Wandering Eyes

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER View the full article

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

Track stars such as Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) are among the finalists for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) said via a Sunday press release. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, presented by John Deere, The Jockey Club and the NTRA, on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2025 Horse of the Year. Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the National Turf Writers & Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form, 221 (92%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes. The 2025 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, (in alphabetical order) are: 2-Year-Old Male: Brant (Gun Runner), Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Ted Noffey; 2-Year-Old Filly: Cy Fair (Not This Time), Explora (Blame), Super Corredora (Gun Runner); 3-Year-Old Male: Baeza (McKinzie), Journalism (Curlin), Sovereignty; 3-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), Shisospicy (Mitole); Older Dirt Male: Forever Young, Nysos (Nyquist), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner); Older Dirt Female: Scylla (Tapit), Splendora (Audible), Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna); Male Sprinter: Bentornato (Valiant Minister), Book'em Danno (Bucchero), Nysos; Female Sprinter: Kopion (Omaha Beach), Shisospicy, Splendora; Male Turf Horse: Deterministic (Liam's Map), Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}); Female Turf Horse: Gezora (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}), She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}), Shisospicy; Steeplechase Horse: Cool Jet (Ire) (Jet Away {GB}), Swore (Broken Vow), Zanahiyr (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}); Owner: Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables, Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC; Breeder: Don Alberto Corporation, Godolphin LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC; Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott; Jockey: Irad Oritz Jr., Flavien Prat, John Velazquez; Apprentice Jockey: Christopher Elliott, Yedsit Hazlewood, Pietro Moran. Finalists for Horse of the Year will be revealed during the live show Jan. 22. In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Dan Piazza will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2025 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories. Click here for more information concerning Eclipse-related events. The post Ted Noffey, Sovereignty, Forever Young Among 2025 Eclipse Finalists 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 the Southern California area.View the full article

Having recently returned from Australia where he was supporting the England men's cricket team in its ill-fated quest to regain the Ashes, Ben Shoare is now preparing to embark on his first full season at Ace Stud, having been appointed to the role of nominations manager in November last year. The next man in our Hot Seat is a relative latecomer to racing but has quickly developed an obsession with sales catalogues, while his own brief cricketing career saw him take the notable scalp of a former England batsman. How did you become involved in bloodstock in the first place? It was kind of random for me. I was sent home from my final year at uni, just as Covid struck in March 2020. I finished my degree at home and mulled it over a bit, just feeling not sure about what to do. I got rejected from the BHA grad scheme, which I thought was going to be right up my street, and I got rejected from a couple of jobs in racing yards because I had no experience – I'd never touched a horse. I ended up sending a tweet out, basically asking for a job anywhere, and good old David Redvers was straight back to me. I think I sent the tweet out on a Thursday or Friday and I started in Tweenhills on the Monday. That was how it all started and it was David who put me in touch with the team at the Irish National Stud. I was only in Tweenhills for six months and then went over to the INS for the Thoroughbred Breeding Management course. What has been the proudest moment of your career to date? It's hard to pinpoint a particular moment. Everything is always going at a million miles an hour and there's always something to do the next day, rather than dwelling on a bit of success you might have had. I guess I've been involved for just under six years now and I'm very proud of the progress I've made, to be honest. I've just started the new job and I was very proud to be entrusted with that responsibility. When I worked at Tweenhills, I worked out pretty quickly that I wanted to be involved in sales and stallions, so a nominations position was something that I always had my eye on. Since I got the job, I've had a lot of people whom I respect hugely come up and say that they thought it was well deserved. That was pleasing to hear. Shaquille is the only stallion currently standing at Ace Stud. Is he proving an easy sell heading into your first full season in the role? I don't know if there's such a thing as an easy sell when it comes to stallions. Even with the boys at the very top, there are going to be challenges along the way, when you're in too much demand almost. But Shaquille is very popular. His first foals made a huge impression at the sales and anybody who came to see the stallion himself had nothing but good things to say. He's going to be busy again and, having dropped his fee to £10,000 for 2026, off the back of a 60 grand foal average, he has every right to be. It's no surprise that I've had breeders at all levels ringing me up and asking about him. Give us an underrated sire to keep the right side of next year… As an overall package and at the current fees, I'd go with Sioux Nation. He's covered an awful lot of mares now, but a lot of people still don't seem convinced. Personally, I think it's a matter of time until he kicks on. I think 2026 might be the last year for him in the sort of mid-range bracket in terms of fee. I'm a big believer in him. He had the French Guineas horse [Shes Perfect] in 2025 and I think he'll cement himself with one or two more of them. Of the stallions who are going to have their first runners in 2026, I'm absolutely buzzing to see the Golden Pals. He was a favourite of mine, an absolute speedball, so I'm looking forward to seeing them. What was your defining memory of 2025? There is probably a bit of recency bias here, but the day I spent under the scoreboard at Adelaide for the Ashes with the Barmy Army is probably going to live very long in the memory for me. That was a great day spent with my family and some close friends. What motivates you? In my role at Ace Stud, I'm hugely motivated by the opportunity to help the wider breeding industry. It's well documented that foals crops have declined and the number of small breeders is declining. Ace Stud is a new organisation and it's going to continue to grow. I really want to give breeders in Britain, and elsewhere, the chance to grow as well. I want breeders to know what they're going to get when they ring me and I want them to know that a success for them is a success for me, in my position. It's my job to get mares to the stallion, but that can only happen if I've got repeat customers, so I'll be fighting their corner. There will be more stallions joining the ranks in the years to come and I want to build relationships with breeders that are hopefully going to last a long time. From my own point of view, I've got a few mares and success on the track is all that matters for me. I need to make things pay and get a good result in the sales ring every now and then just to keep the show on the road. But I've got loads of partners in the horses that we're breeding and, when I'm old and grey, I'll be sat around with the same lads and we'll be remembering the horses based on what they won, not what they made in the ring. What keeps you awake at night? It probably varies throughout the year, but there is one constant and it's probably sad to say that I've cancelled plans of mine because catalogues have been released online and I can't wait for the next day to get into them. Obsessing over those sales catalogues is probably my main one. Other than that, probably the film Interstellar. If I watch that, I'm staring at the ceiling for a good few hours after it. That's my favourite film. What is your biggest regret? I've got a few regrets, things I've said and things I've done. You always wonder what might be different if you'd done things differently, but nothing that really haunts me or keeps me awake at night like the sales catalogues! One thing I do wish is that I'd learned to ride as a young man. I've been lucky enough to travel a good bit and it's very clear that being able to get up on a racehorse is a pretty useful skill to have in this game when it comes to travelling around the world. Tell us something people don't know about Ben Shoare… I'm 30 now and it's going back a few years, but I'm the proud holder of one first-class wicket. Poor Gary Ballance, I bowled him a long hop and he managed to smash it to square leg. That was for Leeds/Bradford MCCU in the warm-up games at the start of the season. I think I would have been 18 or 19 at the time. What is your favourite sale/place and why? I spent a summer in Saratoga in 2022 and that place just has it all for anyone in this game. I'd implore people to get out there during the racing and the sales, if they haven't already. It's an epic spot, with the racecourse on the doorstep, the sales ground next door and Lake George just up the road. It's just a brilliant place to spend as much time as you possibly can and I'll be doing my best to get back there! What's your go-to karaoke song? I'd give Billy Joel's Scenes From An Italian Restaurant a good rattle. Who is your inspiration? My close group of friends, some of whom I'm involved in racing with and some of whom I'm not. Those guys have certainly kept me going and inspired me to grind it out through the tough times. We all have plenty of them in this game. It's nice to feel like we're in the battle together and we're always able to have a bit of a laugh about it. The post In The Hot Seat: Ben Shoare appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The road sign at the turn-off from Ousden towards Wickhambrook reads 'This is a quiet lane'. Drive a mile or so down that lane and it becomes considerably less quiet as one arrives at Genesis Green Stud. There, the unmistakably booming voice of Michael Swinburn greets visitors, who will be arriving in increasing numbers over the next few months, and he is unmistakably excited about the reason behind this. “Come and see him,” Swinburn says with gusto of the stud's newest arrival, the Group 2 winner Royal Scotsman, who is about to turn Genesis Green into a stallion operation for the first time in its near-70-year existence. Alongside him is his father, the sprightly Wally, who will turn 89 in a week's time. “Forty-two years we've been here and everything is working well and now he drops this on me,” says Wally in a mock huff, but with a gleam in his eye which suggests that he will relish every bit of what is coming.” He adds, “I mean, can you imagine an ex-jockey buying a stud farm?” Well, yes actually, it is easy to imagine if that jockey happens to bear the name Wally Swinburn, the champion in Ireland in 1976 and 1977, who also rode with great success in Britain, France and India. And in fact, he and his wife Doreen bought the farm from another former jockey, Harry Carr, who set it up in 1958. Three generations are ensconced there now. Doreen ushers us in to her 'Irish kitchen', as welcoming as that title implies. Their neighbour, bloodstock agent Grant Pritchard-Gordon, has come to view Royal Scotsman and to pick the brains of Michael and Nicky Swinburn's youngest son, Jake, who has recently completed the Godolphin Flying Start course and is now employed by Total Performance Data. Leaf-blower in hand, Jake is clearly actively involved with all the goings-on at Genesis Green, while his brother Ben is currently working in Ireland at Yeomanstown Stud. Lively conversation ensues, overlapping from different corners of the table, son often correcting father, from one generation to the next. You get a lot more than you bargained for when going to view a Genesis Green stallion, especially if you happen to be a lover of racing history. There in the hallway is the bronze gifted by the Aga Khan of Shergar and Walter Swinburn, Wally and Doreen's much-missed son, alongside a photo of Wally holding the great horse at Ballymany Stud just a month before his kidnap. Then there are Wally's fascinating tales – of taking Stanerra to Tokyo to win the third running of the Japan Cup for Frank Dunne in 1983, of Charles Engelhard and riding Romulus, of being jocked off Blue Wind by Lester Piggott in the Oaks the year Walter won the Derby on Shergar. Father and son did at least end up completing a Derby/Oaks double of sorts as Wally rode Blue Wind when she won the Irish Oaks. We could stay for hours – we did! – and eventually conversation turns to the five-year-old son of Gleaneagles whom the Swinburns have known since his weanling days. Royal Scotsman | Emma Berry Genesis Green Stud, which now comprises 165 acres across two neighbouring farms, is well established as a commercial consignor on the sales beat, once emotionally topping the December Foal Sale at Tattersalls when selling a Dubawi colt to Godolphin for 1.8m gns. That same year, 2021, Genesis Green consigned on behalf of breeder Rabbah Bloodstock the colt who would become known as Royal Scotsman to Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale, selling him for 125,000gns to Ed Sackville for owners Jim and Fitri Hay. “We had no intention of standing stallions,” says Michael Swinburn as he begins to recount the tale of the return to Suffolk of Royal Scotsman, who at one stage had been pencilled in to begin his stud career in France. “There was a little bit of a problem [with that plan] and there had been a lot of conversation with [the Hays' racing manager] Alex Cole. When Jim heard I might be interested in him as a stallion, he said that he wanted him to stand in England and to breed to the horse. “Basically, Alex came back with a proposal and we bought half the horse. It all happened that quickly and that suddenly, but he was always a horse I was interested in breeding to anyway.” He continues, “He came here as a weanling and he was an absolute belter. This was just an opportunity really too good to pass by.” Certainly, breeders calling in to see Royal Scotsman will be unlikely to leave disappointed as he has lovely balance and is a fine stamp of a horse, standing a little over 16.1hh. His race record is worth rereading, too. Breaking his maiden on his second start for Paul and Oliver Cole at Goodwood by five lengths, he then went straight to the Coventry to finish third to Bradsell and Persian Force, with Blackbeard two lengths behind him in fourth. On his next start at Goodwood, he landed the Richmond Stakes before finishing fifth in the Gimcrack, with a subsequent poor scope being given as the reason for that disappointment. Royal Scotsman's best run at two, however, was undoubtedly his seasonal swansong in the Dewhurst in which he was beaten a head by Chaldean. That pair would meet again on the first Saturday of May the following year. Chaldean again had the upper hand, with Royal Scotsman taking third behind Hi Royal in the 2,000 Guineas. After sub-par efforts in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace, Royal Scotsman sat out the rest of the year “with a niggle”, but he was back at four to win the G3 Diomed Stakes at Epsom and finish second to Topgear in the G2 Challenge Stakes. “At the end of the day, he's not just a Group 2 winner or a Group 3 winner who was a fast horse: he was a class horse,” Swinburn says. “He was unlucky not to be champion two-year-old. Third in the Coventry, he won the Richmond in a faster time than Mehmas or Vandeek. He holds the record for the Richmond. He was basically unlucky in the Dewhurst, hence his rating of 118 as a two-year-old. “He's a good-looking horse with a lovely pedigree. He's everything, really, that I look for in a stallion: good two-year-old, trained on, out of a black-type mare.” Chaldean -©racingfotos_76274325132-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="598" height="426" /> A tight finish in the Dewhurst between Royal Scotsman and Chaldean | Racingfotos Out of the twice Listed-placed Cheveley Park Stud-bred mare Enrol (Pivotal), Royal Scotsman is a half-brother to the multiple Hong Kong winner Encountered (Churchill), who was runner-up to California Spangle in the G2 Sha Tin Trophy. He comes along at a time when his sire Gleneagles is enjoying something of a resurgence via his recent Group 1 winners Calandagan, who is vying with Ka Ying Rising for 'world's best horse' honours, Mill Stream, who is now ensconced at Yeomanstown Stud, Arrow Eagle, and Palladium. And, if you like this kind of thing, Royal Scotsman has a double dose of the influential broodmare Special in his pedigree. The announcement of his arrival to Genesis Green Stud came late in the year but, at a time when a lot of smaller breeders are perhaps leaving their mating decisions later than usual, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Swinburn has been encouraged by the response so far. He says, “Even at the December sales, we weren't sure whether it was going to happen or not. But the thing that has surprised me is the amount of goodwill. People have been coming up to me and saying, 'Well done, Michael.' “We sent 14 mares to Ireland last year and, since Brexit, that has become prohibitively expensive. It used to be just under £1,000 to get one over and back for us to do it ourselves. Now it's close to £2,000. So you could go to Ireland for a €5,000 to €10,000 stallion, or you could have a good value £6,000 stallion here. I'd like to think breeders commercially can make money out of him. “Because he didn't run [in 2025], we decided to be very aggressive with the price to hopefully get to pick the mares that we wanted. We're not going to compete with the big stallion Irish operations covering 150-200 mares. One, there aren't the mares in England to do that. And two, nor did we want to do that, to be perfectly frank. Are we going to be leading first-season sire? With winners, no. But I'd like to think we'll have a good shout at being leading sire by winners to runners.” He continues, “I want it to be like Tim Rogers used to do in the olden days. He used to stand them low, pick his mares – with Habitat, all those stallions. We're not looking to be out in three years on this horse. Hopefully he'll be here 15 years-plus covering mares.” Swinburn is realistic in his assessment of the issues currently facing the breeding industry through a contracting foal crop and he has seen through his own boarding business the gradual loss of some of the traditional smaller owner-breeders. Despite this and the competitiveness of the stallion market he insists that his new stallion will not cover mares without a suitable profile. “I'll manage that part of it in the nicest possible way,” he says of potentially having to let down breeders whose mares have been poor producers for a number of years. “Someone has to tell them, in a nice way. If IKEA were making tables for £100 and selling them for £50, they wouldn't be making those tables for very long. We've got to be open with ourselves and say that.” He does however believe that there is still room for optimism. “I think the GBB scheme [Great British Bonus] is important, especially for the market that he's going to be in, which is middle to low end. The GBB is a big thing for British breeders.” He adds, “The thing that's gone is basically what our old clients were – the owner-breeder, like Peter Pritchard or the Scotts. Those people had them in training and wanted a place to put their mare. The returns, the economics of it doesn't make sense now, unless they're able to wheel and deal a bit. “To be perfectly honest, I would say our sales are subsidising our owners here. It's nice to have the cashflow coming through from them but we couldn't survive as a farm just having walk-in mares or permanent boarders. It wouldn't pay. Keeping mares and doing it properly – coming in for a feed every day, not being fed in the paddocks and stuff like that – that takes labour.” And he is adamant in his view that racing's leaders have to make a stronger case to government when it comes to the importance of British breeding. “At some stage, we're going to have to turn around and say, 'Hold on a second, you're not paying us enough.' How that's done is going to be a difficult decision,” he says. “But I don't think the solution is that hard. When you've got the bookmakers saying there are not enough horses per race, you've got to say, 'Lads, why? It's costing the breeders 10 grand to breed a horse and you're giving them five.' “We have to make a decision: are we an industry or are we a hobby? If we're a hobby, fine, keep going as we are. If we want to be an industry, the product has to be paid for.” In launching a stallion that he believes has a chance to be commercially successful, Swinburn will naturally be backing Royal Scotsman with his family's mares and says that the Hays will also be sending him at least 10 mares. “Jim wants the horse to stand in this country because he wants to race his progeny,” Swinburn notes. “Had I not thought he has a great chance of doing it, I wouldn't have bothered, to be perfectly honest. I'm standing him because I think he has a great chance, and it's a commercial decision. So, that's it.” Plenty have already wished Swinburn luck and it is easy to see why. The tale of this family of excellent horsemen and women has taken an unexpected twist, but in Royal Scotsman there is an exciting new chapter just waiting to be written. The post ‘We Had No Intention of Standing Stallions’: Royal Scotsman Heralds a New Era at Genesis Green Stud 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 on Sunday, Jan. 4 as the final round of strong storms pushes out of the Southern California area, the track said in a press release on Sunday morning. The storm has dropped more than 10 inches of rain on the Arcadia, California, track since an atmospheric river began pummeling the West Coast Dec. 23. “The weather is set to improve significantly by Monday, and we don't have any rain in sight for the next 10 days or so,” said Santa Anita Park's General Manager Nate Newby. “We are grateful for the support of our stakeholders these last two weeks. It hasn't been easy, but the safety of the horses will always come first. We're looking forward to building on the strong momentum from our first few days and getting back to business.” Racing returns to Santa Anita Park on Thursday, which is the first of two announced makeup days due to the rain cancelations. First post time on Thursday will be 12 noon and will feature two turf stakes races. The track has also added Thursday, Jan. 15 to the racing schedule. The post Go Away! Sunday Santa Anita Card Canceled As Rain Set To Move Out appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

French star Maxime Guyon kept up his stellar form on his short-term stint in Hong Kong with another Sha Tin double courtesy of The Concentration and Gallant Epoch on Sunday. Since starting a three-month contract at the end of November, Guyon broke through with a Group One success on Sosie in the Hong Kong Vase (2,400m) and Sunday’s brace boosted his haul to nine winners. The Concentration overcame a wide trip without cover in the second half of the field to snare the opening Class Five Tai Lam...View the full article