley isn’t overly enamoured with the gate. “It (draw) is not ideal,” she said. “A lot of people love the inside draw, but it just doesn’t work in his favour. He is a big horse that likes a bit of room. “Courtney (Barnes) has ridden him quite a bit in the past and knows him well, so I am sure she will get him out and get him on his way and find a nice path. He should improve with the run.” Meanwhile, Bradley will head south to Tauranga on Thursday where she will line-up Bosch in the Dane Crockford Ray White Greerton 2100. The six-win gelding is on a path towards the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day in March and Thursday will prove to be an important stepping-stone towards the two-mile feature. “We are looking at an Auckland Cup campaign with him. Obviously, we have got to get through Thursday and see how he pulls up,” Bradley said. “The track down there at the moment is a Soft6 and if it stayed like that we would be more than happy, but no doubt it is going to dry out a bit. “He is very well. He ran over 1600m at Te Rapa on the 20th of December, which was more of a fitness run than anything, and he is fitter for the run under his belt. Hopefully we get a nice barrier draw.” Bradley said Bosch will likely have two more runs before the Auckland Cup and she believes he will be ideally suited by the two-miles. “There will be one more after this one and then we will aim towards the Avondale Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) with him, and then onto the Auckland Cup,” she said. “It is race-by-race with this horse, but he is well and happy, and that’s the main thing. “He is a Pentire out of a High Chaparral mare, so he is bred to stay, and we would love to get him up over the two miles. We think he would love it.” While looking forward to this week’s assignments, Bradley is waiting in anticipation to see if her promising filly She’s Not Saint can make the cut for the $1 million Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 24. Purchased by Bradley out of Highline Thoroughbreds’ 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $55,000, She’s No Saint has placed in both of her starts to date, including over 1100m at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. While hopeful of gaining a berth in the Karaka Millions, Bradley said the Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m) at Ellerslie seven days later looms as a logical Plan B. “She’s No Saint ran on Boxing Day and finished a huge third,” Bradley said. “We are sitting tight with her and are hoping to get into the Karaka Millions. “We have planned a path and we didn’t want to give her another run. If we can get into that we would be pretty happy, but if we don’t there is a Group Three race the following week at Ellerslie. “She is a pretty exciting filly and I think once she gets to three I think she is going to be even better.” View the full article

Irad Ortiz Jr. may be just 33 but, as he finished atop the North American wins and earnings leaderboard yet again in 2025, he is already solidifying his legacy as one of the all-time great riders.View the full article

Paladin (Gun Runner), the winner of the GII Remsen Stakes at the Big A Dec. 6, will according to his trainer Chad Brown point to the Feb. 14 running of the GII Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, which is tabbed as a GI Kentucky Derby qualifier offering 50-25-15-10-5 points to the top five finishers. The $1.9-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling purchase, owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter Brant, Brook T. Smith and Summer Wind Equine, broke his maiden on debut in Ozone Park Oct. 17 after a disqualification. The colt then won the Remsen by two lengths. Since then at Brown's Payson Park base Dec. 28, Paladin has worked a half-mile in :50.80 for his conditioner. “He's settled into South Florida nicely and will likely point to the Risen Star,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He's 2-for-2 and he's a very smart horse; an efficient mover and he's obviously got the pedigree and looks. Given his purchase price, he's got all the right tools. It's just a matter of staying healthy and moving forward in his development.” PALADIN remains unbeaten, winning the G2 Remsen Stakes under Flavien Prat for trainer Chad Brown, and earning 10 @KentuckyDerby qualifying points! pic.twitter.com/1yV66Bz1YV — NYRA () (@TheNYRA) December 6, 2025 The post Remsen Champ Paladin Will Point To Risen Star In New Orleans appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

More than a decade after Robert Marzilli purchased eventual Canadian champion Caren from the Everatts of Shannondoe Farm, the team bred their first stakes winner together when Fire and Wine won the Coronation Futurity at Woodbine Nov. 29. View the full article

When Diane Crump died last week at the age of 77, the tributes and obituaries penned in her honor naturally led with the pioneering accomplishment that, more than five decades ago, she was the first woman to ride against men in a North American pari-mutuel horse race. Today, nearly 57 years from that landmark achievement, it can be difficult to grasp just how challenging and arduous a breakthrough that was. It wasn't, for example, just a matter of some trainer deciding, “This young lady can horseback a little bit. I think I'll name her on a mount.” Crump, then 20 but already with six years of experience exercising Thoroughbreds, was able to compete in the seventh race at Hialeah Park on Feb. 7, 1969, thanks not only to her own ability, confidence and perseverance, but also because of the help and effort of fellow racetrackers who might not have known Diane personally, but definitely acted as friends standing up for what they knew was right. In the 18 months prior to Crump's historic ride, other women had tried to break the barrier. Olympic equestrian Kathy Kusner applied for a jockey's license in Maryland in 1967. But it wasn't until she sued that state's racing commission under the Civil Rights Act and won her court case in 1968 that she was granted the piece of paper she needed to get into a starting gate. Although Kusner later did race, a broken leg sustained in a sport-horse competition shortly before her anticipated on-track debut prevented her from being the first woman to race. As Kusner's litigation was playing out, Penny Ann Early was attempting to crack the ranks in Kentucky. Three times she made it onto a Churchill Downs overnight in November 1968. Three times the jockeys there threatened to walk off the job because they didn't want to work alongside a woman. “They're calling themselves men, but I have no respect for them as riders or as males,” Early told The New York Times. Early's first horse got scratched when the track came up muddy, momentarily avoiding a showdown. Three days later she was named to ride another, but when the jockeys again threatened to vacate their mounts, the trainer caved to peer pressure and replaced her on the morning of the race. On Nov. 21, 1968, Early seemed poised to ride in Churchill's fourth race. But this time, when the 11 jockeys scheduled to ride against her all bailed, the track's stewards and management thought the best course of action would be to try and nip the potential work stoppage in the bud. Churchill Downs | Coady Media As trainers and track management scrambled to line up replacements (two riders who rarely landed mounts were, in fact, willing to race), Churchill moved the fourth race to the ninth on the program, cognizant that, at the very least, this constant threat of boycotts was bad for the business of betting. But by 10 minutes before the eighth race, with too few men willing to compete, Early found herself alone in the corridor leading to the paddock (after having donned her silks in the film room) when she heard the public address system blare that the day's final race would be cancelled. The track announcer had been specifically instructed to tell the fans that no other jockeys were available to ride other than Penny Ann Early. The New York Times reported that this announcement “infuriated the crowd of 5,000, which hurled derisive insults of 'Chicken!' and 'Yellow Belly!' at the male jockeys as they rode onto the track for the eighth race.” The Times also reported that some members of the Churchill riding colony decided that snubbing Early wasn't enough. Later that evening, they found out at which restaurant Early was eating dinner with her attorney as they discussed possible legal action. The jockeys had a funeral wreath of white carnations delivered to her table, along with a card that said, “Best wishes for your continued success and happiness. Your mealy-mouthed friends in the room!” Would Florida Be First? So that was the national atmosphere when, two months later, two different women–Crump and Barbara Jo Rubin–were trying to get their riding careers started in Florida. By mid-January 1969, Rubin looked like she might be the first to make history. This time though, the Tropical Park jockeys balked at riding against her for a different reason: The horse she was named on was believed to be a bleeder and allegedly had a reputation for lugging in. “How could a woman jockey possibly control such an unruly animal?” went their not-very-sound argument. Citing safety concerns–Rubin's, not theirs–the Tropical jockeys said en masse that they didn't want Rubin to race for her own protection. The horse's connections bowed to pressure and replaced her with a male rider. Rubin did not get to ride at that meet, but the stewards at least didn't buy the riders' protectionism puffery. Each of the jockeys who had threatened to boycott got fined $100 each (almost $1,000 in today's dollars) and had their actions referred to the Florida Racing Commission. By Jan. 31, perhaps weighing potential further damage to their wallets against the overblown harms they imagined might befall a female jockey, representatives of the South Florida colony met with the Hialeah stewards and track officials and agreed that they would not boycott if a woman was named on a horse that was sound and (in the men's opinion) able to be handled by her. Aerial view of Hialeah Park | Getty images Crump, who had been breaking horses out of the gate and exercising them alongside those same jockeys in the mornings for several years, had, at the start of that meet, already been administered a “riding test” under the watchful eyes of the Hialeah stewards, who ruled that they would allow her to race twice as a probation before deciding whether to issue an actual jockey's license. Crump was named to ride a 4-year-old filly on Monday, Feb. 3, but that entrant failed to draw in off the also-eligible list. The trainer said he would name her again when the filly's race later came up in the condition book, so Crump thought her next chance might come in about two weeks. But on the morning of Friday, Feb. 7, Crump, much to her surprise, picked up the sports section of a Miami paper only to learn that another trainer, Tommy Calumet, had named her to ride that very afternoon on his recently claimed 3-year-old, Bridle 'n Bit, who figured to go off as the longest shot in a full allowance field going nine furlongs. “My wife was the one. She owns the horse,” Calumet later explained to the New York Daily News. “She said, 'Put the girl on or I'll get another trainer.'” Pressure at Post Time Beyond that (presumably) humorous retort, Calumet explained that the main reason the couple thought that naming Crump was a good idea was that there would be less pressure for the 20-year-old to make her debut on an unlikely long shot than if she were named to ride on a more certain betting choice. “She'll ride eventually,” Catherine Calumet said she had reasoned to her husband, according to the Daily News story. “I felt sorry for her.” Even though the pari-mutuel expectations had been dialed down, the publicity for Crump's pending feat remained considerably high. And half the riders in the race still balked at riding alongside her once they found out. The Hialeah meet at that time was routinely covered by all of South Florida's major newspapers, most of the New York dailies, and the nation's two major wire services. Yet none of those news outlets gave a full account of which riders backed out. Several papers though, reported that Ron Turcotte and Angel Cordero Jr., were the two most prominent refusals. Turcotte was four years away from riding into immortality with the mighty Secretariat. Cordero had just led North America in victories for the 1968 season. But the South Florida riding corps in 1969 was flush with available jockeys, and replacements were seamlessly engaged to pick up the vacated mounts. Others offered Crump support in small ways. Jockey Danny Gargan–who would die tragically in 1975 at age 31 and is the father of the present-day trainer with the same name–lent Diane his riding tack. “Why not? She's a real good kid,” Gargan told The New York Times. Lacking private space in the all-male jockeys' quarters, Crump was given a room in Hialeah's administration building to change into her red-and-white silks. Two police officers escorted Crump to the paddock as the 4:19 p.m. post time neared, with an entourage of press photographers and TV news cameras shadowing her every step. The attendance that day at Hialeah was 15,791, about average for a Friday in 1969. Remember, there hadn't been much advance notice that Crump would be riding that afternoon. But still, a track official estimated that a third of the racegoers–some 5,000 people–crammed into the area near the backyard paddock and walking ring. That same official added that the only other crowd of that size he remembered flocking to watch horses being saddled was when the supremely popular Nashua ran in the 1956 Widener Handicap. Diane Crump aboard Bridle 'n Bit (center) | Getty images If Crump was anxious, she didn't admit it. Several news accounts noted that she forgot to remove her wristwatch for the race, and that she walked right by her trainer and his horse in the paddock, either not realizing where she was supposed to go or, more likely, being distracted by the hoopla. Relatively speaking, Bridle 'n Bit was taking action at the windows. He had gone off at 95-1 against lesser company in a recent start against claimers and was stepping up in class to $5,000 allowance company. One news story speculated he should have been 248-1 under those circumstances in the 12-hourse field instead of the 48-1 odds at which he closed, with much of that action likely attributable to two-dollar hunch plays or for souvenir tickets. Calumet hadn't been able to claim the 10-pound apprentice allowance that the first-time rider was entitled to because he had named her to ride just that morning, so Crump had to lug an extra 12 pounds of weight above her natural frame of 104 pounds to meet the required 116 pounds dictated by the race conditions. When Calumet gave Crump a leg up and numerous flash bulbs exploded in unison, Bridle 'n Bit kicked the back of his saddling stall and spun. But his jockey remained composed and focused. There was a smattering of applause and, yes, a few catcalls aimed at Crump as the field paraded out of the paddock. Very likely, only a few music aficionados noted that the track bugler improvised the traditional call to post by adding in a few bars of the old-timey show tune “Diane.” Off and Running In the starting gate, Crump's mount stepped into stall two alongside Craig Perret, whose horse had drawn the rail. As the field loaded, Perret imparted a bit of advice to Crump about Bridle 'n Bit, whom he had previously ridden and knew to be headstrong when galloping out. Perret also kindly reminded Crump to get her goggles in place just before the race went off. When the starter sprang the latch, Crump leapt forward atop Bridle 'n Bit, breaking in second and running with the leaders the first time past the stands. Bridle 'n Bit got shuffled to the back of the pack through the first turn, but the rookie rider didn't shy from getting pelted with kickback along the inside. Last down the backstretch, Crump urged Bridle 'n Bit on the far turn and into the lane. She passed two horses to finish tenth, considering it a minor, in-race victory to surge past the eleventh-place rival by a neck in the final yards. Crump would later say she at first didn't realize the applause she heard upon returning in front of the stands after the race was directed at her. In another instant, she was mobbed by cameramen, microphones and reporters peppering her with questions. Several news accounts noted that Crump didn't seem to know she was supposed to remove her saddle from her mount before going to the scale to weigh in, but she later disputed that notion. “I got off and they just dragged me away,” she said with a touch of exasperation, referring to the media throng. “I didn't forget.” Several news outlets reported that even though he had refused to ride against her, Ron Turcotte made it a point to seek out Crump post-race to shake her hand. The New York Times led its coverage of the history-making day this way: “Despite the cries of the prophets of doom, Diane Crump rode in the seventh race at Hialeah today–the first girl ever to compete against men on a Florida race track–and when it was over the grandstand was still standing. “If she was inwardly nervous, it was not apparent in her riding,” the story later continued. And how did Diane feel about it? “It felt good out there. I think I'll be all right from here on out. I really think I can make it now,” she told The New York Times. “The hard part is over now,” Crump added in Newsday's account of her paradigm-smashing feat. The post An Appreciation: How Diane Crump Smashed A Paradigm, With A Little Help From Some Friends appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trainer Chad Brown is targeting the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Feb. 14 with Remsen Stakes (G2) winner Paladin.View the full article

Trainer Dick Cappellucci saddled his 1,000th career winner Jan. 4 when One Time Mark won the fifth race at Sam Houston Race Park.View the full article

Though rare, sudden deaths in racehorses have long proven a source of great frustration for being just that–a sudden event with virtually no way to predict it, and oftentimes no way to explain it. Emerging research, however, offers real hope that perhaps soon, the industry will have a way to both zero in on the small number of horses at heightened risk of apparent sudden death, as well as a better understanding of just what might be happening to them. Using data from more than 21,000 horses who wore the StrideSAFE biometric sensor in just over 60,100 races over a four-year period, researchers were able to zero in on just 0.7% of the runs as the ones containing those horses most at risk of suffering sudden death. And within that group, it caught 83% of those horses that indeed would eventually go on and suffer a sudden death event during the study period. Horses at elevated risk of sudden death were flagged as far out as eight months before dying. “There's a lot of horses out there and people are busy. You can't screen them all,” said Warwick Bayly, dean of Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, who described as “preliminary” the status of the StrideSAFE research. “But if veterinarians have to act or focus their efforts, this is telling them, based on the current state of knowledge, 'go focus on these horses,'” Bayly said. But focus their attention on what exactly? Up to now, experts have largely speculated over sudden death causes, their assumption being they're mostly heart related. But what heart murmurs and arrhythmias are the primary culprits? And how impactful are other factors, like genetic predisposition, underlying infections and other triggers? A key part of the problem is that sudden deaths often leave no discernable physical sign for pathologists to piece together a clear diagnostic picture. Since the launch of Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), 214 horses have suffered an exercise associated sudden death (EASD), 75 in racing while 139 were in training. According to available postmortem findings, around 56% of cases have been deemed inconclusive, meaning they're associated with cardiac death. Late scratch | Sarah Andrew Thanks in part to a huge ongoing study led by a team of researchers put together under HISA's auspices, a picture is emerging as to what kinds of heart irregularities might need special attention. This includes horses in atrial fibrillation (a type of arrhythmia) while resting, and arrhythmias in the late recovery period after exercise. According to Sian Durward-Akhurst, assistant professor of genetics, genomics and large animal internal medicine at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, the goal with HISA's sudden death working group is to get enough data to be able to answer the question, “are there any ECG characteristics that are predictive?” Study Findings The StrideSAFE biometric sensor–a small iPhone shaped device that slips into a horse's saddle cloth–records with each stride thousands of different data points like its acceleration and deceleration, its up and down concussive movement, and its movement from side-to-side. Importantly, it is not a heart monitor. As part of a study soon to be published, the StrideSAFE team used the sensor on over 21,000 horses who made 60,103 starts from between July 2021 and August 2025. During this four-year study period, 29 horses from this population suffered a sudden death event during exercise. StrideSAFE had captured 77 starts these 29 horses had made prior to the fatal event. The StrideSAFE team then ran all 60,100-plus starts through an algorithm–which is built around 16 different variables–specially designed to capture a horse's likelihood of suffering a sudden cardiac death. Once done, the algorithm places each start into one of four different categories: 1 – Normal 3 – Low Risk 4 – Moderate Risk 5 – High Risk The StrideSAFE team wanted to see if the algorithm could flag the 77 starts made by the 29 horses who would go on and later suffer a sudden death during exercise (we'll call them the EASD horses). Vet care in the barn area | Sarah Andrew Furthermore, if the algorithm worked as planned, it would also mark as “normal” the remaining 60,026 starts made by the other horses who didn't suffer an EASD event. Here's what the researchers found: Of the 29 horses that would go on and suffer a sudden death event, 27 of them received a category 3-5 flag at least once. The number of starts assigned to these three elevated risk categories constituted just 3.5% of the total starts (2,098 of 60,026 total starts). Within that group, 24 of the horses that would later die a sudden death received a category 5 flag at least once. Category 5 horses have a one-in-ten chance of dying from sudden death, researchers found. The percentage of runs assigned to category 5 constituted just 0.7% of the overall starts (426 of 60,026 starts). Furthermore, EASD horses assigned a category 3, 4 or 5 start received their respective flag at least once during the 8 months prior to dying. If this continues to play out in ongoing research, this could mean that sudden deaths aren't as sudden as we thought, similar to how a “bad step” was once used to explain a musculoskeletal injury but has since been disproved. Which begs the question: why is a biometric sensor able to pick up horses at heightened risk of sudden death? What Does StrideSAFE Pick Up? With such limited scientific understanding of equine sudden death to hand, any answer to that question would right now be largely “speculative,” said Dave Lambert, who founded StrideSAFE. “But it's reasonable to assume there's some kind of cardiac impairment that is having an effect on blood flow and therefore the vitality of the work-rate of muscles. And once their muscles are going to change, their stride is going to change,” Lambert added. He compared this effect to humans with cardiac issues like heart disease, especially in the elderly. They more easily get fatigued, and when they do, their muscles twitch and tremble. “If the blood flow to a muscle that is working very, very hard is in any way impaired, then presumably that muscle isn't working quite as well,” said Lambert. “And all a horse has to do is weaken for a hundredth of a second at some point during the stride and we're going to pick that up.” Broadly speaking, what Lambert's findings suggest is that StrideSAFE could provide trainers and veterinarians a way to zero in on those horses who need additional scrutiny without “having to do an ECG on every horse in training,” he said. Device | StrideSAFE WEB According to his calculations, at a track with 80 runners per-day, his algorithm would flag about one category 5 horse every two days. If all category 3, 4 and 5 horses are selected for extra veterinary scrutiny, that will come out to around two or three candidates each day, according to Lambert's numbers. That's not a lot of horses. Even so, what do you do with them once flagged? In an ideal world, there would be a set of protocols to follow akin to the sorts of diagnostic assessments given to horses with suspected musculoskeletal injuries-think nerve blocking for lameness, and PET and MRI scans. No such clear set of protocols currently exist in the U.S. for horses suspected of having cardiac problems. That said, Hong Kong provides something of a guide. For four racing seasons, official veterinarians in Hong Kong have listened with a stethoscope to every runner's heart during a pre-race inspection on the day before the race, as well as a second examination between 15 to 30 mins before the race start time. Only horses assessed to have a normal heart rhythm are allowed to start. Those that exhibit an arrythmia during a pre-race examination are withdrawn so that a more thorough clinical examination can be performed, and to gauge whether they're safe to return to racing. According to Bronte Forbes, head of veterinary regulation at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, an average 0.09% of runners are withdrawn for heart rhythm irregularities pre-race. During officially requested post-race examination, 0.27% have heart rhythm irregularities. “Although there are some common arrhythmias in racing horses that have known levels of risk, and prognosis for returning to racing, some may be more complex and in those cases we commonly consult experienced specialist equine cardiologists to confirm whether an arrythmia should be considered as significant enough to warrant restrictions to training and racing and inclusion in the Official Veterinary Examination system with further monitoring and examinations,” Forbes added, in an email (more on this in a bit). The thing is, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, clinician to clinician, there remains much debate over what constitutes a problematic murmur or arrythmia in racehorses. Some clarity on the matter, however, might soon be arriving. Ongoing Study Under HISA About one year ago, HISA launched a voluntary study for trainers to equip their horses with Arionoe's Equimetre sensor during morning exercise-mainly fast works, but also gallops and jogging days. The project is chaired by Karen Hassan, compliance and research veterinarian for HISA. Unlike StrideSAFE, Equimetre is both an ECG electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor and a biometric sensor that fits under the girth. The aim of the study is to see if electrocardiograms employed during exercise can be used to determine at-risk horses along a sliding scale, from the healthy end to those horses whose welfare is compromised by cardiac issues. To date, 1491 horses have delivered 7740 recordings. The aim is to ultimately collect data from 10,000 horses. It takes time to go through the data, which is being done by hand rather than through artificial intelligence. So far, 2050 recordings from 708 horses have been analyzed. Horse with an Equimetre device | Arioneo WEB Among the recordings already evaluated, about 88% of the horses fitted with the Equimetre illustrate some kind of arrhythmia. About 31% show complex arrhythmias. While that ongoing study is ongoing, Cristobal Navas De Solis, associate professor of cardiology/ultrasound and internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine–and a member of HISA's sudden death research group–has also been involved in a retrospective study that has yielded fascinating results. Navas and his fellow researchers have dug down into a list of 13 horses from the U.S., France, Australia and Britain that suffered a sudden death and had a history of wearing the Equimetre sensor leading up to the event. Five of these 13 horses were wearing the device the day they died. Of these five, three of them left the stall in atrial fibrillation before they exercised and subsequently died. What this suggests is that particular attention needs to be paid to horses not engaging in high-intensity exercise while on atrial fibrillation. Asked about what happened to these three horses' hearts just prior to dying, Navas explained their heart rates during or after high-speed work became excessively high before the atrial fibrillation then deteriorated into very unstable rhythms “like ventricular fibrillation or tornado-like ventricular tachycardia that causes death.” Of the other seven horses with Equimetre recordings within one month of the sudden death, one was in atrial fibrillation one-week prior to death (but was not wearing the sensor the day of the event). What's known about atrial fibrillation in racehorses? For one, racehorses in atrial fibrillation rarely exhibit any outward symptoms at rest. It's also pretty rare. Of the horses in HISA's ongoing study, between 0.25% and 0.75% of them have shown atrial fibrillation during training. Navas explained that most horses with atrial fibrillation will be just fine if not asked to exercise. “It might not impact mild to moderate exercise, but it will impact racetrack performance and safety during high-intensity exercise like racing if it persists,” he wrote, alluding to a 2021 study out of Hong Kong. That same study also showed how 80% of horses continue racing and training after one episode of atrial fibrillation but after a second episode, most horses (66% of them) were retired. Arrhythmias during the recovery period after exercise appear to be another target of attention in racehorses, said Navas. “It is interesting because traditionally, recovery arrhythmias are considered less concerning than arrhythmias during the high-intensity exercise period,” wrote Navas in an email, before stressing that a larger population is required to draw firm conclusions (while at the same time extolling those trainers who have already participated in the ongoing study). Despite the preliminary nature of so much of this research, Bayly urged the veterinary community to look at and perhaps harness some of these emerging findings rather than wait for concrete answers to be nailed down-what could take years. “There are people who will always want more information,” said Bayly. “And in many of these cases, I'd say it's the classic example of the enemy of good being better or best.” HISA's research group is recruiting more horses for 2026. Anyone interested in participating should contact Navas at: navasdes@vet.upenn.edu. The post Sudden Death In Racehorses: A Way To Screen And Diagnose At-Risk Runners? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

PARADISE (f, 3, Gun Runner–Venetian Harbor {MGSW & MGISP, $699,400}, by Munnings) was unveiled Nov. 13 beneath the Twin Spires and since that maiden special, several runners have emerged from that race to either win or hit the board again–most notably She's So Coal (Coal Front), who graduated by 12 lengths against state-breds at Oaklawn Park. Made the 4-5 favorite here when making a seasonal bow with first-time Lasix, the chestnut stepped out to set the pace from along the rail going up the backstretch through an opening quarter in :25 flat. Comfortably clear of Betty's Pearl (Munnings) after four furlongs in :48.26 and six panels in 1:13.47, Paradise maintained her advantage over that runner down to the wire. The victress is the first to the races for multiple Grade I-placed Venetian Harbor, whose now juvenile colt by Curlin sold in last year's Keeneland September sale for $1.05-million to AMO Racing. The mare's last registered offspring is a yearling colt by Into Mischief and she's due to Nyquist for 2026. 7th-Gulfstream, $70,660, Msw, 1-4, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:39.78, ft, 3 lengths. PARADISE (f, 3, Gun Runner–Venetian Harbor {MGSW & MGISP, $699,400}, by Munnings) Sales history: $700,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $64,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods; B-Ciaglia Racing, LLC, HNDEH & Domenic Savides (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. #6 PARADISE ($3.80), a three-year-old filly by Gun Runner (@Three_Chimneys) out of multiple GSW Venetian Harbor, broke her maiden in gate-to-wire fashion in R7 at @GulfstreamPark. @zayas_edgardo was up for trainer @bradcoxracing and owners NK Racing & @LNJFoxwoods. pic.twitter.com/sjmmryNpqA — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 4, 2026 The post Gun Runner’s Paradise Gets It Done at Second Asking in Florida appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jockey Keith Asmussen began getting on horses late last month at Oaklawn in advance of his comeback, which could come during Oaklawn's Classic racing season (Jan. 30-May 2) or at Sam Houston Race Park, a press release from the Hot Springs track said on Sunday. Asmussen, Oaklawn's second-leading jockey in 2023-2024, has not ridden since fracturing the right side of his pelvis in a Nov. 8 spill at Churchill Downs. Asmussen said there was no displacement of the bone and no surgery was required. “It stinks any time you get hurt, but considering the timing of the break at Oaklawn it hasn't really put a rush on things,” Asmussen said Sunday morning. “On my six-week mark, I got released to ride and I started getting on horses here. It's been smooth for the most part. I'm excited to get on horses and be around the races.” The young jockey, who was involved in a serious spill during the summer of 2024, frequently rides for his father Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. The post Asmussen To Return To The Saddle After Injury appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Santa Anita Park has canceled live racing Jan. 4 as the final round of strong storms pushes out of Southern California.View the full article

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters announced Jan. 4 the finalists for the 2025 Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing.View the full article