Wandering Eyes

Sent off as the 29-10 third choice in a field of five debuting over the one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park on Saturday afternoon, Class President (Uncle Mo) saved his best for the final furlong and kicked home a decisive winner, heading up a WinStar and Uncle Mo 1-2 finish. Off without incident from the two hole, the bay colt secured the perfect spot at the fence from third as second choice Prize Pick (Tiz the Law) cut out the running while flanked by the debuting Easterly (Uncle Mo)–also representing WinStar, China Horse Club and First Go Racing–out wide. Blocked for a run as they reached the quarter pole, Class President was maneuvered off heels and into the clear in upper stretch, quickly drew alongside the front-running duo and came away to a comfortable 3 1/4-length victory. Easterly was second ahead of a late-on-the-scene Boss Dylan (Liam's Map), the 4-5 chalk. The late Uncle Mo was also represented earlier Saturday by one-time WinStar runner Star of Wonder, a $325,000 Fasig-Tipton July HORA Sale grad and half-brother to MGISW Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) who posted a convincing victory in the Listed King Faisal Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia. A half-brother to American Speed (More Than Ready), SP, $161,700, Class President is out of a full-sister to SW Boston Post Road who is also the dam of the yearling filly Highest Standard (Justify) and a weanling filly by Nyquist. Top Quality is due to the latter for her 2026 produce. 6th-Gulfstream, $40,000, Msw, 12-27, 2yo, 1m, 1:38.33, ft, 3 1/4 lengths. CLASS PRESIDENT (c, 2, Uncle Mo–Top Quality {SW & GSP-Can, MSW-US, $139,704}, by Quality Road) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $24,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-WinStar Farm LLC, First Go Racing & CHC Inc; B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY); T-Todd A Pletcher. CLASS PRESIDENT ($7.80) and Easterly complete a @WinStarFarm exacta in Race 6 at @GulfstreamPark. @iradortiz was aboard the winner for @PletcherRacing. The Late Pick 5⃣ is next at Gulfstream. Bet with @FanDuel Racing.https://t.co/n8J7Nf7Wyh pic.twitter.com/NyuOeInt84 — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) December 27, 2025 The post Mo-mentum: Class President Scores On Gulfstream Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Sandman (Tapit) and La Cara (Street Sense), Grade I winners for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, each had five-furlong workouts over a fast track Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. GI Arkansas Derby winner Sandman, under Cristian Torres, went in :59.60 (1/16). He covered his opening eighth of a mile in :12, a quarter-mile in :24 and three furlongs in :35.80 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40. Unraced since late August, Sandman has had five published workouts in advance of his yet-to-be determined 4-year-old debut. “He's great,” said Torres. “He's an easy horse to work with. He did it all on his own. He's a nice horse to ride, so I just put my hands down and he did all the work. He had a target today and he actually liked it. There was a horse that started like five lengths in front of me. When I asked him at the quarter pole, he went on and passed that horse. He's feeling good.” MGISW La Cara also worked moments after the surface renovation break, clocking five furlongs in 1:00.20 (2/16) under exercise rider Autumn Lavertu, galloping out six furlongs in 1:13, according to clockers. “Went good and easy,” Caden Arthur, who oversees Casse's Oaklawn division, said. “Just trying to get her a little more fit for the race in February.” La Cara, who hasn't raced since finishing fifth in the GI Cotilion Stakes Sept. 20, is scheduled to make her 4-year-old debut in the GIII Bayakoa Stakes Feb. 7 at Oaklawn. The post Casse Works Grade I Winners Sandman, La Cara Saturday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

2nd-SA, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 2:31 p.m. ET. NEWTON (Munnings) went through the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling sale ring and brought $975,000. Sent to Bob Baffert, the colt is out of $1.2-million buy Secret Jewel (Bernardini), whose other progeny include GSW Twenty Carat (Into Mischief) and SW Point Proven (Gun Runner). Secret Jewel's half-sisters include Canadian GSW Colonial Flag (Pleasant Tap), MGSW Sparkle Blue (Hard Spun) and last but not least GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf victress Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect)–herself the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Sharing (Speightstown). TJCIS PPS 3rd-GP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:20 p.m. ET. Unraced Bonita Mia (Warrior's Reward), the dam of MGSW Super Chow (Lord Nelson) and SW Princess Indy (Lord Nelson), has Spendthrift homebred Authentic Chance (Authentic) headed to the post for her unveiling under the care of trainer Todd Pletcher. The filly's dam is a half-sister to GI Acorn Stakes champ Carina Mia (Malibu Moon) and her extended female family includes Argentinian champion 3-year-old filly & GISW Miss Linda (Arg) (Southern Halo). TJCIS PPS 7th-GP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:18 p.m. ET. One of the best maiden special weight races on Sunday includes a number of colts who are set for their first bow. Among them, look for Brad Cox stablemates Waymark (Liam's Map) and Autobahn (Nyquist) to be in the mix. Waymark went for $700,000 during Keeneland September and is out of a stakes-winning Shortleaf dam who produced GI Arkansas Derby runner-up Caddo River (Hard Spun). As for the WinStar-bred Autobahn, his dam is GSW Take Charge Paula (Take Charge Indy), who foaled 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Long Neck Paula (Uncle Mo). High Camp (Instagrand) makes the races for breeder/owner OXO Equine and trainer Will Walden. The first foal for his dam, the bay's grand dam is MGSW Summer Applause (Harlan's Holiday). TJCIS PPS The post Well-Bred Daughter Of Munnings Set For Debut As Santa Anita Opens appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Having dealt with the rookies as a case apart, and then sought a couple of bargains at the base of the pyramid, today we move into a category that remains within the reach of many hands-on breeders–from $10,000 to $19,999–while also containing sires that can raise the bar a good deal higher. On the one hand, it includes a number of young horses still to be given adequate (if any) opportunity to show what they can do, yet already finding their books and fees eroded by still newer names. But we can also weigh up older sires whose record entitles you to hope that they might inexpensively put a winner under your mare. MIDSHIPMAN has long been a model of that type, having endeared himself to countless breeders over the years while bumping along at fees even lower than his current $15,000. He's up to 59 lifetime stakes winners at a rock-solid 6.6 percent of named foals, 10 at graded level. Though now turning 20, his latest yearlings averaged $61,573–with only one of 30 failing to find a home. That looks suspiciously like exemplary commercial performance to underpin his services as a racehorse sire. Basically he can't help but make a stalwart job of anything you ask him to do. KANTHAROS entered stud the same year, 2011, but his career has followed rather more twists and turns. He earned his passage to Kentucky by punching above a low fee in Florida, briefly threatening to become something special, but has now taken a third consecutive cut to $10,000, half his 2023 fee. One way or another, that odyssey leaves him as high as #13 in lifetime earnings among active sires. DIALED IN should retain his usual loyal support after a generous trim from $15,000 to $10,000, acknowledging a tapering commercial profile that doesn't alter in the slightest his ability to sire a smart racehorse. He's had three Grade I winners, besides one who earned more than them all combined in Gunnevara. CAIRO PRINCE has taken exactly the same cut, which will surely keep him in the game as sire of 43 stakes winners at 5.4 percent of named foals, not least with Fierceness further upgrading his page. KARAKONTIE (Jpn) has never been adequately acknowledged for his lonely work against the tide, albeit his latest yearlings achieved a yield of nearly $60,000 from a $10,000 conception fee. With the commercial market becoming a little less hostile to turf, you have to doubt whether the younger sires taking advantage will ever match the ratios long established by Karakontie. With his superb genes, the sire of She Feels Pretty remains underpriced at $15,000. Kantharos | Sarah Andrew The indices of GOLDENCENTS can never stand up to his volume but any $10,000 sire that can win you the GI Kentucky Derby deserves some indulgence. FROSTED ($12,500) looks much more at home at this level, his body of work stacking up very acceptably to the kind of breeders now lining up to use him. He drew another triple-figure book last spring. UNION RAGS, another whose fee has come right down, has not yet had the same compensation in his books. But the fact is that he is still purveying the same genes, at $10,000, as he did to six Grade I winners. Among stallions still making their name, FLAMEAWAY has gilded a solid start with a Group 1 winner in the desert, Dark Saffron, alongside Group II winner and turf millionaire Bear River. He has emulated his sire Scat Daddy with a big impact in Chile and, from finite resources, appears to be providing a valid conduit to his outstanding European family at $10,000. While his current sales performance is holding him back, his books are holding up so well (weanlings graduate from one of 172) that he can absolutely consolidate from here. At the same fee, VOLATILE has shown a useful ability to make his bigger punches count: he had four stakes winners this year, steady enough, but all won graded stakes. As for the many horses in this tier yet to undergo any meaningful examination, we will use the top of our podium as an exception to prove the rule: generally speaking, we prefer evidence of some functionality, rather than participate in the guessing game that drives the commercial market. Two factors may militate against that prejudice, however: one, as in the case of our gold pick, is a fee that slides so fast that it becomes good value, even allowing for all the doubts that must linger; the other is the horse that you just can't help but admire at the price. My clear favorite, among the latter, is ANNAPOLIS. He holds his $12,500 fee, and so he jolly well should. For one thing, that avoids the negative message so many farms send to their clients–essentially that they have bought an overpriced product, which is now depreciating–in automatically clipping sires for their second and third years. But also because he was originally so attractively priced: having made an 11th hour switch to stud duties, he had to recruit mares in a hurry. As a beautiful horse, who combines a top-class grass record with elite dirt blood, he has maintained both quality and quantity in his books. His weanlings averaged $51,500, the best of any sire under $25,000, and auspiciously their median was virtually the same–always a significant marker. Among the preceding intake, besides our gold pick, DRAIN THE CLOCK deserves credit for maintaining a $71,084 average ($55,000 median) from a $10,000 cover fee, despite sending as many as 116 of his first yearlings into the ring. His foals look the type to land running, and 139 mares returned last spring in the hope of slipstreaming an impact on the freshman table. He is joined on $10,000 by MANDALOUN, who has taken a third consecutive cut after starting at $25,000. His date with Citizen Bull's dam produced a seven-figure yearling at Saratoga, helping his average to $108,336 (median $66,000), and there will be some very well-bred horses going out to bat for those breeders who stick with him now. The same syndrome applies to many of his peers: conspicuously EARLY VOTING, who has halved from his opening fee of $25,000 despite processing 69 of 83 yearlings at $129,485 (median $80,000); CYBERKNIFE, similarly halved to $15,000 (106 of 136 sold at $90,886/median $63,500); and JACK CHRISTOPHER, plunging to $15,000 (opened at $45,000) after 128 of 155 yearlings sold at $113,875 (median $92,500). Cyberknife | Sherackatthetrack With that in mind, it feels sensible to put aside those stallions who covered their first mares last spring: for these will doubtless find themselves on the same trajectory, and so offer better value again next year. We'll address the broader status of the bubble stallion when we reach the top of our Value Podium. As in every category, meanwhile, we apologize to those stallions that have not been mentioned in dispatches. But this remains, as always, an exercise as subjective as it is ignorant of the most critical factor of all, the make and shape of your mare. VALUE PODIUM Bronze: CARACARO Uncle Mo–Peace Time (War Front) $10,000 Crestwood Got to stick with this fellow, the good folks at Crestwood having shown what can still be done against the industrial Goliaths. Caracaro's first crop of juveniles in 2024 included two stakes winners from just 21 starters. One of these was Casalu, who had topped an OBS April session at $775,000–the first sign that something unusual might be happening with a $6,500 rookie. Casalu is meanwhile a dual stakes winner, with serial placings in graded company, but a lot of people didn't need to wait for that corroboration: Caracaro's book that spring leaped from 67 to 151 mares. No fewer than 119 returned last time round and, while this spike will still take a year or two to cycle through, that does mean that those who use him now will be ideally positioned to ride the wave. Especially auspicious is the way Caracaro's second crop has corroborated the bright start made by their predecessors, with Throckmorton ($8,000 weanling turned $250,000 2-year-old) recently following up his maiden success in a stakes race at Aqueduct; and Churchill maiden winner Mo' Em Down subsequently runner-up in the GIII Sorrento Stakes. Remember that all three of Caracaro's siblings are either stakes winners or graded stakes-placed; while the second dam is GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up Santa Catarina (Unbridled). There's obviously no shortage of competition among heirs to Uncle Mo but this one, who flashed high ability in a curtailed career, may prove to be recycling something well ahead of his fee. Silver: MITOLE Eskendereya–Indian Miss (Indian Charlie) $10,000 Spendthrift The tame sales performance of his latest yearlings stands in contrast to an excellent year on the racetrack for Mitole, crowned by GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy. But if he has exhausted his value to those commercial breeders who systematically exploit new sires, then perhaps he's building on the foundations they gave him–by sheer weight of numbers–as a legitimate racehorse sire. Ultimately, after all, that is the only way to renew sales momentum. Mitole | Sarah Andrew Mitole's three other graded stakes winners this year all belong to his debut crop, suggesting that they are thriving with maturity–much as he did himself. Yet you don't become champion freshman without transmitting precocity, as well as speed, and this fall his third-crop daughter Rileytole was denied a juvenile Grade I by just a nose. Think what that might have done for the marketability of a sire whose stock has been winning sprints as resonant as the GIII Count Fleet Handicap and GII Honorable Miss Stakes. His sire was little help to Mitole, though the Japanese knew the value of Cosmah as Eskendereya's fifth dam. And they have now also imported Mitole's half-brother by Oxbow, Hot Road Charlie. These are genes that roll up their sleeves and go to work. Mitole could be flattered by the way he worked the commercial system, but his resume now has weight beyond mere aggregation. Champion sprinter, champion freshman, perhaps he can next to prove himself champion value. Gold: CORNICHE Quality Road–Wasted Tears (Najran) $15,000 Ashford In some ways this feels a little hypocritical. I'm always pontificating against unproven sires, and the way thousands of mares are wasted in deference to the prejudices of ringside “investors” wholly lacking in conviction. Almost invariably, they ensure that first-crop yearlings achieve averages slavishly sequenced according to their covering fees. And they then abandon those same horses, precisely as their “judgement” might prove most valuable, i.e. when everyone else is running scared because foals are actually nearing the starting gate. That's when the books slide. That's when the fees slide. And that's when the potential dividends skyrocket. Because if you find the right bubble horse, the one who actually vindicates all the hype that launched his stud career, then in a couple of years from now you will be taking to market goods that very few people have–and a lot of people suddenly need. In some ways, then, putting this horse top of our podium is a gesture. Others might make a similar case, as noted above, for peers at the same stage, like Jack Christopher, Early Voting or Mandaloun. But if Corniche remains a guess, no less than any of the rest, then there is at least some tangible evidence in his favor. And that's the flesh and blood he presented for his debut at the yearling sales. Ridiculous as it should sound, by modern standards an offering of 84 was fairly conservative. Epicenter sent 160 into the ring, Jack Christopher 155, Golden Pal 149. But the 72 that found a new home did so at a superb average of $171,694, behind only Flightline (conception fee $200,000), Life Is Good ($100,000) and Jackie's Warrior ($50,000). If home runs of $725,000 and $650,000 assisted that yield, then the median took equally high rank at $135,000. Having made a similarly bright impact with his weanlings the previous year, Corniche is transparently throwing stock that fully vindicates his opening fee of $30,000. As ever, the question now is whether they are show ponies or racehorses? Well, the template is pretty encouraging: they are by a $1.5 million 2-year-old who clocked a 98 Beyer on debut over 5 1/2 furlongs, before stretching out and being crowned unbeaten crop champion at the Breeders' Cup. He would have started at a higher fee, had he retired on the spot, but his drawn-out farewell required the kind of fee that might nudge breeders with short memories. And now, because of the puerility of the commercial system, the same semen is worth only $15,000–despite rave reviews for his yearlings, the only evidence available of its efficacy. I must admit I was originally nervous of the seeding of Corniche's family, but his dam is much the most accomplished runner (six-time graded stakes winner) by Najran, so that hesitation actually turns itself inside out. A genetic potency was palpably at work, on the racetrack, in both Corniche and his mother. If it was worth tapping into that, at $30,000, just to get an unbroken youngster to stand on a dais, why wouldn't you pay $15,000 now that they are about to break into a trot? The post Kentucky Value Sires For 2026: Part 3–Stallions Under $20k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Billed as Japan's richest race, the ¥960,040,000 (€5.2m) G1 Arima Kinen sees a slew of Group 1 winners vying for its ¥500,000,000 (€2.7m) first-place prize. Leading the way in the advance markets and by total votes delivered by the voting public is four-year-old mare Regaleira. The three-time Group 1 winner by Suave Richard will carry the silks of Sunday Racing. Christophe Lemaire will ride the daughter of Roca (Harbinger), who claimed the 2023 Hopeful Stakes–won today by Lovcen–the 2024 Arima Kinen, and last month's Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Assistant trainer Yu Ota said, “Her break was a little bit off in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup last out, but her timing was good, so we were lucky there. She stayed at Miho after that and we gave her more gate practice. Since she doesn't get tense at the training center, there were no problems, but the question is how she'll do in the race. “We clocked her on Dec. 10 and she's showing steady improvement. Last week, she worked on the dirt. Her reactions and responses were still a bit slow, but this week's work should fix that. Her muscle tone is good, she's eating well, but the main concern is the gate. The start isn't in front of the grandstand this time, which should make things easier.” The 2025 Classic generation is represented by G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) hero Museum Mile (Leontes). Booked in stall four with Cristian Demuro in the irons, the colt claimed the G2 Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen at this course in September and was a good second to Masquerade Ball (Duramente) in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) last month. “He didn't have early speed in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and ended up traveling from near the rear,” reflected assistant trainer Yuichi Tomomichi. “That said, his final drive was strong and he settled well even amid the slow pace of the race. “He's grown overall and filled out in various areas. This is his third start of the autumn but there's been ample time in between races, so he does look fresh. His condition looks good too. The distance is longer this time, but he has gotten good results at Nakayama before.” Another Group 1 winner set to contest the Arima Kinen is June's Takarazuka Kinen scorer Meisho Tabaru. The son of enters on the back of a sixth-place run in the Tenno Sho (Autumn). “The pace was slow in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), with the first 1000 meters run in 62 seconds and it came down to the fastest late speed, which worked against him,” said trainer Mamoru Ishibashi. “Still, he covered the last three furlongs in :33.1 seconds and he traveled very nicely. I hadn't thought he'd be able to settle that well, so I think he learned quite a bit from that race. “His three fast workouts at Ritto, all over the woodchip flat course, have gone well. He has won over 2200 meters and, if he settles well again, I think he should be able to handle the trip this time.” A pair of Japanese Derby heros also line up in 2024 victor and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Danon Decile (Epiphaneia) and 2023 hero and 2025 G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup scorer Tastiera (Satono Crown). The duo leave from stalls nine and 16, respectively. Justin Palace (Deep Impact), the 2023 G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) hero, has placed twice at the highest level this term without a win and leaves from stall three. Stepping up to this tier for the first time is Mystery Way (Just A Way). The seven-year-old gelding is on a two-race winning streak, and captured the G2 Copa Republica Argentina over this trip at Tokyo in November. Japan's Group 1 Bonanza Continues On Dirt Godolphin's Narukami aims to regain the winning thread in Monday's G1 Tokyo Daishoten at Ohi. The son of Thunder Snow has won five of his seven starts, including the Listed Japan Dirt Classic over the track and trip of Monday's contest. Stepping up to group level for the first time there, he ran 13th as the favourite after a stalking journey before fading in Chukyo's G1 Champions Cup earlier this month. The consistent Natural Rise (Kizuna) also boasts five wins from seven starts, with his only blip a fourth in a listed race at Kawasaki in December of 2024, and his aforementioned second-place run to Narukami in the Japan Dirt Classic at Ohi in October. The three-old will leave from stall one in the 16-horse field. Mizuki Noda's Mikki Fight (Drefong) adds intrigue with a third in the G1 February Stakes and a victory in the G3 Antares Stakes his two most recent performances. Although his sire was best known in the U.S. as the 2016 Eclipse Champion Sprinter and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hero, his progeny have thrived at longer distances in Japan. Ho O Roulette (Roses In May) is fresh off a victory in September's G3 Sirius Stakes, while Diktaean (King Kamehameha) exits a tally in the G3 Korea Cup that same month. The duo will break from posts 12 and 10, respectively. The post Regaleira Holds Arima Kinen Claims, Tokyo Daishoten Offers Redemption For Narukami appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Galileo and Dubawi, two titans of the sport whose fates have been so entwined for the past two decades that the marrying of their superior bloodlines to one day give us a champion sire was perhaps as inevitable as it is satisfying for us bloodstock nuts. On 12 occasions, in 2008 and then every year between 2010 and 2020, Galileo topped the end-of-year sires' table in Britain and Ireland. On four of those occasions Dubawi filled the runner-up spot, before the Darley stalwart finally enjoyed his day in the sun when crowned champion for the first time in 2022. In 2021 and 2023, Frankel ran away with the sires' championship to give Galileo the early bragging rights over Dubawi in what promises to be an enduring battle between their many stallion sons, long after their own reigns among Europe's best have come to an end. For Galileo, who died in July 2021, that time is sadly upon us, with him having fallen to 26th position in the 2025 rankings. His 53 individual runners in Britain and Ireland did still include a Group 1 winner, though, namely the Coronation Cup scorer Jan Brueghel, who was ably backed up by the G1 Gold Cup and G1 Goodwood Cup runner-up Illinois. As for Dubawi, having been second in 2024 to Dark Angel, he dropped one place further to third this year, with the dual Group 1 winner Delacroix and G1 Lockinge Stakes hero Lead Artist leading his domestic challenge, as Rebel's Romance and Notable Speech added to their impressive top-level hauls on foreign soil. Soon to enter his 24th year on Earth, Dubawi will find it increasingly difficult to topple those at the very top of the table as the team at Darley move to carefully manage his workload, but there's time yet for him to give us another Delacroix, new to Coolmore for 2026, or Lead Artist, who is preparing to embark on his first season at Banstead Manor Stud. Already, Dubawi's record as a sire of sires is a formidable one, with the ultimate confirmation of his breed-shaping capabilities being delivered in 2025 by his 2,000 Guineas-winning son Night Of Thunder. No longer is Galileo one step ahead of his old sparring partner in having produced a champion sire in Britain and Ireland, albeit he can take a deal of the credit in this instance, too, as the sire of Night Of Thunder's dam, Forest Storm. Incidentally, it's the same cross that has also given us Dubawi's highest-rated runner, Ghaiyyath, and the Group 1-winning two-year-old Henry Longfellow. Night Of Thunder himself produced a Group 1-winning juvenile on his march to the title in 2025, namely the Dewhurst Stakes scorer Gewan, as well as the third-place finisher from that Newmarket contest, Distant Storm. The G2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Bow Echo, G3 Autumn Stakes victor Hankelow and G1 Fillies' Mile third Evolutionist also rate as potential Classic prospects when Night Of Thunder is tasked with trying to defend his crown in 2026. Just as exciting a prospect is the return at five of Ombudsman, the horse who did more than any other to propel Night Of Thunder to this maiden championship, earning just shy of £1.9 million with victories in the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes and G1 Juddmonte International, as well as runner-up efforts in the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Champion Stakes. Unbeaten in four starts as a three-year-old in 2024, culminating with a first Group-race success in the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange, Ombudsman's rapid rise from promising talent to headline act rather mirrors that of Night Of Thunder the stallion. After all, it was only last year that the Kildangan Stud resident finished eighth among the leading sires in Britain and Ireland, his first entrance into the top 10. Night Of Thunder's ascension to the top of the tree has been swift and no less surprising when you consider that his headline performers from 2024, Economics and Desert Flower, both missed much of the latest campaign. The latter, for example, ran only twice, though her triumph in the 1,000 Guineas and third-place finish in the Oaks still saw her feature as one of her sire's leading earners, along with the G2 Hungerford Stakes winner More Thunder and high-class older filly Estrange. Having also produced the American Grade I-winning fillies Choisya and Dynamic Pricing, it's fair to say that Night Of Thunder is thoroughly deserving of his significant fee hike to €200,000 for next year. Lest we forget, he once stood for a fee of just £15,000 when briefly based at Dalham Hall in 2018 and 2019. Similarities can be drawn there with Dubawi, who was likewise dropped to £15,000 for his fourth season in 2009 – a far cry from the £350,000 he will command for the fourth consecutive year in 2026. Splitting Night Of Thunder and Dubawi among the top three stallions of 2025 was Wootton Bassett, whose even more remarkable rags-to-riches tale was brought to a premature end when he died from pneumonia in September this year. Having once stood for just €4,000 at Haras d'Etreham, Wootton Bassett's star had soared so high that his fifth and final season at Coolmore in 2025 saw him command a fee of €300,000, underlining his standing among Europe's elite. Further proof of the loss that Wootton Bassett will be to the industry was provided throughout the year. At its end, the son of Iffraaj was comfortably clear of Sea The Stars and Night Of Thunder at the head of the European sires' championship with nearly €12 million in progeny earnings. French Classic winners Henri Matisse (Poule d'Essai des Poulains) and Camille Pissarro (Prix du Jockey Club) both contributed significant sums before retiring to Coolmore for 2026, while the G1 Prix de la Foret scorer Maranoa Charlie will shortly embark on his first season at Tally-Ho Stud. Whirl, too, was a flagbearer for her late sire, having followed her runner-up finish in the Oaks with top-level triumphs in the Pretty Polly Stakes and Nassau Stakes. With Group 1-winning juveniles Hawk Mountain and Puerto Rico, plus the highly-touted Albert Einstein, headlining a long list of Classic hopefuls for Wootton Bassett, it would be folly to bet against him landing a posthumous title in Britain and Ireland in 2026. With three more bumper crops of bluebloods still to come from his time in Ireland, it's likely to be a case of when rather than if the prize returns to Tipperary, previously home to the champion sire every year between 1990 and 2020. Frankel, the horse who ended the reign of Coolmore dominance in 2021, had to make do with fourth this year, finishing with total prize-money around £2.3 million shy of that amassed by Night Of Thunder's progeny (£6.9 million). Wootton Bassett, meanwhile, was roughly £550,000 behind Night Of Thunder in second, with another £1.6 million back to Dubawi in third. The National Stud newcomer Diego Velazquez (Prix Jacques le Marois) and Lake Victoria (Irish 1,000 Guineas) featured among Frankel's Group 1 winners in 2025, but star billing went to the triple Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk, whose final start on European soil saw her fill the runner-up spot in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She was beaten just a head there by Daryz, who became the first winner of Europe's richest race for his sire, Sea The Stars. The Gilltown Stud inmate, who finished one place behind Frankel among the leading sires in Britain and Ireland, enjoyed a particularly good time of things in France, with the top-level winners Sosie (Prix Ganay and Prix d'Ispahan) and Aventure (Prix Vermeille) helping to bankroll his bold bid for the European sires' championship. In addition to Frankel, Australia and Gleneagles further burnished the legacy of their sire, Galileo, by enjoying banner years in 2025. Derby winner Lambourn and Coronation Stakes scorer Cercene carried Australia to an eighth-place finish in the sires' table with their Group 1 victories, while Cartier Horse of the Year Calandagan continued to fly the flag for Gleneagles, whose 13th-place finish was the highest of his stallion career to date. Three other Coolmore sires occupied a place in the top 20, namely Starspangledbanner (12th), No Nay Never (15th) and Camelot (17th). Starspangledbanner was responsible for both the Cartier Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (Gstaad) and the Cartier Champion Two-Year-Old Filly (Precise), while Cheveley Park Stakes heroine True Love was a Group 1-winning juvenile for No Nay Never and Pierre Bonnard likewise for Camelot. The latter heads the ante-post betting for next year's Derby after his two-length win in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. The G1 Champion Stakes third Almaqam and G2 Celebration Mile winner Jonquil starred for Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega as he narrowly missed out on a spot in the top five. Jonquil also suffered a narrow defeat in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, providing the Juddmonte team with a second near-miss in as many weeks after Field Of Gold's unlucky run in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Field Of Gold went on to confirm his standing as the outstanding three-year-old miler with Group 1 wins in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes, helping his sire, Kingman, to a seventh-place finish in the sires' table. Ranked eighth by prize-money, Tally-Ho Stud's Mehmas was responsible for more individual winners in Britain and Ireland than any other sire in 2025. His 120 winners included the G1 Middle Park Stakes scorer Wise Approach, with Wootton Bassett (111) and last year's champion, Dark Angel (105), the only other stallions to make it to three digits. Tally Ho veteran Kodiac and Whitsbury Manor Stud's rising force Havana Grey also ranked highly by that measure, with 94 and 93 winners, respectively. Not to be outdone by Galileo, Dubawi also had two other sons finish in the top 20 by prize-money, with Fallen Angel's hat-trick of Group 1 triumphs helping Too Darn Hot to 16th and dual Group 2 winner Pride Of Arras playing a starring role as New Bay finished 19th. Meanwhile, Too Darn Hot's fellow third-crop sire, Blue Point, rounded out the top 10. He is now responsible for two stallion sons, with Rosallion retiring to Dalham Hall after he finished second in a trio of top-level events in 2025. Finally, a word too for Awtaad who, along with Gleneagles (83), was one of only two stallions in the top 20 to be represented by less than 100 individual runners in Britain and Ireland. Of his 57 runners, 27 won at least one race, including Ethical Diamond, who had advertised Awtaad's talents long before his victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar, having preceded that remarkable display with wins in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes and Ebor Handicap. The post Champion Night Of Thunder Leads Next Wave of Elite Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Lovcen employed a striking turn of foot in the final 200 meters to win the Dec. 27 Hopeful Stakes (G1T) for 2-year-olds at Nakayama Racecourse in just his second career start.View the full article

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Lovcen employed a striking turn of foot in the final 200 meters to win the Dec. 27 Hopeful Stakes (G1T) for 2-year-olds at Nakayama Racecourse in just his second career start.View the full article

Forest Racing's Lovcen maintained his unbeaten record with a three-quarter length win in the 2000-metre G1 Hopeful Stakes at Nakayama on Saturday. The son of World Premiere is the first horse to win the Hopeful in his second start since the race was promoted to Group 1 status in 2017. Sent off at 18-1, the dark bay was part of the early pace discussion but soon dropped back to midfield entering the first turn. The first 1000 metres was covered in 1:01.30 by T O Al Ain (Al Ain), with positions largely unchanged entering the final furlongs. Making up ground with a quarter-mile to go, Lovcen was steered from the rail to the far outside and unleashed a devastating turn of foot to win going away over the stalking Forte Angelo (Fierement). It was a half-length back to Ask Edinburgh (Leontes) in third. Favoured Anduril (Saturnalia) made up some late ground but ultimately faded away to seventh. “I was hoping that he would break well, run in good rhythm and have plenty left in the tank, which I'm happy that he did,” said rider Kohei Matsuyama. “He had shown a remarkable turn of foot in training so I knew he would have the strength to catch the leaders. Since his first win was over yielding ground, the colt has proven his versatility today so we have a lot to look forward to in his future starts.” Pedigree Notes World Premiere, winner of the 2019 G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) and G1 Tenno Sho Spring in 2021, has joined the ranks of top-level sires with the victory of Lovcen, his first stakes winner. The son of Deep Impact is credited with a mere 26 foals from his first crop. Ten of his progeny have made the races with a trio of winners among them, including Lovcen. The late Giant's Causeway has sired 248 stakes winners (125 group/graded). Lovcen is his 37th Group 1 scorer worldwide, with Deep Impact's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Beauty Parlour bred on similar lines. The sixth foal, and fifth runner and winner out of the placed Songwriting (Giant's Causeway), the colt broke his maiden by three lengths going this trip at Kyoto in November over yielding ground. Sold for $800,000 by Niall Brennan Stables to Katsumi Yoshida at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Songwriting has a weanling colt by Copano Rickey and was bred back to that sire this spring. Second dam Embur's Song (Unbridled's Song) was a Champion Older Mare in Canada and a multiple graded winner there. Classic winner and three-time Grade I winner Exaggerator (Curlin) is under the third dam. Saturday, Nakayama, Japan HOPEFUL STAKES-G1, ¥135,660,000, Nakayama, 12-27, 2yo, 2000mT, 2:01.00, fm. 1–LOVCEN (JPN), 123, c, 2, by World Premiere (Jpn) 1st Dam: Songwriting, by Giant's Causeway 2nd Dam: Embur's Song, by Unbridled's Song 3rd Dam: Embur Sunshine, by Bold Ruckus 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Forest Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Haruki Sugiyama; J-Kohei Matsuyama; ¥71,162,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, ¥78,662,000. 2–Forte Angelo (Jpn), 123, c, 2, Fierement (Jpn)–Lady Angela (Ire), by Dark Angel (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥28,332,000. 3–Ask Edinburgh (Jpn), 123, c, 2, Leontes (Jpn)–Honey Trip (Jpn), by Manhattan Café (Jpn). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O-Toshihiro Hirosaki; B-Mishima Bokujo (Jpn); ¥18,166,000. Margins: 3/4, HF, 1. Odds: 18.80, 5.40, 31.90. Also Ran: Aure Ares (Jpn), Badrinath (Jpn), Olufsen (Jpn), Anduril (Jpn), Justin Vista (Jpn), T O Al Ain (Jpn), Noche Cerrada (Jpn), Matenro Zero (Jpn), Gene King (Jpn), Winners Nine (Jpn), Shonan Gulf (Jpn), Nowhere Man (Jpn), Meisho Hachiko (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video. The post World Premiere Colt Shocks Hopeful Stakes Field appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

He chose stud work over a modelling contract and now Harry Dutfield, the canny pinhooker, breeder and owner of Saint Ann Stud in Garboldisham, faces the TDN question master. TDN: How did you become involved in bloodstock in the first place? HD: I was introduced to the sport when I was very young by my parents, who had shares in various horses. They would occasionally take my twin brother and me racing and my interest started from there. I hated the itchy trousers, matching suit jackets and strangulating ties they made us wear and the car journeys were beyond boring but, once there, I was in my happy place. As my parents' involvement in the sport developed so too did my own and I started attending the yearling sales with my mother [the late trainer, Nerys Dutfield]. In 2000, we were attending the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale and in Barn T Box 14 we viewed lot 341, the property of Tony Marsh, a bay filly from Danehill Dancer's first crop. We viewed the filly and as soon as we turned and walked away, I looked at my parents and said, “I absolutely love that filly, we must try and buy her, I really want to take her home.” Whether they were averse to an argument or simply intrigued by my blind faith, they bought her on my insistence for IR£2,000. My parents gave her to my twin and me instead of financing our first car as a special birthday present. We named her Lady Dominatrix. She was my first hands-on purchase in bloodstock and she turned out to be special. TDN: What's your proudest moment to date? HD: As my virgin purchase, Lady Dominatrix will always have a special place in my soul. She won four races including a Listed and Group 3 and was beaten a whisker in the G2 (now G1) Flying Five Stakes in Ireland. She took a pair of young naive twins around Europe, to Royal Ascot and raced at the top level in the Nunthorpe Stakes. When she retired to the paddocks I followed like a loyal disciple and started stud work. She is a stakes-producing broodmare and grandmother to champion European two-year-old, Campanelle. I will always be proud of her Although I only purchase three to five foals a year, I've been fortunate to pinhook Group 2 winners Kool Kompany (€8,000), Night Colours (€26,000) and Azure Blue (€19,000) and although Kool Kompany hit the crossbar in a Group 1, perhaps it is Azure Blue that has given me my finest moment to date when winning the Duke Of York Stakes. I considered her Group 1 class but niggling feet problems prevented her from lifting that hex. It is of great personal disappointment that I have yet to land a Group 1 winner. TDN: And the biggest mistake you've made in this business? HD: In 2017, I purchased a bay filly from Night Of Thunder's first crop from Grenane House Stud for €26,000. She was the most expensive foal I'd ever bought and I joint-owned her with Tommy and Paul Radley from Cork. I told them (with youthful confidence) that she'd be the “best filly they'd ever own”. But as a yearling she only just scraped above her £34,000 reserve and we sold for £38,000 to Richard Knight. Named Night Colours, she went on to win a Group 2 at two. My faith in her was validated but I somewhat rued the missed opportunity of how close we came to retaining her. The mare's next foal was dual Group 1 and Classic winner Mother Earth. Imagine her value now – it still makes my head spin! The retired Lady Dominatrix turns 27 in a few days | Harry Dutfield TDN: What was your defining memory of 2025? HD: Realising that after three quick years I have already fully outgrown my farm. I can't nurture a business by turning business away, but equally, I don't think I could afford a bigger place at the moment. Leaves me in a quandary. TDN: Tell us something people don't know about you… HD: In my late teens/early twenties, my twin brother entered us for a competition and we were offered a modelling contract for fashion brand Dsquared. I said no, but I wonder what life would be now if I'd agreed. TDN: What keeps you awake at night? HD: Worrying about horses! If I know a horse is slightly lame or a big day is coming up (such as shipping yearlings to the sales), I have this brutal habit of having very lucid dreams that the horse is nearly dead or everything goes disastrously. I will wake up pumping with sweat and fully convinced the worst has happened. TDN: Any regrets? HD: No, not really. My parents died, too young, about a decade ago and my seven siblings wouldn't have a clue what I do, so I have no one to embarrass or make proud other than myself. If you make a mistake, as long as you learn from it, then it's not something to regret. TDN: What motivates you? HD: Success both on the track and in the ring, plus other people's expectations. TDN: Give us an underrated sire to keep the right side of next year… HD: I'm afraid I can't. From the stallions about to have their first runners, no one stallion stood out enough for me to put their name forward. In previous years, Havana Grey's first crop were all over my short list and this year, Chaldean's foals were too. I tried my best to buy one but failed, so I will try to breed one instead. TDN: Your favourite sale/place and why? HD: I cut my teeth consigning at the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale and Tattersalls October Book 3. They are like trainers' sales, where trade is real and represent a genuine guide to the industry's health. If you start here and can make a success out of it you have what it takes to succeed. Doncaster's sale ground can get quite dusty, so Tattersalls wins on preferred location. TDN: What's your go-to karaoke song? HD: Take me away from the Thoroughbred industry and my confidence deteriorates, so I've never tried karaoke, but if the gun went to my head I'd pick Florence And The Machine's Dog Days Are Over. It takes me back to working in Kentucky, belting up the freeway, ciggy in hand, with no air conditioning in a bright red Pontiac Grand Am that was older than me, had no brakes, and had to be parked facing downhill just in case it rained (the footwells would flood). She had seventies-inspired brown corduroy decor. I think the carefree, positivity of those memories attached to that song would give me the confidence to belt it out (with a little help from a pint or three). TDN: Who inspires you? HD: I consider inspiration to be the motivation to do something initiated by someone's else's actions or achievements. Therefore, I'd rather be honest and say no one has inspired me (shaking my head but laughing to myself). Not even my parents inspired me – they never came to parents' days, sports days or encouraged me into a course of action, and they even forgot to pick me up from hospital after surgery one day, so definitely not them. Admiration is quite close in that you appreciate someone's achievements but without the spark for self change/creation. So here are three people who I admire: 1. Mark Walker, my mother's former Head Lad: a stressed, knowledgeable and experienced man who made a continuous effort to impart knowledge without being asked. Everything he said back then makes sense to me now and I am a better person for working with him. 2. Mathilde Texier, sales vet. As essentially a one-woman operation, the odds of success are against her, yet she is at the top of her field, respected and admired on a global level, and that achieved (in the early years) in spite of adversity. 3.) David Hegarty: fellow consignor and pinhooker. I scan around at the foal and yearling sales, looking for people like myself who have done years of graft at the coal face and slowly climbed upwards. The occasional face emerges but doesn't stick around for long. David's does, and I know how hard it has been for me. The post In The Hot Seat: Harry Dutfield appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

New Zealand-bred gelding Klabel (NZ) (Vadamos) capped a consistent run of form with a welcome return to the winners’ circle in the A$120,000 Listed Adelaide Galvanising Industries Christmas Handicap (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday. The son of Vadamos has now had 31 starts for seven wins, 13 placings and A$586,220 in stakes. The Christmas Cup was Klabel’s first win since August 2024, but his 15 starts since then had produced six runner-up finishes, three thirds, two fourths and two fifths. Leading into Saturday, his 2025-26 preparation had been made up of a third in an 1100m Benchmark 100 at Caulfield on September 20, a third in a 1200m handicap at Cranbourne on October 10, a second behind Jigsaw (Manhattan Rain) in the Gr.2 McEwen Stakes (1200m) on Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley on October 25, a fifth in the Listed Fisher Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on November 8, a ninth in the A$1 million Meteorite (1200m) at Cranbourne on November 22 and a last-start third in an 1100m handicap at Ballarat on December 6. The six-year-old returned to his home state of South Australia on Saturday and was right back at the peak of his powers. Klabel jumped quickly from his wide gate and sat outside the early leader Vexatious Dancer (Hualalai) before pushing forward to take command coming up to the home corner. He bounded away into a clear lead with 300m remaining, but found himself under siege when Grinzinger Prince (More Than Ready) and the favourite Watchme Win (Harry Angel) loomed on either side of him at the 100m mark. Klabel kept finding and held them both at bay, scoring a narrow but determined victory in a three-way photo finish. “I know he doesn’t find a great deal of sprint, but he can really hold his tempo to the line, so I was quite happy to put the pressure on nice and early and make them chase me,” winning jockey Jake Toeroek said. “He had the challengers on both sides but fought really hard in the last 100m. I was confident on the line, but didn’t want to be too confident. I was glad to see my number up when I got back. “He’s been a bit unlucky in Melbourne, drawing awkward alleys and the races haven’t worked out in his favour. He is a horse that needs things to go his way. “He’s never far away, he’s a very honest galloper, and it’s good for him to finally get a win on the board. “He hasn’t had many of those next to his name in recent times, but he’s always picking up a cheque. It’s great to get this win for the ownership group – Neville Morgan and his family, along with the other owners. They’ve been great supporters and I’m happy to pay them back.” Klabel is trained at Morphettville by Richard and Chantelle Jolly. “I initially thought the inside horse might have got us on the line, but watching the slow-mo, we knew we were back in the game,” Richard Jolly said. “It was a good win. He deserved to win a race. He’s been running really well in Melbourne without quite getting there. “He drew inside barriers in a couple of those Melbourne races and we rode him a bit more positively in good-speed races, which didn’t suit him. Today there was a bit of a lack of tempo in the race, and we decided to roll forward, which worked out well. “Neville Morgan owns this horse along with John Naffine and Craig Fitzgerald’s Bula Bula Syndicate. This is a great result for them and there’ll be a nice celebration tonight.” Klabel was bred by Alan Galbraith and by Vadamos is out of the Hidden Dragon mare Ardere, a winner over 1050m. Richard and Chantelle Jolly went to $120,000 to purchase Klabel as a yearling through the Rich Hill Stud draft at Karaka 2021. The father-daughter team returned to Karaka last January and bought a Satono Aladdin half-sister for $160,000. View the full article

The Waikato Stud colours were to the fore at Cranbourne on Saturday when their talented homebred mare Sun Gift (NZ) (Savabeel) scored a last-gasp win in the A$130,000 Gatorade Handicap (2025m). The Benchmark 74 handicap was the fourth win of a 20-race career for Sun Gift, who has also finished second on seven occasions and has earned A$180,905. The Danny O’Brien-trained Sun Gift was second-up at Cranbourne on Saturday, having finished strongly for second over 1600m in her resuming run at Caulfield Heath on December 3. As a previous winner over distances ranging up to 2400m, the step up to a middle-distance on Saturday was expected to suit, and so it proved. Jockey Craig Williams initially settled Sun Gift in sixth along the rail, but when Bon Fete (Hellbent) pushed forward to inject some speed into the race at around the 800m mark, Sun Gift was left flat-footed and drifted back to second-last. When the field bunched up approaching the home turn, Sun Gift was boxed in on the inside and desperate for room. Williams found clear air with 200m to run and angled Sun Gift to the outside of the favourite Suntora (Toronado), who quickly strode to the lead and had all of her momentum up. Sun Gift had to quicken sharply and did exactly that, drawing up alongside Suntora and thrusting her head in front right on the finish line. “When Bon Fete faded entering the straight, it looked like I might be in a complete wedge,” Williams said. “I was able to come out and follow the favourite through, and my horse did a really good job to pick up and get her head in front at the line. She’s only second-up, so she’s in for a lovely preparation for her trainer Danny O’Brien and also for the Chitticks at Waikato Stud, who are coming into the sales season in New Zealand. “She had to have that change of gears in the straight, and that’s what she possessed. By the time she got out, she had to really lengthen and remember that the favourite wasn’t going slowly either – she was improving as well. “She got her head in front at the right time, and she was really strong through the line. “I was pleased with her first-up run at Caulfield Heath, and then Danny’s given her plenty of time and found today’s race for her. Having only 54kg on her back helped, and she gave me a great ride and got the win.” Sun Gift is by Savabeel out of the Pour Moi mare Sunniva (NZ), an unraced half-sister to Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) and Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner Efficient (NZ) (Zabeel). Sunniva is also a three-quarter-sister to the Group Two winner and sire Guillotine, while half-sister Cold Shoulder (NZ) is the dam of Group One winner On The Rocks (NZ) (Alamosa). Sunniva is the dam of three winners from three foals to race. Her first foal Gravity (Shamexpress) was a winner, while Sun Gift’s younger full-brother Morthan Efficent (NZ) (Savabeel) has scored two wins in a 12-start career in Victoria. Sunniva produced another Savabeel colt in 2022. She was served by the champion stallion’s son Noverre this season. View the full article

Luke Ferraris celebrated his 24th birthday in style when he continued his strong season with a win aboard Happy Boss at Sha Tin on Saturday. Sitting third in the jockeys’ championship behind Zac Purton (51 winners) and Hugh Bowman (23), the young South African notched his 18th success of the campaign when he booted Happy Boss home in the Class Four Tai Tan Handicap (1,400m). The David Eustace-trained gelding improved on his encouraging sixth on debut to prevail from Star Satyr in a thrilling...View the full article

David Hall believes Magnifique can surge to a rating of “close to 100 points” after the talented sprinter made a victorious return from a bleeding attack at Sha Tin on Saturday. An impressive winner on three of his four starts last season, the son of Charm Spirit dispelled Hall’s concerns about his health when he comfortably accounted for a handy field of sprinters in the Class Three Sham Chung Handicap (1,000m). It was his first race start since incurring the mandatory three-month ban from...View the full article

Frankie Lor Fu-chuen enjoyed a day to remember at Sha Tin on Saturday after training his 500th Hong Kong winner and unleashing a Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) contender with impressive feature winner Numbers. Lor, who started his career as an apprentice jockey and trained his first winner with Yourthewonforme at Sha Tin in 2017, rose to the pinnacle by winning the 2021-22 trainers’ championship. And the three-time Group One winner, who enjoyed Derby success with Furore in 2019, will be dreaming of...View the full article

By Michael Guerin Cran Dalgety shakes his head when he looks at the TAB market for the Trillian Trust Auckland Cup. It is not that the Canterbury trainer doesn’t believe his stable star Republican Party should be a warm, or even hot, favourite for the $250,000 iconic feature at Alexandra Park on Wednesday night. It is just that Dalgety never thought he’d have a pacer paying $1.40 to win one of our great races. “It is kinda crazy when you think about it,” he says. “We don’t often have $1.40 chances in maiden races and here we have one in the Auckland Cup. “I know how hard these really big races are to win and apart from when Mark [Purdon] was really flying you don’t often see those sort of odds in a Cup.” While $1.40 in a 3200m Group 1 sounds incredibly short the Auckland Cup has had even hotter favourites in the last decade, with Vincent paying just when he won in 2017 and Self Assured was $1.40 when he won the Cup for a second time in 2022. It is hard to argue with the bookies’ assessment because in the last 12 months, since he won the Invercargill Cup and Auckland Cup last year, Republican Party has been clearly our best pacer. He has been near perfect: sound, brave, well-mannered and willing whereas plenty of his rivals have been on form or injury rollercoasters. Republican Party bent to the will of the powerful Australians in Kingman and Leap To Fame during New Zealand Cup week but there tends to be less pressure in the Aussie-less races and that could be the case in the eight-horse Cup at Wednesday’s twilight meeting. It is a balanced field with most of the better open class pacers going around but there are few brutes good enough to bully horses so if Republican Party steps safely from barrier 2 not many of his rivals would seem likely to want to get into a battle for the lead with him. The obvious threat is Merlin, who finished second to Republican Party in this race last year. He has yet to win over 3200m, albeit in only three attempts, but has actually looked stronger in the last two months and he did beat Republican Party home in the New Zealand Cup (3200m) when third last month. “He looks like the one we have to beat,” says Dalgety, who worked for Merlin’s co-trainer Barry Purdon for four years at the start of his career. While Republican Party has had a big year, travelling up and down the country and across the Tasman, Dalgety says for a stallion he handles being away from home well. “Especially when he comes up here to Pukekohe,” he explains. “He stays in the same box every time he comes here and while being a colt he yells out a bit and gets boisterous he is all talk.” Merlin will have two Purdon/Phelan stablemates in the Cup in Sooner The Bettor and Better Knuckle Up, Cambridge trainer Arna Donnelly has two in Little Spike and Jolimont while Akuta returns after winning the Cup when it was run in May in 2023. Wednesday’s other Group 1 is the Peter Breckon Memorial National Trot which has also drawn a small field with Mighty Logan a $2 favourite from barrier 2 with Oscar Bonavena on the unruly for the 2700m mobile but still the $2.80 second favourite in a race missing two-time winner Muscle Mountain and Bet N Win. The 12-race twilight meeting starts at 2.55pm. To see the Auckland fields click here View the full article

Well-related mare Watersports (NZ) (Ocean Park) added a second win to her record with a track-record-breaking victory in the A$80,000 Big Swing Golf Handicap (1500m) at Cranbourne on Saturday. The promising four-year-old is a half-sister to Grail Seeker (NZ) (Iffraaj), the winner of last season’s Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) and Telegraph (1200m) for Matamata trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. Grail Seeker will head to Trentham to attempt to defend that Telegraph title next Saturday. Watersports herself brought strong form credentials into her Benchmark 70 assignment at Cranbourne, having been beaten by small margins when second at Seymour and third at Sandown in her two previous appearances in this campaign. The Archie Alexander-trained mare was sent out as a $3.10 favourite on Saturday, and she produced a well-timed finish to win in the hands of jockey Craig Williams. Drawn gate two, Watersports jumped well and took up a handy position in third along the rail. A strong speed was set by Porter (So You Think), who had a clear lead throughout and poured on even more pressure coming down the side of the track and around the home turn. Porter still had a clear lead halfway down the straight, but Williams angled Watersports off the fence and the pair set their sights on the tearaway leader. Watersports warmed into her work and charged past Porter in the final 50 metres for a narrow but impressive win. The time of 1:28.72 was a new track record for 1500m at Cranbourne. “She had a good spot, but they were going very hard and it’s not easy to sit at that top speed and then quicken in the straight, but she did it,” Alexander said. “We got a bit of luck at the right time with the gap appearing at the top of the straight. It looked like we might be a gallant second, with Porter giving a good kick and going well clear. I thought we might be in trouble. But she’s always been incredibly game. It was a good, strong ride and she got there. “She’s always been on the verge of having a big win like that. She’s had a second at Flemington in the past. Even though she hasn’t won for a while, she’s been a very consistent mare. “She’s well bred, a half to a Group One winner, and she’s a lovely type. This is great for all the connections. “With that page that she has, it would be great to look at an Adelaide autumn stakes race with her. She’s just kept on improving. She’s now a city winner, and we’ll just creep along from here.” Watersports was bred by Jamieson Park and is by Ocean Park out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Starwish. Lime Country Thoroughbreds offered Watersports during the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, where she was bought for A$75,000 by Alexander Racing and Rogers Bloodstock. Watersports has now had 13 starts for two wins, seven placings and A$112,100 in prize-money. View the full article

There will be more than just the healthy $57,500 first placed cheque on the line for talented galloper Agera (NZ) (Complacent) when he contests the Harcourts Taupo Cup (2000m) at Taupo on Sunday. The race is the last event in the newly minted Northern Cups bonus, a series where the leading points scorer over seven Cup races will take out the winner-takes-all $50,000 bonus for accumulating the most points across those races. Agera currently sits atop the leaderboard with 10 points, secured with victories in the Listed Matamata Cup (1600m) and Listed Feilding Cup (2100m), and he is being chased by the quintet of Enright, Mollify, Just Charlie, Pacheco and Sailor Jack, all on five points. With just Enright amongst Agera’s rivals on Sunday, it is a straight shoot out for the title in a race that offers double points to the first three home on the day. Trainer Tony Pike admitted it was more by circumstance than design that his charge is in contention for the bonus, but he is keen to secure the prize now he finds himself in that position. “After he (Agera) won the Matamata Cup we wanted to take him to the Thompson Handicap (Gr.3, 1600m) at Trentham but a stone bruise put paid to that, so we pulled him out and went to the Feilding Cup instead,” Pike said. “When he won that we sat down and reassessed things and with the fact the Taupo Cup is a $100,000 race, and there is an extra $50,000 on offer, it was pretty much a no brainer that we should look seriously at it.” Agera heads the field with a 62kg impost for the feature on Sunday, however, apprentice Sam McNab will reduce that with his 3kg claim and Pike believes his charge will be very competitive if he can get some luck in running. “He is coming back from competing well in a Group One (Mufhasa Classic, 1600m) and as long as he can get some luck from his barrier (11) then he has to be a strong chance,” he said. “It is a massive drop back in class, so we will want Sam to be aggressive and hopefully have him up in the first three or four shortly after jumping. From there he will have to make his own luck, but he is well capable of doing that. “He has been up a long time but he has thrived all the way through and looks as good now as he did back in May when he kicked off his campaign. “As long as the weather plays ball it should be a massive crowd on course, so it is going to be an exciting day.” View the full article

Expat Kiwi jockey Daniel Stackhouse will once again answer the call of Riccarton trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman to ride their team at Trentham next month. The Melbourne-based hoop returned to New Zealand last month to ride Mystic Park (NZ) (Ocean Park) to victory in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) for the father-and-son team, and he will reunite with the six-year-old gelding in the Gr.2 Harcourts Thorndon Mile (1600m) on January 17. “He came over to ride Mystic Park to win the TAB Mile and I have asked him to come over to ride him in the Thorndon and he said ‘yeah, no problem’,” Michael Pitman said. “We will have a nice team in that day, probably three or four horses.” Mystic Park, who was runner-up in the Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) at Trentham earlier this month, will ready for the Thorndon Mile with a run in Sunday’s Craigmore Sustainable Holdings Timaru Cup (1600m) at Phar Lap Raceway, where he will be ridden by Brett Murray. While pleased with his gelding heading into the race, Pitman is wary of his 62kg impost, which is three kilograms heavier than his closest rival – Group One performer Matscot. “Weight could be an issue,” he said. “They are claiming on Matscot and Sir Albert, and he is carrying 62kg. But he has won carrying 60kg and he is a strong horse.” Mystic Park’s wide draw also poses a concern for Pitman. “Barrier 10 may not suit but he will be right there in the finish because he is very genuine,” he said. “The horse is really well, we are very happy with him.” Mystic Park will likely be joined on his float trip north to Trentham next month by several of the barn’s other Timaru runners, including Rosso and Star Ballot, who will contest the Te Akau Racing (2200m). Rosso has been in a purple patch of form since joining the Pitmans’ barn earlier this season, winning two of his four starts, and both he and Star Ballot are on a path towards the Gr.3 NZ Campus Of Innovation & Sport Wellington Cup (3200m) on January 31. “Triston (Moodley, apprentice jockey) has been riding quite a lot of work for us, so we are claiming with him (on Rosso on Sunday),” Pitman said. “I am very happy with him, he should take a power of beating. “He is on track for the Wellington Cup after this. Star Ballot will possibly go to Wellington as well and Daniel Stackhouse has won on him before.” Last-start winner Moon Goddess will also likely head to Trentham following her run in Sunday’s NZB Mega Maiden Series (1200m). “They had their first start since coming from Australia and they won very impressively the other day,” Pitman said. She will be joined in her race by stablemate Dostee, who Pitman rates among his better chances of the day. “I do like Dostee in the maiden 1200m,” he said. “He didn’t have much luck in his first start, but he is a nice horse and Triston Moodley rides him.” View the full article

Wexford Stables are daring to dream with their exciting juvenile filly Te Encuentro (Frankel) following her impressive debut victory in the SkyCity 1100 at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained filly won her sole trial over 800m at Pukekohe earlier this month and the Matamata horsemen were confident of a bold showing on debut. That confidence quickly waned after she was forced to settle at the rear of the field and raced flat for most of the journey. She continued to battle at the back of the pack down the home straight, but in the final 200m she sprouted wings and took a gap between favourites Ka Ron and She’s No Saint to score an eye-catching long head victory. While jockey Craig Grylls admitted to being slightly concerned during the mid-stages of the race, he was left in awe of her brilliant finish and he was delighted she was able to vindicate the stable’s early assessment of her. “We were pretty confident with her,” he said. “She actually jumped okay but they all raced up inside me. I pulled her back to last and I thought I would travel into it a lot better, I was probably still last until the 250m. She has just picked up all of a sudden, took the gap like a pro and it was a big win. She has shown what we have thought of her.” Lance O’Sullivan, whose wife Bridgette shares in the ownership of Te Encuentro, was delighted with the winning performance. “She is relatively inexperienced, she has only had the one barrier trial before today, and it was a pretty special performance. She had to be pretty good to win,” he said. “At the 300m I thought she was going to run a nice fifth or sixth, and run really well, but she really put in the last bit.” Purchased by Wexford Stables out of Arrowfield Stud’s 2025 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale draft for A$600,000, Te Encuentro is ineligible for next month’s TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), but her connections are still dreaming of other big assignments and haven’t ruled out a bid at the Gr.1 Golden Slipper (1200m). “She is not eligible for the big two-year-old race here at Ellerslie but looks like she is a filly that is going to run a long way further than the 1100m, the way she hit the line,” O’Sullivan said. “We just hope she can take that next step up and be in good company. “Andrew suggested we do that (nominate her for the Golden Slipper) early on and I said if she is good enough we will pay the late entry. It is not very often you get a New Zealand horse across for that race but if she carries on, we all have pipedreams, so who knows.” View the full article

The Hopeful Stakes (G1T) has been a reliable springboard to glory for Japan's 2-year-olds and usually has a favorite or two set to move ahead, but not this year.View the full article

In her first start since winning the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) in late March, Five G will try to secure the first grade 1 win of her career when she closes out her 3-year-old season in the $300,000 La Brea Stakes (G1) Dec. 28 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Who says it never rains in Southern California? Well, for any music trivia buffs in the audience, it was the little-known Albert Hammond who sang those lyrics, but those living in and around metropolitan Los Angeles will confirm that the precipitation came with a vengeance this Christmas week, flooding parts of Interstate 5 and causing power outages and even the (very) odd threat of tornadoes. Nearly two inches of rainfall was recorded at Los Angeles International Airport, breaking a 54-year-old mark, while nearly four inches fell upon Woodland Hills and 2.91 inches in East Pasadena. So far. While the streets of Pasadena will have dried out ahead of next week's Tournament of Roses Parade, it's a bit more unclear what the underfoot conditions may be like a bit farther to the east at Santa Anita in Arcadia, which plays host to its booming opening day program, wisely pushed back by a couple of days to Dec. 28. Bob Baffert has five chances for a record-breaking seventh victory in the GI Malibu Stakes, a race he won for the first time with The Factor in 2011. At $3.2 million, Barnes (Into Mischief) was the second-dearest offering at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale (to the $4-million Curlin–Beholder colt) and he is likely to go favored in what has become a stallion-making heat. Winner of this the GII San Vicente Stakes over this course and seven-furlong distance at second asking, the bay was a sound third in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes in August at Saratoga and most recently plundered Keeneland's GIII Perryville Stakes Oct. 18 when he was somehow not favored. Barnes has stablemates either side of him Sunday afternoon. Cornucopian (Into Mischief) was accorded 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard status for a smashing debut score at Oaklawn last February, but was only fourth in the GI Arkansas Derby after getting used up on a suicidal pace and was a very disappointing runner-up in a one-mile Aqueduct allowance when last seen Apr. 27. The $1.1-million Keeneland September grad gets the blinkers off and he and Barnes both drilled six furlongs in 1:12 4/5 on Dec. 20. 'Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time), twice Grade I-placed going two turns, Madaket Road (Quality Road), second in the GI Woody Stephens Stakes at this specialist trip, and the first-time blinkered and progressive Midland Money (Maclean's Music) round out the Baffert challenge. California-based 3-year-old fillies have more or less dominated the GI La Brea Stakes, with only Birdatthewire (Summer Bird) and Fair Maiden (Street Boss) launching successful raids in 2015 and 2020, respectively. The George Weaver-trained Five G (Vekoma) has a fair shot at backing up that every-five-year pattern as she returns to the races for the first time since wiring the GIII Gulfstream Park Oaks back at the end of March. The Gatsas Stable runner has trained nicely at Palm Beach Downs and got a feel for the local strip with an easy four furlongs in :49 flat on Dec. 19. Irad Ortiz, Jr. is in to ride. Baffert saddles three in the La Brea in search of a 10th victory dating back to Arches of Gold in 1992, but none of the trio is close to a lock. New York-bred Usha (Tiz the Law) was very good at Del Mar this summer, winning her maiden by better than 11 lengths before adding a 5 1/4-length allowance, but she faded tamely to be seventh in the GII Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland Oct. 18. Silent Law (Tiz the Law) set the pace before yielding to Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) in the GIII Chillingworth Stakes Oct. 4, while Brilliantly (Uncle Mo) spots her rivals a world of experience. On the evidence of her European form for Donnacha O'Brien, Atsila (Ire) (Phoenix of Spain {Ire}) is strictly the one to beat in the GI American Oaks to close the card–providing, that is–that it remains on the rain-softened turf course. All the bay filly's experience has come in 2025, as she beat the boys to open her account at first asking before besting her peers in the G3 Athasi Stakes at The Curragh in May. She overcame a bit of a slow start to finish third as a 25-1 chance in the G1 Matron Stakes going a mile around Leopardstown Sept. 13 and was a latest sixth in the G1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket Oct. 4. An intended runner in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, she was one of several vet scratches and is now based in the U.S. with Richard Baltas. She is back with her own age group for the first time since a seventh in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas in May. German listed winner and Group 2-placed Namaron (Ger) (Amaron {GB}) adds blinkers and gets Flavien Prat back in the boot for Sunday's GII Mathis Mile, a race that has also attracted Let It Ride Stakes winner and GI Hollywood Derby fourth Tempus Volat (Not This Time). 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) and his GI Awesome Again Stakes-winning stable companion Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach) look set to dominate the GII Laffit Pincay, Jr. Stakes in what might be a springboard to valuable Middle East targets, while a wide-open field of 11 is set to load the gate for the GII San Gabriel Stakes. The post Santa Anita Opening Day Always Worth The Wait appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Three from Augustin Stables will vie in a field of 11 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Santa Anita Park.View the full article