Wandering Eyes

Saratoga works for many reasons. The combination of great racing, a historic venue, iconic races like the GI Whitney S. and the GI Travers are reasons why more than one million fans file through the turnstiles every meet and the handle for the season now tops $800 million. But Saratoga's success also has a lot to do with its exclusivity. It's only open for eight weeks and there are just 40 racing days. That, as much as anything else, is what makes it special. There's an opening day and there is a closing day. Saratoga doesn't gets stale. But somewhere there is a tipping point. There has to be. And it appears that the New York Racing Association is going to put that to the test once again. NYRA CEO and President Dave O'Rourke told reporters over the weekend that discussions have begun that could lead to even more racing and even more racing dates in 2025. The idea is to take the final weekend of the 2025 Belmont at Aqueduct meet and add that to the Saratoga schedule. They are also talking about adding a fifth day onto the GI Belmont S. Festival in June. NYRA has yet to work out all the details and any changes must be approved by its board and the New York Gaming Commission, but O'Rourke sure sounded like someone who wants there to be more Saratoga. “That requires Board approval,” O'Rourke told the TDN's Mike Kane when asked about adding days to the season. “That requires state approval. You're just asking me, what's on the table, what we're thinking about? That's one of the things we're thinking about.” O'Rourke said the extra dates wouldn't necessarily mean a longer Saratoga meet because the early July dates would technically fall under the Belmont meet, which is being held at Aqueduct until the new Belmont Park is ready to open for business. That, however, is simply a matter of semantics. Extra Saratoga dates, no matter what you want to call them, means more Saratoga. For more than 100 years, Saratoga was always a four-week meet that featured 24 days of racing. In the nineties, NYRA began to increase the number of days at the meet. In 2019, NYRA settled on what is the current format, an eight-week, 40-day meet. You could hardly blame them. The Saratoga meet had turned into a cash cow and running there as opposed to Belmont or Aqueduct means a substantial amount of extra revenue from betting handle. But at what cost? The quality of the everyday racing has gone downhill since NYRA began adding on dates. At eight weeks, the meet, by the time it's over, can seem like a long slog. But because so much more is bet on racing at Saratoga when compared to Belmont and Aqueduct figures, NYRA, one could argue, is doing its job by maximizing revenue. But at some point, this has got to stop. If you expand next year, what's next? Will Saratoga ultimately be open from the July 4 weekend all the way through Labor Day? Or from the Belmont weekend to Labor Day? That has always loomed as a possibility. At one point this will no longer qualify as a boutique meet. Nine, 10 weeks. Fifty days of racing. Sure that would mean more money for NYRA, but being that NYRA is a not-for-profit company, they should care about both being good stewards of the sport and the bottom line. I was also against the expansion to eight weeks, but will now admit that it has worked about better than I had ever imagined. NYRA has found the right formula in eight weeks–40 days. It is a lot of racing and a lot of days, but Saratoga, even with all the extra days of racing, has remained special. So why would a few extra days matter? They may not, but NYRA is pressing its luck. The public has spoken. People gravitate to the tracks that have short meets (think Keeneland and Kentucky Downs). At some point, the goose no longer lays the golden egg. It was a good meet at Saratoga and the fact that there was only one breakdown during the races is a credit to NYRA and its veterinary team. The Travers was the race of the year and the attendance and handle numbers have held steady over the last four, five years. There's nothing to fix. The Euros Win the Nashville Derby There should be a lot of trainers in Europe who are kicking themselves after the running of the $3.1-million GIII Nashville Derby Invitational at Kentucky Downs. Attracting European horses to the meet is still a work in progress and only two were entered in the Nashville Derby. But that was enough. The victory went to Bellum Justum (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), whose credentials in Europe were modest. He was second in the G3 Gordon Stakes in his start before the Kentucky Downs race. Probably not among the 50 most talented horses in Europe, he defeated Carson's Run (Cupid), the best 3-year-old grass horse in the U.S., by 2 1/4 lengths for the team of Frankie Dettori and trainer Andrew Balding. Perhaps some of the European trainers are scared off by the fact that non-Kentucky breds do not earn as much at Kentucky Downs as do the Kentucky-breds. But Balding was smart enough to figure out that, even with a smaller slice of the pie, running in the Nashville made sense. His colt earned $1,054,310 with the victory in the type of payday that he could never dream of having if racing in Europe. There will be a bigger contingent of European shippers for Saturday's card, which features six stakes, every one of them valued at $2 million. Those races attracted six European shippers, including three from the Aidan O'Brien stable. The list of European horses running that day includes the Charlie Hills-trained Ancient Rome (War Front), who will be looking to win the GIII Mint Millions S. for the second straight year. He is a Kentucky-bred. European grass horses are simply better than American turf horses, something that trainers from Ireland, France and Great Britain should be looking to exploit more and more at Kentucky Downs. How Florent Geroux Stole the Flower Bowl It may seem inconceivable, but a Chad Brown-trained horse went off at 31-1 in the GII Flower Bowl S. at Saratoga. The bettors dismissed the Brown-trained Idea Generation (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) after she finished a lackluster fifth in a first-level allowance race in her previous start. Little did anyone know that the opposing riders were all going to fall sleep and gift-wrap the win for Idea Generation. Jockey Florent Geroux put his filly on the lead and she opened up by six lengths after the opening half-mile. The pace was glacial, something that happens far too often in grass stakes at the NYRA tracks. The early fractions were 2:6.08, :51.92, 1:18.20. With that kind of trip, she was able to beat some horses that are clearly better, like runner-up War Like Goddess (English Channel), who closed late, but couldn't catch the runaway winner. Credit to Geroux, the only jockey in the race that was smart enough to figure out that taking the lead would enhance his chances. Lukas Gets His Saratoga Winner Wayne Lukas couldn't have been happy with the meet he had at Saratoga. He won just two races from 33 starters, but the second of two winners was special. On Monday, Lukas won the first race, a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and upward, with Daily Grind (Medaglia d'Oro). He did so on his 89th birthday. Remarkable. The post The Week in Review: Adding Dates to Saratoga, a Case of Too Much of a Good Thing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Listed winner God Blessing (Ire) (Siyouni Fr}) will stand his first season at stud at Karwin Farm in France, Jour de Galop reported on Tuesday. He will stand for €3,000. The son of Galaxe (Fr) (High Chaparral {Ire}), herself a half-sister to G2 Prix Hocquart runner-up Galaxie Gold (Fr) (Dariyan {Fr}), was bred by Jose Delmotte's Haras d'Haspel. Raced by his breeder and trainer Damien de Watrigant, he is the third foal out of his dam, who was placed twice at the listed level in France. A €70,000 RNA Arqana September yearling, the bay won his first three starts, including the Listed Prix de Tourgeville at three. He was last seen taking the Listed Prix MGPF Technispectacle at Vichy in July of 2023. His record stands at 7-4-0-0 and $108,587 in earnings. Said Gregory Vayre of Karwin Farm, who will be standing God Blessing with Delmotte, “He is a Siyouni with a very interesting profile and size. Black-type mares or those who have produced black-type will be entitled to a covering offered by Delmotte. A few breeding rights will be on sale, at the price of €10,000 with an annual covering, as well as an additional covering to be used during the first three years.” The post God Blessing To Stand At Karwin Farm In 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

NEWMARKET, England–For the second consecutive year Havana Grey (GB) and Whitsbury Manor Stud were responsible for the highest-priced yearling at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale as a filly by the in-demand stallion went the way of Alex Elliott, acting on behalf of Amo Racing, for 140,000gns during Tuesday's session at Park Paddocks. Lot 419 was the headline buy on a productive day for Elliott, who signed for the top three lots from the session in some shape or form. Lot 376, a Sergei Prokofiev colt offered by Chasemore Farm, is also set to sport the familiar purple silks of Amo Racing after being bought for 90,000gns, while Elliott had earlier teamed up with Billy Jackson-Stops to secure a Cotai Glory (GB) colt [lot 277] from the Houghton Bloodstock draft for 100,000gns. “I think we've bought eight in total over the two days,” Elliott said of his haul. “It's a lot of horses here for people to focus on and obviously the quality at a sale like this shows through. It's not a select sale. There are a few horses there who could have been in different books, but people brought them here to stand out and I think, generally, they've been well rewarded for doing so.” This year another 121 lots were offered compared to 12 months ago, when the Somerville Yearling Sale was held over a single session, and yet the aggregate increased by just 3%. Of the 426 yearlings offered, 316 sold for a total value of 8,927,500gns. The clearance rate of 77% represented a 13% decrease on last year, while the average fell by 11% to 28,252gns and the median by 19% to 22,000gns. Only three yearlings achieved a six-figure price this year compared to seven in 2023. Incidentally, the 140,000gns Elliott paid for the Havana Grey filly is the fourth highest price in the short history of the Somerville Yearling Sale. She is out of a half-sister to the G2 Sapphire Stakes winner Stepper Point (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), who was also runner-up at the top level in the King's Stand Stakes and Nunthorpe Stakes, while the Listed scorer and G2 Temple Stakes third Lady In France (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) is another of the dam's siblings. “She was the standout filly for me over the two days and I love the pedigree,” Elliott added. “She's quite young so there is a lot of improvement to come. She has a bit of length to her and she just has loads of quality–I loved her when I first saw her. I thought she was the one to get and, luckily, Kia [Joorabchian of Amo Racing] thought the same.” Cotai Glory Emerges from the Shadow of Studmates Tally-Ho Stud stallions Mehmas (Ire) and Starman (GB) have each had their fair share of column inches devoted to them in the last week or so, one fast becoming the kingpin on the roster and the other a first-season sire starting to make a name for himself. On Tuesday, however, it was another member of the team based in Mullingar who was able to enjoy his moment in the limelight as Elliott and Jackson-Stops came away with the Cotai Glory (GB) colt, the only other six-figure lot to sell on Tuesday. Lot 277 is out of the unraced Dutch Art (GB) mare Millvina (GB), a half-sister to the G2 Temple Stakes heroine Priceless (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) among others. “I think Cotai Glory constantly punches above his weight,” Elliott said of the sire perhaps best known for producing the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye scorer The Platinum Queen (Ire). “This horse was George Scott's pick of the sale and we're delighted to get him. He comes from a very good farm and he's got a very fast pedigree. He looks like a horse that we can really get on with.” “He's been bought for Valmont and Michael Blencowe,” Elliott added. “We started the partnership last year and we're going to do the same again with two going to George, two to Andrew Balding and two to Ralph Beckett. We actually run a horse tonight up at Newcastle called West Acre who George thought a lot of earlier in the year–hopefully, it's the start of a good day.” The last remark certainly proved prophetic given Elliott's exploits through the afternoon, so too what happened at Gosforth Park where West Acre (Ire) made no mistake on debut as the 6-5 favourite. In doing so he became Mehmas's 45th individual two-year-old winner in Europe in 2024, 18 more than any other stallion. Middleham Park Land Sibling to Star Sprinter One of Mehmas's flagbearers this season has been the G2 Sapphire Stakes winner and G1 Nunthorpe Stakes runner-up Believing (Ire), so all eyes were on her half-brother, by another relatively unheralded Tally-Ho resident in Inns Of Court (Ire), when he went through the ring as lot 279. The colt was offered by Dermot Kilmartin of Kildallan Farm–whose 15-year-old son Ruairi made headlines here on Monday when his Dark Angel (Ire) filly sold for 70,000gns–and he capped quite the 48 hours for the family when selling to Highflyer's Anthony Bromley, Eve Johnson Houghton and Middleham Park for 75,000gns. Middleham Park's Tom Palin confirmed that Johnson Houghton will be the lucky recipient of the well-related colt, who is by the same sire as several other talented performers to have carried their blue and orange colours. They are headed by The Strikin Viking (Ire), who the team sold to Wathnan Racing after his runner-up finish in the G2 Railway Stakes, along with the Listed winner and G3 Oak Tree Stakes third Ziggy's Dream (Ire). “I thought that he was one of the standout specimens of the sale,” Palin summed up, before delivering a pun which served to highlight that the colt must have been on his mind for a while. Either that or he's just a far quicker thinker than I expect I would be with the phones of the press pack thrust in my face. “The page is there for the world to see–I suppose seeing is Believing, isn't it?” he joked. “He walks for fun and obviously we have a big love affair with Inns Of Court. Maybe he's not everybody's cup of tea as a sire, but for us he can do no wrong. “The stars aligned and I'm staggered that we got him for what we did. I thought he was probably a 100 grand horse, although he could look expensive in 12 months' time if it doesn't go the right way!” Mohaather Colt Brings it Full Circle for the Johnson Houghtons Roles were briefly reversed for Eve Johnson Houghton at a sale where the purchases she was involved in nearly reached double digits, working closely with Highflyer's Anthony Bromley throughout. Indeed, the shoe was firmly on the other foot when it came to the turn of lot 362 to go under the hammer, the Mohaather (GB) colt having been bred by Johnson Houghton out of the unraced Kendargent (Fr) mare Reprieval (Fr). He is a half-brother to Betty Clover (GB) (Time Test {GB}), another homebred who won the Listed Marygate Stakes at York back in May, although her trainer-owner wasn't in attendance on the Knavesmire to see it happen. “I was at Newbury and the whole of the course knew as I was screaming her home–it was really embarrassing,” Johnson Houghton said of that success, doing a better job of keeping her cool this time after the Mohaather colt, who was consigned by Hillwood Stud, had sold to Oliver St Lawrence for 70,000gns. “I tried to sell him as a foal and couldn't,” Johnson Houghton added. “Mum needed a colt foal to run with her colt, so she bought him off me. I thought he'd make 50,000gns, and he made 70,000gns, so I am thrilled.” The role played by Johnson Houghton's mother, Gaie, in the origin story of this colt certainly shouldn't be understated. Lest we forget, it was Gaie who bred the G1 Sussex Stakes winner and promising young sire Mohaather, before he was sold for 110,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Talking points Whitsbury Manor Stud was the sale's leading vendor with 11 yearlings sold for an average of 56,455gns. These included two of the top ten yearlings, by the stud's resident stallions Havana Grey (GB) and Showcasing (GB). Havana Grey may have ruled the roost but it has been a promising sales season for Tally-Ho Stud's newcomer Starman (GB) so far. Of 22 yearlings catalogued for the Somerville Yearling Sale, 17 were sold for an average of 31,882gns. These included the top lot of Monday's session, a filly out of Get Up And Dance (GB), who sold for 100,000gns to Richard Ryan. Coolmore's Sioux Nation, who provided the stiffest opposition to Havana Grey in the battle to be crowned leading first-season sire when their first runners hit the track in 2022, enjoyed a successful sale of his own with six yearlings selling for an average of 48,667gns. That was the highest average of any stallion in the top 20 on the sires' table, with lot 87, a colt from Galbertstown Stables, leading the way when selling to Robson Aguiar for 60,000gns. Last year you had to travel your finger down to the 18th name on the sires' table, Galiway (GB), to find a stallion who had won much beyond a mile. This year it was Lope De Vega (Ire), down in 23rd, who did the most to fly the flag for stallions with a win to their name over at least ten furlongs. It's safe to say that this sale is delivering exactly what it has always promised as a reliable source of fast and precocious sorts. A total of 886 of those fast and precocious yearlings have been offered in the last week or so–460 at Doncaster and then 426 here at Park Paddocks–and it's hard to escape the conclusion that this is a market which has reached its saturation point when looking at the results across both sales. We're all well aware of the difficulties at the lower to middle tiers, but perhaps of chief concern for the team at Tattersalls will be the way those in the top bracket of this sale performed over the two days, with only three yearlings commanding a six-figure fee. Chairman's Comments “The Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale has made huge progress in its four-year history with the inaugural one-day sale in 2021 producing turnover below five million guineas and an average price of 21,000 guineas,” said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. “This year's renewal, while falling short of last year's across the board records, is still a long way in advance of the 2021 levels and is a clear indication of a sale which has quickly established itself as an important fixture in the European yearling sales calendar. “Nevertheless, the demand for places and the conscious decision to reduce overall numbers in the two weeks of the forthcoming Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, has resulted in a two-day Somerville Yearling Sale for the first time and a very significant increase in numbers, all of which has contributed to a clearance rate which has fallen some way short of where we would like it to be. “Certain sectors of the market have held up well, with a wide-margin record number of lots selling for 50,000 guineas or more, but the evident softening of the market at the lower levels, which has been a consistent theme this year, also reflects prevailing economic realities which we are all aware of. “As with every sale at Tattersalls we will assess all the factors at play with a view to establishing the optimum format for the Somerville Yearling Sale going forward and in the meantime we look forward to Books 1 to 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and to seeing Somerville yearlings continue to excel on the racecourse where it matters most.” Buy of the Day The late Dandy Man (Ire) was a consistent source of high-class sprinting two-year-olds in his time at Ballyhane Stud and it would take a brave soul to bet against him coming up with another one from this penultimate crop of yearlings to go through the ring at Tattersalls. Lot 339 certainly has the credentials of one who should be winning races as a two-year-old and he's going to a prolific trainer of such horses in Archie Watson, who bought the colt in tandem with Blandford Bloodstock for just 14,000gns. Offered by Throckmorton Court Stud, he is out of the Acclamation (GB) mare Positive Mentality (Ire), a three-race maiden for Michael Dods, while the second dam is a half-sister to the G3 Prix du Bois winner Dolled Up (Ire) (Whipper) and Listed scorer Zeiting (Ire) (Zieten). Zeiting is in turn the dam of six black-type performers, while another sibling by Acclamation, Madany (Ire), has produced top-class talents such as Eqtidaar (Ire) and Massaat (Ire) among others. Golden Touch A 15,000gns purchase at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, this colt from the first crop of Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) is out of the winning Bahamian Bounty (GB) mare Miss Bunter (GB), who is the dam of three winners from four runners, including the Listed-placed Alwasmiya (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}). Miss Bunter is also a half-sister to a pair of talented performers by Dutch Art (GB), namely Dutch Masterpiece (GB), who won the Flying Five Stakes when it was run as a Group 3, and Dutch Decoy (GB), a nine-time winner for the Johnston yard. Lot 280 from this family sold to JC Bloodstock for 55,000gns. The post New Sale Format but Same Old Story as Havana Grey Filly Stars at Tattersalls appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Classic-winning jockey Hollie Doyle has no plans to slow down after celebrating her 1,000th victory. Doyle, 27, achieved the career milestone on Leyhaimur in the six-furlong nursery Sept. 3 at Goodwood.View the full article

Entries are now being taken for Mareworthy Charities 2024 Mareworthy Stakes, an annual calendar photo contest. Current and former owners of registered Thoroughbred mares are invited to enter for a chance to win prizes, showcase their mares, and support a broodmare retirement charity. Entries close Sept. 6. More information can be obtained at www.mareworthy.com/stakes. Points for the contest are accrued over two rounds. Round one of the contest, which runs from Sept. 7-20, focuses on public votes and activities. The top 20 entrants from round one will move on to round two, which runs from Sept. 21-30 and focuses on fundraisers and other activities. Winners will be announced Oct. 5. Mareworthy Charities is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and caring for retired Thoroughbred broodmares. Last year's Mareworthy Stakes saw 45 participants raise over $3,200. The post Mareworthy Charities Hosts Calendar Photo Contest appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O'Brien earned his 50th win (33.3%) by a juvenile this year with the tally of Monumental (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) at Gowran Park on Tuesday, according to Sporting Life. It was his 31st individual 2-year-old to secure at least one victory since the start of the season. His closest pursuer is trainer Karl Burke (41 wins, 21.5%). In previous years, O'Brien accrued 26 (2023), 40 (2022) and 21 (2021) juvenile wins. His individual winners' count during that same three-year period was 28 (2023), 24 (2022), and 18 (2021). Top of the Coolmore partners' pecking order and in the overall Timefore 2-year-old standings is the undefeated multiple group winner Bedtime Story (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) at 116p. O'Brien's 'TDN Rising Star' and G3 Acomb Stakes hero The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) sits second in the ratings with a mark of 115p. He is currently the winter favourite for both the G1 2000 Guineas and the G1 Derby. Besides Juddmonte's Babouche (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) in third for Ger Lyons at 113p, the next trio of runners are all tied at Timeform 112p and all trained by the master of Rosegreen–two-time Group 3 scorer Fairy Godmother (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), dual Group 2 winner Henri Matisse (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), and G1 Prix Morny hero Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never). Only three Ballydoyle inmates managed a ranking above 110 in 2023, the same number as in 2022. In 2021, just one juvenile trained by O'Brien met that criteria. In 2022, O'Brien trained subsequent Coolmore sire Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) to a rank of 126p and he was crowned champion juvenile, an honour that went to stablemate City Of Troy (Justify) last year at a mark of 119p. The post Aidan O’Brien Secures 50th Juvenile Victory Of 2024 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, a paid, automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) is on the line Sept. 7 in the $2 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2T). Nobals and Cogburn top the six-furlong race.View the full article

Trainer Brian Lynch takes two shots at the $2 million Kentucky Turf Cup (G2T) at Kentucky Downs Sept. 7, part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, with Highway Robber and Anglophile.View the full article

Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino is adding a day of live racing Sept. 26 to make up for the Thoroughbred races canceled due to a July 15 storm.View the full article

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) has issued a 60-day accreditation suspension of the University of Illinois Chicago Analytical Forensic Toxicology Laboratory (UIC-AFTL), one of five laboratories contracted by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unity (HIWU) to conduct drug testing for the agency. According to RMTC executive director, Michael Hardy, the agency notified the laboratory of its “Analytical Forensic Toxicology Laboratory's suspension” Tuesday. “The Horserace Testing Laboratory Committee (HTLC), which is tasked with overseeing RMTC's Laboratory Accreditation Program, will, upon receipt, review the laboratory's response and associated corrective actions. Accreditation will not be restored until the laboratory is in full compliance with the Code,” wrote Hardy, in an email. According to federal rules, HIWU is precluded from using a laboratory that does not have RMTC accreditation. The TDN has reached out to HIWU for comment. This story will be updated as necessary. This is the second time this year the RMTC has suspended accreditation of a drug-testing facility used by HIWU. Earlier this year, it suspended accreditation of the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. That suspension has yet to be lifted. Hardy said he was unable to expand upon the specific reasons behind the accreditation suspension at the UIC Laboratory, but wrote that “nonconformities” were associated with the RMTC's laboratory code of standards, section 2.4.9.2. That document outlines 10 possible considerations that may prompt the RMTC to suspend its accreditation of a laboratory: – Accreditation suspensions by international lab oversight bodies. – Failure to take appropriate corrective action after unsatisfactory performance either in routine Analytical Testing or in proficiency testing. – Failure to comply with any of the requirements or standards listed in an international laboratory accreditation cooperation document. – Failure to cooperate with the RMTC or the relevant State Horse Racing Authority in providing requested documentation. – Lack of compliance with the RMTC Laboratory Code of Ethics. – Major changes in key staff without proper and timely notification to RMTC. – Failure to cooperate in any RMTC enquiry in relation to the activities of the Laboratory. – Non-compliances identified from laboratory on-site assessments. – Loss of financial and administrative support jeopardizing the quality and/or viability of the Laboratory. – Material breach of contractual obligation to a State Horse Racing Authority. The RMTC can suspend accreditation for a period of up to six months, according to the code of standards. Trainer Jonathon Wong has alleged several operational deficiencies at the UIC Laboratory during his ongoing case for a metformin positive stemming from June 1 last year. The B samples in his case were sent to the UIC facility for confirmation testing. During his latest appeal before the FTC, for example, Wong argued that UIC lab director Brendan Heffron had failed to “decant” the urine sample according to the ADMC rules, and that the lab's findings did not undergo “independent review” by two certifying scientists, as required. The UIC Laboratory's accreditation suspension marks just the latest in a series of operational and management issues at drug testing facilities used by HIWU. The agency has granted a temporary stay of enforcement to connections in six pending total carbon dioxide (TCO2) cases, all of which are out of Pennsylvania, in order to conduct a review of TCO2 analysis at the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory (PETRL). In total, 11 of the 14 pending and resolved TCO2-related cases reported since the advent of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) have concerned horses that ran in Pennsylvania. High total carbon dioxide (TCO2) levels could be an indication of bicarbonate loading–otherwise known as “milk-shaking”–which can neutralize the build-up of lactic acid in muscles, thereby helping the horse's performance. TCO2 is also naturally occurring in a horse's system. At the end of last year, the TDN reported reported on testing uniformity difficulties arising from different testing equipment, testing methodologies and sets of staff interpreting the results between the then six laboratories contracted for use by HIWU. Internal reviews of the laboratories had uncovered different limits of detection in blood for the diabetes drug Metformin and for benzoylecgonine (BZE), a metabolite of cocaine. In light of the review, HIWU explained that it had subsequently harmonized its “testing sensitivity” in blood across the six labs for these two substances, and that it would repeat the harmonization process for other drugs, including banned substances. Earlier this year, HIWU severed its contract with the UK Laboratory due to questions raised about the lab's performance, and about “personnel” matters related to the former lab director, Scott Stanley. The RMTC subsequently suspended its accreditation of the UK Lab. The RMTC originally issued a 60-day accreditation suspension period to the UK Lab, but extended that another six months on May 22 this year. While investigations into these matters at the UK Lab are still ongoing, Hardy wrote that the RMTC acknowledges the “good faith efforts and level of cooperation from the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory” as it seeks “to achieve full compliance with the Code of Standards.” Lab accreditation is only one prong of the RMTC, which is also involved in the research, education and advocacy of horse racing's anti-doping and medication control programs. The post RMTC Suspends Accreditation of University of Illinois Laboratory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Even when they finally hired her, Dana McCreary wasn't given a uniform. She just pieced something together from her own wardrobe, vaguely matching what the male pilots had been issued. After a year's probation, she suggested that it was about time a proper uniform were organized. So they sent her to a tailor in downtown Cleveland. He just exploded, waved his arms. “And what exactly am I supposed to do with you?” “I don't know,” Dana said, shrugging. “They sent me here.” But by that stage she was well accustomed to this kind of thing. This was 1982. She doesn't view herself as a victim, looking back: just as someone making her way in the world as it was. But the fact is that she had always had to know more, in training, than most of the guys. Both her parents had been hobby fliers, they would cram the four kids into the back seat and fly to Grandma's farm the other side of Ohio. Dana can't have been more than seven when her father put her on his knee and started teaching her: here's your altitude, here's the compass, here's how you trim. She couldn't even see out of the cockpit; she was basically flying by instruments. In high school, she knew that there were no female professional pilots but figured she could at least try air traffic control. And couldn't she learn to fly regardless? “Well, sure,” her parents said. “But we're not paying for it.” “So I went out to the local airport and worked the Unicom and wrote up gas bills,” she recalls. “I was making $1.25 an hour, paid for all my flying lessons, got my private license.” Then in her senior year she heard that one of the airlines had broken the gender bar and actually hired a woman. So that settled it: she would follow through the breach. But while she was allowed (after four years of college and training) to sit in for the ground school, it was strictly on the understanding that she wasn't going to be hired-and she would meet her own costs. In one class the instructor smirked and said, “Hey guys, Dana's wearing a nice skirt today. Why don't we get her to go draw the schematic for the electrical system?” “That is truly the kind of thing that I faced,” she says. “But I didn't know any different. All I wanted to do was fly and I figured that's what you have to do.” She sailed through her tests. They shrugged, wished her luck in life. But after a while she got permission to observe a training flight. “And I was just sitting there thinking, 'I know I can do better than this,'” she recalls. “And then the instructor, it was the same one, turned to the guy that he was training and says, 'Let's see if a girl can fly this airplane.' Which was good. It inspired me.” She flew so unanswerably well-this is someone who can hand fly to 100 feet with only one engine and no autopilot-that a couple of weeks later they faced facts and hired her. No uniform, as we said, but she was 22 and her foot was in the door. That was just a regional outfit but a couple of years later she joined a national freight operator, which proved a little more enlightened, and stayed 18 years. Yet all the talent and determination that sustained a pioneering career, in pursuit of one lifelong obsession, has stood her in equally good stead in another. For her love of horses has also led her to embrace steep odds, to the point that this year she even discovered the temerity to bring in four stallions, standing between $5,000 and $2,500, to offer the market something different from the industrial farms. Yet when Dana and her late husband Gerry Aschinger bought War Horse Place, a couple of decades ago, they were still polo people who primarily wanted to cut down their travel from Ohio. “We did have a couple of mares up there, and for a time actually had a stallion as well,” she recalls. “But honestly, this wasn't my dream. Horses were always my passion, but I had no idea it was going to go the way it did. When we bought this place, it had been a division of Northridge and there was nothing here but two barns. So we built the office, built the house. And then we set it up just as a boutique broodmare facility. “The original thought process was that instead of these huge farms, where you show up to see your horse and someone might go, 'Oh, yeah, I recognize that name, let me call somebody who might know something,' we wanted people to feel like they knew how their horses were being handled every day, and by whom. We wanted War Horse Place to feel like their own personal farm in Kentucky.” To that end they even built a guest apartment above the office. The site overall is no more than 180 acres, but modesty of scale permits ambition in execution. For instance, they are up to 12 miles of new V-mesh in their fencing. And the ethic of intimacy extends to the horses. Clients remarked how foals that could hardly be caught, on other farms, at War Horse Place proved to be full of trust and curiosity. “For us, getting the foal started on the right foot has always been really important,” Dana says. “We didn't want them just standing in the field three weeks at a time. The halter's on the day after they're born, their feet are picked up, and we do the old-fashioned let out. They're not just following the mare.” Then in 2008 they got a call from Zimbabwe. There was a brother to Kingmambo standing there, Kitalpha, and his owners felt he needed a safer home. He did not present a terribly inspiring spectacle when he arrived, after a six-month odyssey, but they did right by the horse. Not only did they build a stallion barn and breeding complex, but Gerry even took out a license to train the babies. And then he also took on Dramedy (Distorted Humor), who was being sold through their consignment after showing some ability in a light career to that point. “We went into the horse's history, and it turned out that he'd had some kind of accident as a younger horse, broken his hip and pelvis,” Dana recalls. “So obviously there was arthritis in there. And he'd always come flying at the end of his races, so we thought, 'Well, this horse just needs to get warmed up.' And as soon as we figured that out, he did really well.” After winning the GII Elkhorn Stakes, indeed, Dramedy earned his turn at stud. And those experiences with stallions proved so encouraging, not least in bringing mares whose owners were on the same wavelength, has ultimately produced this sudden and enthusiastic expansion of the roster. The new recruits include the admirable Smooth Like Strait, winner of $1.8 million across four campaigns, whose owner Michael Cannon typified the process. “I'm not concerned about breeding 200 mares and going through all that,” he told them. “I just want a nice, safe place for my horse, and somewhere I can breed my mares.” Then Cannon's friend John Fradkin heard about the beautiful set-up here, just when he had Rombauer looking for a fresh start. And one thing led to another and next thing knew Sacred Life and Hog Creek Hustle were on the team, too. Initially they tried to stop at three. “But pretty soon it was just like, okay, sometimes God has a way of putting things in front of you that you need to take a look at and work out,” Dana says. “I think what we've found here is a little niche for people who really believe in their horses and want a place for them to stand. If they breed 20 or 30 mares, they're happy, they just want their horse to have a chance. The big farms don't want to deal with those horses. But the owners have really supported these stallions. James Kelly, for instance, went out and bought some very nice mares just to breed to Sacred Life. These owners are so passionate, and after they get turned down by a lot of places, you just really hope it works out for them. These are people that really care about their animals–and those are people we like to work with.” This is certainly a wholesome corner of the Bluegrass. Neighbors Crestwood have always prioritized the runner over the show pony, and on the perimeter of War Horse Place you'll see a slogan of similar intent: “Raising Racehorses.” Sure enough, graduates of the farm include the superbly hardy Whitmore, while Drain the Clock is another who came through here without going to auction. (And we shouldn't forget Kitalpha's best daughter Martini Glass, who won $900,000 across 24 starts in 26 months.) “It really does seem like a lot of the industry is mostly into selling,” Dana observes. “But most of our clients are breeding to race. Most people just don't have the patience to do that. A lot of racehorse owners don't have any experience, breeding or raising horses, and really don't understand the tremendous commitment of time and patience and money that goes into it.” She notes that the four stallions, between them, cover every possible discipline, distance or surface; Rombauer, indeed, pretty well do so on his own. “And if you're breeding to race, what more would you want?” she asks. But another who must cover all bases is Rafael Zambrano, the indispensable farm manager, whose responsibilities have duly expanded with the arrival of the new stallions. “But we have great teamwork here at War Horse Place,” Zambrano stresses. “We have a good group of people that know what they're doing in all the different aspects: mares and repro, yearlings, stallions. We just have to make sure we're organized, so that everybody knows, every time they come into work in the morning, what is to be done and when.” Zambrano's previous specialization, during 16 years as yearling manager and then assistant farm manager at Summer Wind, was sales prep. In 2008, he helped Summer Wind consecutively top the July, Saratoga and September Sales. “So yes, if I had to pick from all the different things we do, yearlings would be my first pick,” he says. “I enjoy seeing how they change. My dad used to tell me, 'Never cut corners. You'll always pay in the end.' So we try to do everything the way I was taught, the way it's supposed to be done. We had a filly last year that when she arrived, she looked like she must have had a lot of issues: if someone offered her for free, you would probably have said, 'No, thank you.' But after 65 days with us she went to the October Sale and sold for $75,000, from a $5,000 stud fee. The owners were like, 'I don't know what you did, but that was magic.'” “And that was a perfect example,” Dana adds. “The owner really hadn't seen the horse where she'd been before. They just heard, 'Oh, yeah, she's doing fine.' When she shipped in, we sent them pictures, and they were horrified. In the end it turned out very well, but it was a lot of work. Rafael does a great job. We've had some come in and you just think, 'Oh, boy.' But you just take your time and do what you can. And the horses, they like the job. They like being given something to do. “And that's exactly why we have that sign, 'Raising Racehorses.' Because I think getting a good start on them is the foundation. You go to sales and some of the horses you see, they're so nervous and scared, and you think, 'Is this the first time they've been handled in two months?' And when those go to the racetrack, it's all going to just to take a longer time to get them adjusted. So we want people who buy the yearlings to go, 'Oh, wow, this was raised at War Horse. Nice job.'” Again, this is one of the ways in which the farm's relatively intimate scale pays off. They have 20 stalls in their prep barn. Any more would stretch the standards they want to meet. The man who brought joy back into Dana's life, after she lost Gerry, is Kevin McCreary. They married last October (though their friendship actually goes back to third grade) and Kevin has eagerly embraced the War Horse project as business manager. He condenses the farm ethic to just two words: “Details matter.” “A lot of my experience comes from corporate America,” he explains. “And culture is always so important. Really culture is what trains people, which is why you have to strive so hard to get it right. So that when someone comes into it, they feel it, understand it, are able to express it. And I think that the culture we have here is all focused around the relationship with clients. “I think we've done a really nice job in matching the client to what we have. Obviously it's a business, but it is a little bit more than that: our people call constantly, visit constantly, consider themselves somewhat friends. We know about things happening in their families. And that all reflects the boutique aspect of the farm. The equine care here, I mean, it's second to none. But I think where we're able to be a little different is the way that we connect with our clients. It's hard to put all that into a word or a sentence, but there's a culture here that I think the horses feel.” And it's true. There's an unmistakable warmth to this place. You can only admire the cheerful way Dana has defied prejudice and assumptions twice over: first as a pathfinder in aviation, and now in standing four Davids against the stallion Goliaths. One way or another, this is plainly a woman who enjoys taking on the odds. “Maybe a little bit,” she acknowledges with a smile. “It is true that I never liked the uneventful. Taking off and flying and landing four hours later was boring. It was when you had to do an approach in bad weather, that was what was interesting. That's what you trained for. You have these skills that you've developed and worked on, and it's nice to be able to use them. But for me, life's not about trying to prove a point. It's about just following your passions. And that's what I do.” The post War Horses Raised to Fly High appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Altoona will add an additional day of live horse racing to the 2024 schedule, on Thursday, Sept. 26, to make up for the Thoroughbred races canceled due to a storm on Monday, July 15. The additional card, scheduled for a 6pm CT post time, will be the first day of the final week of live racing on the 2024 schedule at Prairie Meadows. “There's a possibility of running as many as nine Thoroughbred races on Thursday, Sept. 26,” said Thoroughbred racing secretary Stuart Slagle. “We will take entries and draw for the added day on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.” The 2024 season at Prairie Meadows ends on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, with the Iowa Classic Night program which includes season-ending championship stakes races for both Iowa-bred Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. The post Prairie Meadows Adds Racing Date Sept. 26 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ellis Park wrapped its meet with another record-breaking year, concluding with a 20% increase in all-sources handle. A total of $72.7 million was wagered across the 25-day meet, surpassing last year's record by $12.2 million.View the full article

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 274 yearlings to its Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale, to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Maryland. The sale will begin at 11 am. “Midlantic Fall graduates have notched nearly 60 stakes wins or placings in 2024 alone, including a bevy of quality graded stakes winners,” said Paget Bennett, Midlantic Director of Sales. “Yearlings from the Midlantic region are well raised and their results on the racetrack bear that out year-after-year.” The front cover of this year's catalogue features recent graded stakes winners I'm Very Busy, Leave No Trace, Neecie Marie, and Post Time. Studlydoright, winner of the Tremont Stakes. over Belmont Stakes weekend, is pictured on the back cover. Sires represented include Bolt d'Oro, Candy Ride (Arg), Charlatan, City of Light, Great Notion, Hard Spun, Independence Hall, Karakontie (Jpn), Maclean's Music, McKinzie, Midshipman, More Than Ready, Munnings, Nyquist, Omaha Beach, Tiz the Law, Violence, and Vekoma. Midlantic Fall also offers yearlings from a wide variety of state-bred programs, including Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The catalogue may now be viewed online, and will also be available in the equineline catalogue app. Print catalogues will be available this week. Fasig-Tipton will accept supplemental entries to the sale up until sale time. The post Midlantic Fall Yearling Catalogue Online appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Brunetti family's Red Oak Stable, which finds itself with plenty of the family, will offer a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 45) during Monday's first session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The yearling, consigned by Darby Dan Farm, is a half-sister to the operation's multiple Grade I-winning star Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) and to its Grade I-placed filly Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft). “We are selling this one, and we actually sold Goddess of Fire also, because we have so many from the same female line,” Red Oak racing manager Rick Sacco explained. “With the mare Ubetwereven (French Deputy)–who is the dam of King for a Day–and her foals, it's all the same family, and we have so many. It's a business and we just think it's a prudent thing to do.” Ubetwereven, acquired by Red Oak privately some 20 years ago, produced Feel That Fire (Lightnin N Thunder) in 2007 and that stakes winner produced Mind Control in 2016 and Goddess of Fire in 2019. Ubetwereven is also the dam of stakes winner Ima Jersey Girl (Lightnin N Thunder), who produced Gorgeous Girl (Liam's Map), second in the Red Oak colors in this year's Gasparilla Stakes, while the mare's son King for a Day (Uncle Mo) won the 2019 Pegasus Stakes for the operation. The hard-knocking Mind Control won the 2022 GI Cigar Mile, 2019 GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes, and 2018 GI Hopeful Stakes, as well as five other graded events. He won 11 of 29 starts and earned over $2 million on the racetrack. Goddess of Fire was second in the 2022 GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes and GII Gulfstream Park Oaks and finished third in that year's 2022 GI Alabama Stakes. She was sold to Bass Stables following an allowance win at Gulfstream in January and was bred to Annapolis this year. Red Oak retains Feel That Fire's 2-year-old filly, My Crystal Ball (Uncle Mo). “She is with Todd Pletcher and she's a beautiful filly,” Sacco said. Of the mare's yearling, Sacco said, “She is a very pretty filly. The Feel That Fire foals are all typey horses, like Mind Control and Goddess of Fire. She is very pretty and very correct and excellent physical as far as vet exams and scopes. So she is perfect in that aspect. We are impressed with her.” Red Oak has already enjoyed success with Uncle Mo. In addition to King for a Day, the farm was also represented on the racetrack by 2018 GI Apple Blossom Handicap winner Unbridled Mo (Uncle Mo). “We were on that bandwagon very early with King for a Day and Unbridled Mo,” Sacco said. “We started out with Uncle Mo and his stud fee has obviously risen over the last couple of years. He's having a fantastic year. To me personally, there is nothing not to like about Uncle Mo.” Red Oak Farm was founded by John Brunetti, Sr. and had been operated by his sons John Jr. and Stephen following his death in 2018. The death of Stephen Brunetti in April has altered the farm's trajectory slightly, according to Sacco. “John Brunetti, Jr., Steve's brother, he is a traditionalist,” Sacco said. “He loves the game, he loves it the way his father did. Steve Brunetti was very passionate about breeding and the every day operations, where Johnny runs the entire company, the casino and the real estate division that they have. He loves it, but not to the extent that Steve did. So it's part of our business plan to sell some, where Steve Brunetti would never really sell horses. We are not going to have over 100 horses anymore, but we are going to continue with the very high-quality broodmare band. We've kept all of our best broodmares and will breed to high-quality stallions. And we will sell some horses.” The Brunetti name is also being carried on in racing by the next generation. “Steve, Jr. graduated from University of Kentucky last year,” Sacco said. “He works for the Brunetti organization in South Florida, he is part of the real estate division. Like his father, he is passionate and he does have a couple of horses. He's another one that really loves the game. He likes to go to the races and he's enjoying it, that's for sure.” Red Oak's next generation of equine stars is well on its way, as well. “We have Unbridled Mo's 2-year-old colt by American Pharoah [Intuitive Wisdom] at the track and getting ready to run,” Sacco said. “He's about a breeze away.” Unbridled Mo produced a colt by Curlin this year and was bred back to Into Mischief. “She has an absolutely outstanding Curlin weanling that we love,” Sacco said. “All of the reports from Darby Dan have been great. He's a special colt and a lot of people have gone to look at him. In my last visit there in July, he was very impressive. Curlin is having such a good year, we have entered him in the Keeneland November sale.” As for Mind Control, he retired to Rockridge Stud following his win in the 2022 Cigar Mile and his first foals are weanlings this year. “We love the bunch that we have,” Sacco said of Mind Control's first foals. “Physically, they are just very tough looking. He's not an overly big horse, a shade under 16 hands or right at 16 hands, and the foals are very muscular and strong looking. And, most importantly, correct. He is a beautiful-moving horse and ultra correct.” Sacco continued, “Mind Control bred 190 mares, he broke the New York record of all time for number of mares being bred in one year. So he's been very well-received.” The Keeneland September sale opens with Book 1 sessions Monday and Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m. Book 2 sessions Wednesday and Thursday begin at 11 a.m. Following a dark day Friday, the auction continues through Sept. 21 with sessions beginning at 10 a.m. The post Red Oak to Share the Fire at Keeneland September appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ellis Park Racing & Gaming's summer season wrapped another record-breaking year, concluding with a 20% increase in all-sources handle. This year, a total of $72.7 million was wagered across the 25-day meet, surpassing last year's record by $12.2 million. “We are thrilled with the results of this year's meet, both in terms of record-breaking handle and the outstanding quality of racing,” said Ellis Park general manager Matt Pressley. “We owe our success to the dedication of our staff, horsemen and women, horseplayers and our local community. Thanks to the continued investments from Churchill Downs Incorporated, Ellis Park is positioned for continued growth and success.” Over than $15.1 million in purses were awarded across 228 races-an increase of 7% from 2023, a record-breaking year with a 49% increase in purses. This year's meet ran one additional day compared to last year. (includes funds from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund) Jockey Jaime Torres led the rider standings with 21 wins from 134 starts. Torres, who also won this year's GI Preakness Stakes aboard Seize the Grey, split his time between Saratoga and Ellis Park this summer, earning $1.2 million in purses. Luan Machado finished just one win behind Torres with 20 victories and led all jockeys in purse earnings with $1.5 million. Cristian Torres finished third with 17 wins. In the trainer standings, Brendan Walsh and Steve Asmussen finished in a tie for first place, each securing 14 wins. Asmussen, who made 139 starts at the meet, earned $809,118 with his runners. Walsh, who won with 20% of his horses from 70 starts, led all trainers in earnings with $1.1 million, highlighted by victories in the $400,000 GIII Pucker Up Stakes with Waves of Mischief and the $250,000 Ky Downs Preview Nashville Derby with Cameo Performance. Godolphin dominated the owner standings for the second consecutive year, winning 12 of 24 starts and earning $604,712 in purses. Steve Asmussen finished a strong second with seven wins from 21 starts. Live racing will return to Ellis Park in early July 2025. For latest information about gaming promotions throughout the year, visit www.ellisparkracing.com. The post Ellis Concludes Record-Breaking Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Eighty of the 123 horses nominated for this year's G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup were bred in Europe. Only 18 of that group are still in training in either Britain, Ireland or France. Aidan O'Brien, who has not had a runner in the race since 2020, when Tiger Moth (Ire) finished runner-up to Twilight Payment (Ire), trained by his son Joseph, has six entered, led by the G2 Queen's Vase winner Illinois (Ire). Meanwhile his fellow Irishman Willie Mullins is planning to send back last year's favourite, the recent G2 Lonsdale Cup winner Vauban (Fr), along with Absurde (Fr) and Hipop De Loire (Fr). Dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Dermot Weld has entered Harbour Wind (Ire), while Henry de Bromhead has nominated the Ebor winner Magical Zoe (Ire). Jessica Harrington could be represented by Kinesiology (GB). Juddmonte's Arrest (GB) is in the mix for John and Thady Gosden, while Andrew Balding has put forward Night Sparkle (Ire) and Relentless Voyager (GB). Harry Eustace and Brian Ellison complete the list of British trainers and have entered Sea King (GB) and Onesmoothoperator respectively, while the sole French-trained entry is Delius (GB) for Jean-Claude Rouget. A total of 20 horses from outside Australasia have been entered, including two from Japan – Shonan Bashitto (Jpn) and Warp Speed (Jpn). Of the 80 who were bred in Europe, 48 carry an Irish suffix, 22 were born in Britain and 10 in France. The Australian and New Zealand breeding programmes are represented by 19 entries each, while three entries carry a USA suffix and two were bred in Japan. Among the European expats now trained in Australia are the Group 1-winning mares Via Sistina (Ire), Poptronic (GB), and Place Du Carrousel (Ire), who respectively sold for 2.7m gns, 1.4m gns, and €4.025m at last year's breeding stock sales. Ciaron Maher, who won the 2022 Melbourne Cup with Gold Trip (Fr) when training in partnership with David Eustace, has 16 entries for this year. They include the former Sir Michael Stoute-trained Circle Of Fire (GB), who was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II, and three-year-old Sayedaty Sadly (Ire), who was fifth in the Derby when trained by Andrew Balding. Sadly missing from the list of entries is Crystal Black (Ire), who is unbeaten in four starts this year for trainer Ger Keane, including the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot and the G3 Ballyroan Stakes. “He's had a bit of a setback and is going to go on his winter break,” said Keane of the six-year-old. “It's nothing serious, but you have to go by him and he wouldn't ready for it. He got a viral infection and his bloods were very low and he wasn't himself. You'd have to be pushing him to run in it, so it wouldn't be the right thing to do and it wouldn't be fair on the horse. “It's only a minor setback, so we'll put him away for the winter and see where we go next year.” The post European-breds Dominate Melbourne Cup Entries appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Classic-winning jockey Hollie Doyle reached 1,000 career winners at Goodwood on Tuesday. Doyle, who won her first race 11 years ago, was aboard trainer David Simcock's Leyhaimur (GB) (Pinatubo {Ire}) when winning the William Hill Keep Your Raceday Positive Fillies' Nursery Handicap over six furlongs. She had scored win 999 earlier in the card with Almaty Star (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the William Hill Most Top Price Runners Handicap for trainer Robert Cowell. “Never when I started off my career did I imagine I would ride this many winners,” Doyle told Racing TV. “I'm just really grateful for all the support I've had so far; from trainers, owners, my agent–they've done a great job for me so far, even though I'm probably a nightmare to work for. “Now all I can think about is the next thousand!” Doyle has enjoyed great success in the saddle, and set a new record for number of wins by a female jockey in 2019 with 116. She was aboard Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month en route to taking her ninth Group 1 win in Europe. The post Hollie Doyle Reaches 1,000 Winners At Goodwood appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Royal Ascot winner Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}) has suffered an unspecified setback which will rule him out for the remainder of the season. His owner Wathnan Racing plans to return him to training for a four-year-old campaign. The winner of the G3 Jersey Stakes and G3 Craven Stakes, Haatem has also been placed in two Guineas for Richard Hannon, and was beaten just a head by his stable-mate Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. He was an intended starter in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois in Deauville in August but was withdrawn at the start after jockey James Doyle reported that he was unhappy with the colt as he went to post. Richard Brown, racing adviser to Wathnan Racing, said, “We've got to the bottom of what was troubling him that day and, the good news is, it's nothing serious. But it would be a race against time to get him back for the obvious end-of-year targets, so we've drawn stumps and hope to have him back in top form for the big mile races next season.” The post Haatem Set to Return at Four as Setback Curtails Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Graham Lee Vickers.Bet Leger Legends Classified Stakes will be run in honour of Graham Lee during the final day of the St Leger meeting at Doncaster. A top-level winning jockey under both codes, Lee sustained life-changing injuries in a Newcastle fall last November. A JustGiving page was set up by Lee's daughter Amy, for the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) which has raised over £200,000. The race will see ex-jockeys riding to raise money for the IJF and the National Racing College. A charity golf event was also held on Monday. “There's a good turnout, which is good, and it's good to get out and do things like this to help him,” Lee's son Robbie told Sky Sports Racing. “He [Graham Lee] is doing OK. We've had a getaway at Oaksey House for the week and he's enjoyed that. “He's doing well and keeping his physio going constant, so he's not giving up. “It does help him getting a change of scenery and really gives him a reset and helps clear his mind.” Lee's friend and former weighing-room colleague Andrew Thornton is one of the organisers of the Leger Legends event and is pleased the race will carry Lee's name on Sept. 15. He said, “He's ridden 2,000 winners under both codes, it's remarkable.It's obviously very sad what happened, but we're all behind him and we're all doing what we can for him. “This event is for the National Racing College and also for the Injured Jockeys Fund and Jack Berry House. Graham benefits through that and gave us his blessing to call it that this year. “We've got past winners in Sammy-Jo Bell and Brian Harding taking part and Meg Nicholls is donning the silks again. “We've got Gerald Mosse coming over [from France] and Tom Scudamore, Dickie [Richard] Johnson is having another crack and we've got an Irish contingent coming over as well including Mark Enright, Bryan Cooper and David Mullins–a Grand National-winning rider.” The post Leger Legends Race To Honour Graham Lee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jockey Callum Shepherd has won his appeal against the Kempton stewards that imposed an 18-day ban last month. Aboard Thorntonledale Max (GB) (Cityscape {GB}) in a handicap, Shepherd was said to have failed “to take all reasonable and permissible measures on a horse which would have finished outright first” after rival Flavour Maker (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) dead-heated with Shepherd's mount. Shepherd “completely refuted” the allegation at the time and a British Horseracing Authority (BHA) independent panel met to adjudicate the decision on Tuesday morning. Shepherd insisted that his mount had lost “no momentum whatsoever”, and the panel was in agreement. “I look all the over the place, it looks bad and I would be the first to say it but it is unusual and completely unintended,” he said. Panel chairperson HH James O'Mahony said, “Whether or not there was an admitted or in fact a mistake is open to argument. “We accept the reality of life in sport and particularly in racing that things happen very fast and if every time a jockey made an error of judgement there was to be hearing about it, then hearings would go on every day and forever. So it is open to us to consider as we judge it the question of an acceptable explanation. “We find on the balance of probabilities there was a loss of rhythm and an imbalance that had some causal connection with the appearance and the fact of Mr Shepherd rising as he did above the saddle in the closing strides, and we were able to say that on the most infinitesimal and minute observation of the footage any number of times, from all relevant angles and with close noting of specific times. “We add that there was no apparent loss of momentum as far as the horse was concerned and finally we emphasise that this case is decided on its own facts and is in no way a precedent or a ruling on any matter of principle that may arise in future cases of this kind. “The sanction is, of course, quashed. “We add that in the time available to the stewards when they made their decision, they had nothing like the opportunity that we have had to examine the evidence in such detail.” The post Callum Shepherd Wins Appeal Against 18-Day Ban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Pleasant Acres' freshman sire Bodexpress has sired six winners to date and is among 11 North American freshman sires represented by a black-type winner.View the full article

Co-trainer Katherine Coleman isn’t expecting any first-up fireworks from I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel) or Chain Of Lightning when they kick off their respective spring campaigns in Saturday’s Group One Moir Stakes at The Valley. The stablemates are the highest-rated horses in the $750,000 sprint and while their co-trainer concedes their class can carry them a long way, she said they’re being trained to peak later in the spring. I Wish I Win is one of only two horses already locked into an Everest slot next month with the Trackside Media slot. Chain Of Lightning will jump from barrier four, while Luke Nolen will steer I Wish I Win from barrier five on Saturday. “I’d say it’s a little bit short for both of their best and neither of them come into it really screwed down,” said Coleman, who trains in partnership with Peter Moody. “We think both of them have improvement to come. “We want them to go there, have a nice hit-out and be hitting the line strongly. “We don’t want them to have a gut-busting first-up run.” I Wish I Win is rated the $4.80 third favourite in Sportsbet’s Moir market, behind Estriella ($2.70) and Lady Of Camelot ($3.80). Coleman said the son of Savabeel tuned up for his return with a solo gallop at Pakenham on Tuesday, which follows a jumpout win at Pakenham in mid-August. The gelding will use the Moir and the Manikato Stakes three weeks later to springboard into The Everest as he attempts to go one better in Sydney’s rich slot race. “Regular rider Luke Nolen was in the saddle (for his gallop on Tuesday) and he was happy with him and said the horse gave him a great feel,” she said. “It (his jumpout) might be a little bit deceiving, just the fact that he’s got that good residual fitness from his Queensland winter campaign, so he was more forward in that first jumpout than where we’ve seen him before. “In saying that, we have been very happy with how he’s come up for his spring campaign. “Last year he just didn’t have the ideal lead-up race but this maps out really well for him – he can go from the Moir, three weeks into the Manikato and then three weeks into The Everest. “We know that he loves three weeks between runs.” Chain Of Lightning was scratched from a Gr.3 race at Caulfield last Saturday and Coleman said she will again be monitoring the forecast over the coming days before committing to a start with the T.J. Smith Stakes winner. “She’s come back super,” she said. “We had her in at Caulfield on Saturday, but the track just came up a bit firm, which we know is not to her liking. “There looks to be a few showers of rain forecast late this week, so we’ll cross our fingers. “She doesn’t need a Heavy track, but she’d just like the sting out of it.” View the full article

Leading rider Blake Shinn has reclaimed the ride aboard Antino (NZ) (Redwood) when the Queenslander goes second-up into the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday week. Trainer Tony Gollan confirmed on Tuesday that Shinn will reacquaint himself with the Memsie Stakes’ fourth placegetter at Flemington, after a somewhat luckless run for Jamie Kah at Caulfield, where he finished three-and-a-half lengths adrift of the winner Pinstriped. Shinn has ridden Antino three times in the past for a Gr.3 Sandown Stakes (1500m) win and a Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) second placing before they were again runners-up in the Gr.2 Crystal Mile (1600m) at The Valley last spring. Gollan told TAB Radio on Monday that he was pleased with Antino’s fresh effort despite the 10-time winner doing a few things wrong. “He just ambled out a bit and put himself on the back foot, which in this grade of racing, it makes it pretty hard,” Gollan said. “(Pride Of) Jenni went along at a nice clip then mid-race, which we expected, we were just chasing from way out under that sort of pressure, which was a bit of a shame. “I think there were positives in it – he closed the race off really well – but he just left himself too much work to do. “We are just going to tinker around a few things in the next couple of weeks with him and if anything, you would imagine going to the mile on the big track at Flemington will be far more suitable.” Gollan said he may ask for a barrier attendant to assist with Antino in the gates so he can jump cleanly. “I’ll just mix up things with him to make sure he’s 100 per cent,” he said. “We were really happy going into the weekend and we’ll probably have a late tail on him to help him jump that little bit better in the Makybe. “But we aren’t going to panic too much. “I thought for a horse that we think is going to get a mile and perhaps even further, particularly on the bigger tracks, it wasn’t too bad a first-up run. “Out of the Memsie, he has to be a top-four or five chance in the Makye Diva.” View the full article

Almanzor (Fr), the European champion three-year-old of 2016 and the star of the first crop of Wootton Bassett (GB), will continue his stallion career solely at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. Bred by Haras d'Etreham, where he has served his northern hemisphere stud career for the past seven seasons, Almanzor has proved more successful in Australasia, where he is the sire of nine Group 1 performers including the Victoria Derby winner Manzoice (Aus). He was also New Zealand's leading sire of juveniles and leading first-season-sire in 2021 and 2022. “We have experienced an emotional ride with Almanzor, and he has been the symbol of a new dynamic within the stud, both from a breeding and stallion perspective,” said Etreham's Nicolas de Chambure. “His victory in the 2016 Prix du Jockey Club represented a major exploit and a great joy for the whole Etreham team. A magnificent individual, he immediately appealed to Jean-Claude Rouget who purchased him as a yearling for more than 16 times the stud fee of his sire. Thanks to his exceptional performances, Almanzor remains the best son of Wootton Bassett.” Among Almanzor's best performers in Europe are G2 Prix Niel runner-up Lassaut (Fr), the Group 1-placed Queen Trezy (Fr) and this season's G3 Prix de Psyche winner Almara (Fr). His first three crops each boast a ratio of over 45% winners to runners. He has 115 two-year-olds this year, 90 yearlings, and covered 80 mares in 2024. De Chambure added, “Despite these solid statistics, it must be said that his production in the southern hemisphere is more successful and the market there is more favourable to him. Therefore, after six seasons of shuttling, it is logical for us to accept the offer from Cambridge Stud which will allow the stallion to remain in the hemisphere where he is the most successful. We wish them continued success for the future, and we would like to express our thanks to all the shareholders and breeders who have supported Almanzor during his covering seasons at Etreham.” The post Almanzor to Remain in New Zealand appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article