Wandering Eyes

The UK Government proposals to tax inherited farmland thresholds have been increased from £1 million to £2.5 million, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Concerned farmers have pushed back on the initial proposal since it was announced over a year ago. Originally, UK ministers indicated they would begin imposing a 20% tax on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million. Formerly, there had been 100% tax relief in place since the 1980s. Environment secretary Emma Reynolds said, “We have listened closely to farmers across the country and we are making changes today to protect more ordinary family farms. “It's only right that larger estates contribute more, while we back the farms and trading businesses that are the backbone of Britain's rural communities.” The post UK Government Increases Inheritance Tax Threshold Proposals To £2.5 Million appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Conrad Bandoroff, Dr. Kristina Eisaman, Carly Schuerger, Sophie Shore and Whitney Verbal have been added to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Next Generation Advisory Group. Formed in 2024, the group provides HISA's executive team and Standing Committees with formal feedback on the evolution of its Racetrack Safety Program and Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. The new members succeed outgoing Next Generation Advisory Group members Waqas Ahmed, Marc Broady, Jeff Matty, Katie Miranda, and Tyler Peeples. A complete list of the group's 20 members–representing a wide variety of viewpoints from across the racing industry–can be viewed here. The post New Members Added to HISA Next Generation Advisory Group appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

This raft of stallions at the lowest range of the price scale is every bit as important as those at the top. For a start, if we look at Royal Ascot alone in 2025, we find the names Massaat and Washington DC alongside those of two of the week's Group 1 winners. Then there was Rajasinghe, whose offspring made their presence felt in two of the season's most prestigious sprint handicaps. Breeders with mares rated 70 or above could have used Rajasinghe for free this year, such was the desire for owner Phil Cunningham to give one last push for his Coventry Stakes winner to prove himself. Rajasinghe is back at £3,000 this year and he should have more bookings after the exploits of Stewards' Cup winner Two Tribes and Ayr Gold Cup winner Run Boy Run. Together, they have netted Cunningham more than £550,000 in prize-money. Massaat has never stood for more than £5,000 at Mickley Stud, where he is advertised at £3,500 again for 2026. The globetrotter Docklands put his names in lights this year, while American Affair did the same for Massaat's Shropshire neighbour Washington DC at Bearstone Stud, who stands for the same sum. This final part of the Value Sires series deals with the stallions standing for below £7,500 (approximately €8,500), a group which includes some notable names with their own ardent followers. Dealing with a couple of venerable veterans first, Holy Roman Emperor will be 22 in 2026, while Bated Breath turns 19. At €5,000 for Holy Roman Emperor, a stallion with proven Group 1 credentials, and £5,000 for Bated Breath, about whom similar comments apply, they both seem like steadfast options for smaller breeders either side of the Irish Sea, especially for young, unproven mares. The same goes for Washington DC's stud-mate Dream Ahead, who is rising 18 and has four Group 1 winners to his credit. He too is at his lowest-ever fee of £5,500. Rathasker's Bungle Inthejungle has already sired a Group 1 winner in Nunthorpe Stakes heroine Winter Power and her two-year-old full-sister Revival Power sprinted her way into the notebook this autumn as the winner of the G2 Flying Childers Stakes. She was one of two standouts for Bungle Inthejungle this season along with JM Jungle, who had some good horses behind him when winning the G2 King George Stakes at Goodwood, including Cartier Sprinter of the Year, Asfoora. 'Bungle' started off at €5,000, went up to €12,000 for a couple of seasons, and has now settled somewhere in the middle at €7,500. The race is now on to find a son of Wootton Bassett who can live up to his father's impressive achievements. Another five have joined the ranks this year but one with a Group 1 winner already next to his name is Haras de Bouquetot's Wooded, sire of the Prix Jean Prat winner Woodshauna from his first crop. Wooded, who won the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye in 2020, also had the runner-up in that same race this year in the Czech-trained Jawwal. At €7,000, Wooded is now standing for just less than half his opening fee of €15,000. There were four second-crop sires to be represented by four black-type winners in 2025 and, along with Ghaiyyath, Persian King and Pinatubo sits King Of Change, who is comfortably in this bracket at €5,000 at Starfield Stud. If you like the idea of Farhh – and who doesn't? – then we should all be hoping that the subfertile Darley stallion, whose private fee we estimate to be around £20,000 at Dalham Hall Stud, will have a son good enough to make amends. King Of Change has made an encouraging start, and here's hoping for a Group winner next year to add to his Listed quartet. His foals on the ground this year represent his biggest crop from 131 coverings in 2024, but he dropped back to around just over 50 mares this year. Smaller numbers haven't stopped him so far. He is not the only Group 1-winning miler by Farhh to be at stud in Europe as Tribalist joins the newly launched Haras de Castillon stallion operation and will doubtless receive some decent backing from French breeders as he was a classy and durable runner from an excellent family. He is starting out at €6,000, a price which seems immensely fair for a horse who won six Group and two Listed races in addition to his G1 Prix du Moulin victory over Charyn, Henry Longfellow and Notable Speech. For breeders either in Germany or keen to send a mare there, it is worth keeping Isfahan on your list. For a start he was a Classic winner himself, and he produced his own Deutsches Derby winner, Sisfahan, in his first crop. Plus, in these days of dwindling genetic options, it is good still to find the odd stallion tracing back to Mill Reef now that Sir Percy has retired and Reliable Man has remained in New Zealand. The imposing Isfahan, who remains at €7,500 at Gestut Ohlerweiherhof, was represented this year by the Group 3 winner Nyra, who was also third in the G1 Preis der Diana, and was sold earlier this month at Arqana for €875,000 to the US-based Scott Heider. First runners in 2026 Among those in this tier with debutants on the track next year are Overbury Stud's Caturra, who covered 102 mares in his debut season at £6,500 and has stood at £5,000 since then. Forty-three of those first-crop yearlings were sold, from 53 offered, for an average of 20,860gns. There has been a similar shift in price for Space Traveller, who stood his first year at Ballyhane Stud for €6,500 and covered 170 mares. He subsequently moved to Starfield Stud, where he is now at his lowest fee of €5,000. For 64 yearlings sold from 92 offered he returned an average of €21,219. Thunder Moon, a son of the late Zoffany and winner of the G1 National Stakes in 2020, has shuffled from Haras de Bouquetot, where he started off with a book of 88 mares, to Haras de Castillon, where he is now €5,000. First yearlings to come Owners of the 167 mares who visited Erevann in 2024 will be hoping that this son of Dubawi out of Siyouni's first Classic winner Ervedya, can follow the impressive example of fellow Dubawi sire Zarak at the Aga Khan Studs. He's a horse with a lot of quality who appears to be throwing youngsters in his mould, judging by the positive reception given to his foals in recent months. Placed at Group 1 level when finishing only half a length behind Inspiral in the Prix Jacques Le Marois, Erevann won the G2 Prix Wildenstein after that and has remained a reasonable and well supported €8,000 at Haras de Bonneval. We have an unapologetically French feel to this particular section as we flag up Bay Bridge, from the same sire-line as Erevann as a son of New Bay. Another powerful and good-looking horse, he won the G1 Champion Stakes in the colours of his breeder James Wigan, who raced him in partnership with Ballylinch Stud. With the latter already standing New Bay and his son Bayside Boy, the decision was taken to stand Bay Bridge at Haras du Mesnil, a base which gives him an excellent chance of success. Not only does the Devin family strongly support their home stallions with their own decent broodmare band but they have a loyal following of French breeders who have helped the likes of Doctor Dino and Turgeon to thrive over the years. Bay Bridge covered 102 mares in his first season, and doubtless some of them will have been of the National Hunt persuasion. HIs sole representative at Arqana earlier this month, a colt from the family of top sprinter Sole Power, was sold for €92,000 to Mandore International Agency. Bay Bridge is down slightly to €5,000 in 2026 (from €6,000). Sumbe's homebred Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Belbek is also at €5,000, having started out at €7,000 in 2024. By Showcasing, he is out of the Makfi mare Bee Queen, herself a granddaughter of the brilliant Banks Hill. He has covered 64 and 47 mares in his first two seasons, but we've seen stallions prosper from less auspicious starts from that and it will be no surprise to see him popping up with some earlyish juvenile winners in France. This could also be true of Angel Bleu, who stands alongside him at €6,000 in 2026, down from €9,000 two years ago. By Dark Angel out of a full-sister to Highland Reel, he was a smart two-year-old himself, winning the G2 Vintage Stakes, G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International back to back, along with the G2 Celebration Mile at four. Culworth Grounds Farm will be hoping that lightning can strike twice when it comes to sons of Havana Gold. After the success of Whitsbury Manor Stud's Havana Grey, Sophie Buckley recruited the Whitsbury Manor-bred El Caballo to stand as her first stallion. The winner of the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes, he has had a decent level of support, covering 90 then 102 mares, from €6,000 in his first year, then €5,000, with a drop to €4,000 planned for 2026. Second covering season There is only one son of champion sire Night Of Thunder at stud so far. That will surely change, but Isaac Shelby was the first, retiring to Newsells Park Stud in 2025 at £7,000, and there he remains for the new year after covering 96 mares. The hardy Go Bears Go, who won the G2 Railway Stakes and is a member of the same family as Benbatl, who has made a positive start with his first runners in Japan, joined Oak Lodge Stud in 2025. From €8,000, the son of Kodi Bear is now at €6,000 for 2026 having covered 87 mares in his first book. Sakheer was a new arrival at Ballyhane Stud in 2025, and he has now been joined there by the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Magnum Force. The G2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Sakheer, by Zoffany, who covered 120 mares this year, is down slightly to €5,500 (from €6,500) while Magnum Force, who is one of nine top-level winners by Mehmas, is being launched at €7,500. New for 2026 What we do know about stallions in their first year at stud is that they are invariably more popular than they will be in the ensuing three years at least. Assessing which of these offer value to breeders is nigh on impossible until we start to see how well their offspring are received at the sales and, far more importantly, how well they race. We've already mentioned Tribalist and Magnum Force above, and they are joined by a numerically strong intake for 2026. That pair, along with these names below, are standing at an accessible level for smaller breeders and one of them could even end up being the next Wootton Bassett or Havana Grey. The question is: which one will it be? Jaber Abdullah's Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi led to a relocation for his sire Muhaarar, who had left Shadwell to join Haras des Faunes in the south-west of France but was then brought to Normandy, first to Haras de Petit Tellier, and now Haras de Montaigu. Marhaba Ya Sanafi is himself one of six stallions at Haras de Castillon, where he is advertised at €6,000. He has never quite recaptured the signature success of his Classic win, but he's a hardy so-and-so, who has reaped further wins at Group 3 and Listed level and has been placed umpteen times in his 25 starts. Also new to France is Beauvatier, by Lope De Vega, whose six wins include the G2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket, while he has multiple placings at Group 1 level. He joins the Etreham roster at €7,000. Topgear is the fifth son of Wootton Bassett to retire to stud in Europe this year, and his race record bears marked similarity to that of Beauvatier as he also won the Challenge Stakes along with three Group 3s in France. He has been introduced at Capital Stud at a fee of €7,500. In Britain, the newcomers at this level include Royal Scotsman, who marks a new chapter in the history of Genesis Green Stud. The G1 Richmond Stakes winner and G1 Dewhurst runner-up is, as his name suggests, by Gleneagles, and starts off at £6,000. The G2 Flying Childers Stakes winner Aesterius, by Mehmas, joins the aforementioned Washington DC and Dream Ahead on the roster at Bearstone Stud for an introductory £6,500. Value Sires Podium GOLD Rajasinghe, National Stud, £3,000 You could have used him for free last year but this is still great value for a stallion who, from limited means, has proved he can get a hard-knocking racehorse. SILVER King Of Change, Starfield Stud, €5,000 Yes, we'd like to see some Group winners filtering through next year but 40 per cent winners to runners and 13.33 per cent black-type winners to runners in 2025 is not to be sniffed at for a stallion at this price. BRONZE Erevann, Haras de Bonneval, €8,000 It is risky to back a stallion before he has had runners but Erevann has plenty going for him and this may well look a good deal in the years to come. The post Value Sires 2026 Part IV: Bargains To Be Found appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Caspar Fownes snatched the lead back in the trainers’ championship with a double at Happy Valley as Maxime Guyon and Me Tsui Yu-sak continued their hot form with braces of their own on Tuesday night. Tied on 25 wins with Mark Newnham but trailing the Australian on seconds before Tuesday night, Fownes took the outright lead when he teamed up with stable apprentice Ellis Wong Chi-wang to strike with Sugar Sugar and Kaholo Angel. The latter sealed Fownes’ brace in dramatic style, sharing the...View the full article

The Thoroughbred Racing Initiative, in conjunction with the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, has released results of a feasibility study seeking to identify lasting solutions for Florida racing. “No successful project's planning begins without a feasibility study,” said TRI Vice President Jon Green, the study's point person. “We appreciate that people want to hear, 'This is what we're going to do to.' But we can't get there without starting here with clear-eyed research by independent experts identifying locations for discussion and various economic models with cost analysis and pros and cons based on a myriad of factors. That's what we're excited to announce today, the framework that allows us to concentrate our focus as we start meeting with industry stakeholders, lawmakers, civic leaders and, obviously, the current property ownership of potential sites. We promised the Florida legislature we didn't want to just defeat decoupling, but that we'd bring viable solutions to enable the industry and its role as an economic and tourism engine to thrive in the decades to come for the benefit of all Floridians.” The study, produced by Crossroads Consulting Services of St. Petersburg, Florida, in conjunction with the architectural design firm Populous, reviewed possible long-term racing sites in the state, as well as ownership and operating models. Among the sites studied were Gulfstream Park, Hialeah Park–both as a year-round site and as a winter ship-in option, Tampa Bay Downs, as well as a hypothetical new racing operation. The study provided preliminary budgets to upgrade each facility with a baseline requirement of a one-mile dirt track, seven-furlong turf course with movable rail, 3,000-capacity grandstand and apron, large infield board, receiving and test barns, veterinary and claiming facilities, about 1,400 stalls and necessary backstretch support and parking. Gulfstream Park was found to meet or exceed those criteria, while upgrading Hialeah for year-round racing had a preliminary budget of $89.95 million and for a winter ship-in option of $50.65 million. Upgrades at Tampa Bay Downs had a preliminary budget of $44.40 million, while a new site had an estimated budget of $194.80 million, not including land acquisition costs. The ownership and operating models studied included non-profit racing association, such as Keeneland and Del Mar, which would be governed by industry stakeholders and independent directors, with all net revenues reinvested into purses, incentives and facilities; public benefit corporation or state-charted quasi-public authority, such as the New York Racing Association, that would manage racing as a public good, balancing accountability and transparency with direct access to appropriations and potential bonding authority; horsemen's cooperative or FHBPA/Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA)-led entity with ownership and governance resting with horsemen and breeders through a cooperative framework; and strategic partnership with a major racing or gaming operator under a management or joint-venture agreement, leveraging national expertise, capital and customer reach while retaining local representation in governance. “The stakes are too high not to do our due diligence,” said TRI Senior Advisor Damon Thayer. “We now have analysis to best evaluate strategic options and opportunities to strengthen the Thoroughbred industry's economic base.” The post TRI, Florida HBPA Feasibility Study First Step to Long-Term Florida Racing Solutions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

It's been more than 40 years since jockey-turned-trainer Jose Corrales left his native Panama to try to build a career for himself in the U.S. But he still stays in touch with the Panamanian racing community and when he heard that there was a teenager who was receiving rave reviews at the Laffit Pincay Jr. Technical Jockey Training Academy in Panama, he couldn't wait to bring him to his base in Maryland. And Corrales told anyone who would listen that the young rider, Yedsit Hazlewood, wasn't just going to do well at Laurel and Pimlico, but would prove to everyone that he had the skills to eventually become one of the top riders in the sport. So far, everything he has predicted has come true. Just 17, Hazlewood is dominating the current meet at Laurel. He leads all riders with 64 wins, 30 more than runner-up Jevian Toledo, who rides for the powerful Brittany Russell stable. He is winning at a 23% clip and, during his brief career, has already won four stakes races. Then there's the streak. For 23 straight race days during which he rode at Laurel between Oct. 31 and Dec. 20, he earned at least one victory on each card. “I told him you can come to me,” said Corrales, who is not only his mentor but also his legal guardian. “I will teach you everything and we will get you ready to ride. I told everybody this kid is going to make it. I told him that the only thing that can keep you from making it is you. But if you want it, don't stop because I will get you to where you want to go.” Hazlewood, who still struggles with his English, actually came to Corrales when he was 16. It was decided that before he accepted his first mount he would gallop horses at the training center in Fair Hill, Maryland. Corrales watched closely, offered some tips and helped to put on the finishing touches. When Hazlewood turned 17, Corrales had him take out his jockey's license, and he made his debut on Mar. 21 at Laurel. He lost with his first 12 mounts, but then scored victories with three of his next four riding assignments. He appeared to be well on his way to the stardom that Corrales was so sure he would achieve. But he almost tossed it all away one night in June. Hazlewood gathered some friends, and they decided to take a road trip to New York. It wasn't to go to Belmont Park to gallop horses, but to enjoy the Big Apple. Corrales warned his protege that it was a bad idea. “I told him, no, don't go,” he said. “This is a business–you have to stay here and work.” On the way back to Maryland, the car that Hazlewood was riding in got into an accident and the young jockey broke his wrist and had to undergo surgery. He did not ride between June 8 and Aug. 14. “He was almost done,” Corrales said. “He had to have surgery on his wrist, but he's a young kid and he healed fast. I told him that this could have been a lot worse. I said to him, 'I hope you understand that God has given you another opportunity in your life because you could have died in that car accident.'” While Corrales has done his best to put Hazlewood on winners, his main client has become Gary Capuano. The two have forged a remarkable record together, as Hazlewood has won with 33 of the 74 mounts he has accepted for Capuano, good for a winning rate of 45%. “He showed a lot of talent right from the start,” Capuano said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He rides with a lot of confidence, he rides hard, and he's a pretty smart kid. He keeps the horses out of trouble and gets good trips. He's just a really good up-and-coming apprentice rider. I pinch myself every day because this year has been amazing. I have a lot of really nice 2-year-olds in the barn and Yedsit has ridden most of them. Every time we go out there it seems like the combination is really working. It's hard to explain. Things are just clicking. I've had a fantastic year and he's been a big part of it.” Corrales predicted from the very start that Hazlewood would win the Eclipse Award as the outstanding apprentice of the year. While he is in the running, that might be hard to pull off. Canadian apprentice sensation Pietro Moran has earned about $2.3 million more than Hazlewood and also won his country's Kentucky Derby, the King's Plate. But Hazlewood, his agent John DiNatale, and Corrales have their eyes set on bigger goals. Hazlewood, who is now also riding regularly at Parx, won his first race in New York on Nov. 8. Corrales said New York trainers have reached out to him and asked that Hazlewood come to Aqueduct more often. When will he make the full-time jump to New York or, perhaps, Kentucky? “It's getting closer,” Corrales said. “I don't know how long it's going to be, but it's getting closer. He's getting a lot of offers already. We just have to wait for the right time to say go.” Corrales realizes it won't be easy to conquer a bigger circuit, but when it comes to his rider, there is no shortage of confidence. He believes it's only a matter of time until he is one of the top riders in the sport. “He's going to make it,” Corrales said. “He's going right to the top. The Maryland circuit has produced a number of young riders who went on to have Hall-of-Fame careers, a list that includes Chris McCarron, Kent Desormeaux, Edgar Prado, and Ramon Dominguez. “He is on the same path as those guys,” Capuano said. “It may even be that he started out stronger than some of them. Maryland has always had a lot of apprentice riders who have done extremely well and have gone on to do big things in their careers. If he keeps improving the way he has, it's easy to believe that he's going to be someone who is really, really good.” Corrales has mentored other young jockeys. He said that he was the one who discovered Walter Rodriguez, a native of El Salvador, who is currently the leading rider at Turfway Park. He is proud of all of his pupils. “I always liked the movie the Karate Kid, and they said that Mr. Miyagi was a good teacher,” Corrales said. “But Mr. Miyagi said that in order to be a good teacher, you have to have good students. Yedsit is a good student.” The post Apprentice Hazlewood Dominating Maryland Circuit , Has Bright Future appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Dollars & Sense with Frank AngstView the full article

Chris Wood acknowledges his emerging three-year-old That’s Gold (Lucky Vega) will have a fight on his hands in the Gr. 2 Jimmy Schick Shaw’s Auckland Guineas (1400m), but he’s still taking a positive approach to the Boxing Day challenge. The Ellerslie feature is dominated by unbeaten filly Well Written, who heads the TAB final field market at $1.35 with course specialist Affirmative Action at $4.20, while That’s Gold, chasing a hat-trick after his last-start win in the Gr. 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), is the $16 fourth favourite. “This is pretty much a benchmark race up against horses like Well Written and Affirmative Action, but I’m happy to see him there,” Wood said on Tuesday. “I’ve always liked him, he’s one of those horses you hang your hat on and I expected him to win a race at two, but he had a good break and came out and won his maiden then stepped up and won the Bonecrusher. “I always knew he had something under the bonnet and it’s very satisfying when a horse that you rate delivers.” While Wood is realistic about the winning chances of That’s Gold, the $270,000 stake on offer in the Auckland Guineas is still very attractive. “Even allowing for the two standouts, I’m surprised it’s only an eight-horse field with such a good stake that pays decent money past the main placings. “Mind you, you could say the same about some of the other races on the card. Take the Pearl Series race with just seven starters for 90 grand – I know if I had a mare I thought was good enough she’d be there.” Beyond this assignment, Wood will have to explore his options with That’s Gold, who being Australian-bred and purchased, is ineligible for the Karaka Millions 3YO and NZB Kiwi. “I got Paul Moroney to find me a nice yearling in Melbourne and he came up with this guy at a typical P Moroney bargain price, around $57,000 from memory. “Once again Paul has proven what a good judge of a horse he is.” That’s Gold has yet to win past 1400m, but his trainer is keeping an open mind as to his future over longer distances, with the long-term option the Gr. 1 Trackside New Zealand Derby (2400m) on the same Ellerslie programme as the NZB Kiwi in March. “He’s got a sprinter’s pedigree, but the way he relaxes and finishes his races off, I can’t see why he wouldn’t run a trip, so the idea heading into the New Year will be to press on as far as I can with him.” Interestingly from a pedigree perspective, Boxing Day will mark the 39th anniversary of the New Zealand Derby win by Tidal Light, who features as That’s Gold’s fifth dam. From unraced maiden as a spring three-year-old, the Jim Gibbs and Roger James-trained filly swept all before her – bar second place in the New Zealand 1000 Guineas – capped by victory in the Ellerslie classic, which back in 1986 was contested on Boxing Day. In the autumn she downed the country’s best weight-for-age horses in the Gr. 1 Air New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie and added the Gr. 1 Canterbury Guineas (2000m) in Sydney, after which she claimed the New Zealand Horse of the Year title. “I was aware that Tidal Light figured in my horse’s pedigree and it’s interesting that she performed well at shorter distances before stepping up over ground, so that’s further food for thought,” Wood said. The Cambridge trainer, who transitioned from successful jumps jockey to training in the late 1980s, has a notable milestone beckoning, with his tally of New Zealand wins standing at 498. “I also trained close to 80 winners when I had a stable in Australia but it would be special to get to 500 in New Zealand, especially when I’ve never had a big team” he said. As well as That’s Gold, other Wood-trained prospects with the potential to aid the cause over the holiday racing period include Emmy Dazzler and What A Yarn in support races on Boxing Day, along with You Say D’Orsay and Watch Me Go at Taupo on Sunday. New Zealand Cup placegetter Canheroc is also penciled in for the Gr. 3 Queen Elizabeth ll Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day. View the full article

Promising two-year-old Ka Ron (NZ) (Hello Youmzain) was unfortunate not to have made the perfect start to his career and will have the opportunity on Boxing Day to make amends. The Allan Sharrock-trained youngster was narrowly beaten on debut and will bid to go one better in the SkyCity 2YO (1100m) at Ellerslie and in the process book a return for a far more lucrative prize at northern headquarters. Ka Ron currently sits in 15th spot in order of entry to the Karaka Millions (1200m) to be run for $1 million purse on January 24. “He should probably have won first-up at Otaki, he was green and only just got beaten,” Sharrock said. “He’s one of those sleepers and just keeps getting better and better, other than Johno Benner’s horse (De Armas) there’s no stand-out for the Millions I don’t think. “He’s quite a dude, very laid back and we snipped him out of Book One and his half-brother by Grunt (The All Out) won his first two starts in Hong Kong.” By Hello Youmzain, Ka Ron was purchased from Cambridge Stud’s draft at Karaka for $40,000 and is out of the Savabeel mare Sistabeel who won four times up to 1200m. Ka Ron will be accompanied north by quality mare Loch In Ora (NZ) (Pierro), who returns from injury in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1400m). “She is a good horse and it’s a nice kick-off point for her,” Sharrock said. “She got black type last prep and then cracked a canon bone and that’s why she’s had such a break between races.” The Pierro six-year-old has won five of her 10 starts and finished third in the Gr.3 Taranaki Cup (1800m) and hasn’t run since fifth in the Listed Kaimai Stakes (2000m) in February. “She’s done plenty of work and I expect her race really, really well up there,” Sharrock said. He will also have three strong chances at Otaki on Friday with Bridal Train (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) in the Otaki Tyre Repairs Handicap (1600m), Belle Tribute (NZ) (Contributer) resumes in the Cavallo Farms & Chris Rutten Bloodstock Handicap (1400m) and Tullamore Dew (NZ) (Darci Brahma) in the fastinternet.nz Handicap (1200m). “I think Bridal Train will give them all they want off the minimum (54kg) in the Open, its not normally something I do but I think it’s the right race for her,” Sharrock said. “She’ll end up in the Taranaki Cup or the Wairarapa Breeders’ Stakes (Listed, 1600m). “Bella Tribute is kicking off, and she has had enough jump-outs to be competitive, she’s got a bit of quality.” Successful in three of her nine starts she is a half-sister by Contributor to Sharrock’s multiple Group winners Tavi Mac and Darci La Bella. Tullamore Dew will be back on track following a break after the Darci Brahma mare was a smart debut winner at Hawera in the autumn. “It’s my favourite scotch, I wouldn’t waste the name on a slow horse. She’s a good mare and no surprise she won first time out,” Sharrock said. View the full article

Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are hoping a return to the right-handed way of going will help Qali Al Farrasha (NZ) (Almanzor) bounce back to winning form at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. The homebred mare was eye-catching when winning the Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) in that direction at Pukekohe fresh-up last month, but failed to flatter when a beaten favourite in the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa earlier this month. Bergerson admitted to being perplexed by her subpar showing but has been pleased with her subsequent work and is hopeful of a bold showing against a strong line-up in Friday’s Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m). “She was a bit of a headscratcher last time, beaten a short-priced favourite,” Bergerson said. “We think she may be a bit better suited to right-handed, that is the only thing we could put it down to. Opie (Bosson, jockey) gave her a lovely run and she was just a bit flat there up the straight. “We freshened her post the first two legs of the triple crown and maybe Pukekohe, with the turnaround, took the edge off her a little bit heading into Te Rapa. “Her work has been really good since and she gets back to Ellerslie where she normally runs really well. We think up to 2000m suits with a reasonably nice barrier (4), and we are hoping she can bounce back to a bit of form in what has come up as a pretty strong field.” Stablemate He Who Dares (NZ) (Snitzel) also faces a stiff task against a small but select field in the Gr.2 Jimmy Schick Shaw’s Auckland Guineas (1400m), where he will be met by unbeaten Group One-winning filly Well Written and Group One performer Affirmative Action. “It is light on numbers, but with Affirmative Action and Well Written there it is certainly not easy,” Bergerson said. The son of Snitzel was fifth last start in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton last month and following a freshen-up he finished fourth behind Group One-winning sprinter Crocetti in a 1100m trial at Matamata last Friday. “He trialled really well at Matamata, he has really bounced back from his trip to Riccarton, he has come back from a freshen-up in really good order,” Bergerson said. “I thought his trial was really good, he has come through it really well. It is a little bit of a sticky gate (7), which I think we will roll forward from.” Impressive last start maiden winner Stella Ma Bella (NZ) (Contributer) will step-up to stakes company on Friday in the Gr.2 Hallmark Stud Eight Carat Classic (1600m), where she will carry the colours of owner-breeder Simms Davison of Mapperley Stud. “She is thrown in the deep end a little bit and has got to take that step up now, but she has gone the right way since (her last start win),” Bergerson said. “Richie’s (trainer Graham Richardson) filly (Lollapalooza) on paper looks the one to beat, but there are a couple of handy ones in there, so we will certainly know where we are at post-Friday. “We think she is up to it and I am looking forward to a really good opportunity at black-type for Simms and the team, and hopefully she can run really well.” On the undercard, juvenile gelding Out Of The Blue (NZ) (Tivaci) will put his unbeaten record on the line when he makes his North Island debut in the SkyCity 1100. The son of Tivaci won both of his starts out of Te Akau’s Riccarton barn, and readied for Friday’s assignment with an 800m trial at Avondale last week. “We gave him a trial last week just to tick him over, he was quite fierce in behind them,” Bergerson said. “The barrier (10) makes it really hard. He should roll forward from there and he should give a good sight for a long way. “He has got to step up to the North Island grade now. There are some really interesting runners in that race, it is hard to line it all up, but he is in really good form here at home and I am looking forward to Friday with him.” Meanwhile, Group Two performer Dream Of The Moon (All Too Hard) will resume in the Barfoot & Thompson 1200. She had a pleasing three-year-old season last term, winning two and runner-up in two of her six starts, including victory in the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m) and placings in the Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m) and Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m). She has had a slow build-up this season, having four trials prior to her season debut, and Bergerson his hopeful of a bold showing first-up. “I am excited to see her back at the races,” he said. “1200m might be a bit sharp in that field, but she has drawn barrier one and she is mapped to get a good run. “She had a quiet, tick over trial here (Matamata) on Friday and she was good through the line. “She is a very talented mare on her day and she should run a really cheeky race.” View the full article

On the Dec. 22 episode of BloodHorse Monday: Cary Simon on how special Mink's Palace is to her family's Summerhill Farm, Erin Halliwell on Thoroughbred Charities of America's mission, and we select Santa's team of racehorses to pull his sleigh.View the full article

The Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Thoroughbred Owners of California, and Kentucky Thoroughbred Association review proposed rule changes submitted by HISA and HIWU to the Federal Trade Commission. View the full article

The Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Thoroughbred Owners of California, and Kentucky Thoroughbred Association review proposed rule changes submitted by HISA and HIWU to the Federal Trade Commission. View the full article

Damon Thayer and Liza Hendricks have been named to the board of directors of Amplify Horse Racing, the organization announced Monday. “Since leaving the Kentucky Senate last year, I have been looking for a way to give back to the racing industry that I am passionate about,” Thayer said. “Amplify Horse Racing's mission is much-needed and worthy of support, and I am honored to have been asked to join the board and look forward to working with the team to connect young people to careers in the industry.” Hendricks founded Wanamaker's, one of the first online Thoroughbred auction platforms in the U.S., which was acquired by Inglis in 2024, and she now serves on the Board of Inglis Digital USA. “The future of Thoroughbred racing depends on our ability to engage, educate, and inspire the next generation,” Hendriks said. “Amplify is doing that work in a meaningful, modern way, and I'm excited to contribute my experience to help grow its impact.” Amplify Horse Racing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that connects youth and young adults to education and career pathways in the Thoroughbred industry through classroom education, mentorship programming, and immersive experiences. For more information about Amplify, visit www.amplifyhorseracing.org. The post Thayer, Hendriks Appointed to Amplify Board appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Tough at the top? Try the view from the base of the pyramid, where we begin our quest for value among sires already at stud in Kentucky. We have dealt with the rookies separately, as a case apart. But while many of those standing at four figures are also younger horses, essentially unproven, their commercial luster has already faded. As we keep noting, the claim that new sires represent your only chance of catching the next Into Mischief falls apart when the same horses are abandoned precisely as they are about to reveal their prowess. Into Mischief himself only dipped into this bottom tier, with a career low fee of $7,500, for his third and fourth seasons. In principle, then, all we need is the courage of our convictions. The trouble is that the horses languishing at this level may never get adequate traction to prove you right or wrong. After all, it can feel like a false economy to skimp on fees, when the ensuing costs of keep and prep will be essentially the same for a foal by Gun Runner. As a result, it becomes harder and harder to recommend horses already slithering down the scree of the marketplace. Yes, they may have been unfairly judged, and yes, we might yet be rewarded for our fidelity by breeding a nice runner. But the numbers, in the end, will see them crushed. Nonetheless, we must try to find one or two that might turn the tanker round. We can also highlight a few that have at least put “hoofs on the ground,” in the winner's circle. These range from horses whose first juveniles have shown promise, to one or two veterans whose resume is such that they could even prove a mare at a bargain rate. The latter is admittedly a narrow category, comprising stalwarts that have carved out a viable niche in the Bluegrass without ever cracking the commercial code. And it has actually lost a couple of excellent options to regional programs over the past year: Collected to California, and Cross Traffic to Virginia. But THE FACTOR is certainly a high achiever to find trading at just $5,000, his fourth consecutive cut from $17,500 in 2022. Few breeders appear to have responded, his typical book seemingly stuck in the 30s, and he is close to commercial irrelevance as he turns 18. In fact, he only had three yearlings offered at auction in 2025. But end users will know that he has turned out a total of 45 stakes winners, at 5% of named foals, just a tick short of the ratio achieved by stallions as expensive as Nyquist, Good Magic or Practical Joke. In fairness, these elevate themselves with a far superior impact at a higher level, but if you simply want to put a winner under your mare, The Factor stands alone in Kentucky with a stellar 68% of named foals finding their way to the winner's circle. Another with 5% black-type winners, to named foals, is TAKE CHARGE INDY. From limited opportunity, he seldom lets his noble family down and it was characteristic of his work for the $60,000 yearling Take Charge Milady to emerge as a dual stakes winner/Grade I runner-up this year, while Indy Bay, even cheaper at $19,000, won the GII Charles Town Oaks. Very solid at $7,500, and likewise JIMMY CREED, that dependable source of one-turn action. Horses like this pay their way on the racetrack, which is just how things are supposed to be. And you can see MO TOWN ending up in a pretty similar place after another year of understated achievement, his eight stakes winners including a couple at Grade II level in Mystic Lake and Classic Mo Town. Still only 12, he covered 99 mares last spring and if his commercial profile is by now limited, at $7,500 he certainly measures up in terms of what should be the most important service provided by any stallion. Divisidero | EquiSport DIVISIDERO is now being virtually given away at just $3,500, having never really been given the chance he deserved. He's typical of the wholesome goods–sound and classy on the track, from one of the great families–that can't get past the fast-buck, herd mentality of commercial breeding. Fact is, he's had a couple of stakes winners from a grand total of 36 starters across three crops, so hopefully he could yet produce a fairytale for somebody out there who can only run to a sheaf of banknotes, wrapped in an elastic band, to cover a cherished mare. In the following intake, COUNTRY HOUSE is also being overlooked because of a tiny footprint. His debut crop of juveniles unsurprisingly made little impact (six winners from 15 starters), but with maturity and a second turn they have hinted that this grievously underrated runner is again punching above weight at $5,000. His 16 individual winners this year come from just 25 starters, and no fewer than half a dozen have been placed in black-type company, including Churchill stakes winner Bridle a Butterfly. As for those “bubble” stallions now at their most vulnerable, their books and fees sliding as their first runners approach the gate, the hour is at hand for fidelity to be rewarded. GREATEST HONOUR didn't really pass his first test at the sales, but at $7,500 that doesn't disqualify his stock from getting to work with the tremendous genes that underpinned those glimpses of racetrack brilliance. He has significant numbers behind him, and his book held up well even last spring, at 74. One who has really nailed it so far is MYSTIC GUIDE, at $7,500 somehow trading at half his opening fee despite processing 55 of 62 yearlings at $62,737 and entertaining another full book last spring. Himself hardly precocious, typical of a son of Ghostzapper, he may not have many sprint maiden winners at Keeneland next April. But he has a fine pedigree and, with that loaded pipeline, looks in an extremely strong position to justify perseverance now. HIGHLY MOTIVATED, at the same fee, made only a steady sales debut, but I retain the highest hopes for this Into Mischief half-brother to two Grade I winners. He had speed to burn, breaking the Keeneland track record as a juvenile with a 96 Beyer, and is one to watch in the freshman tables. Of course, he will be up against rivals with ludicrous volume behind them. But hopefully by this stage people know to judge merit by ratios rather than mere accumulation. On those terms, he remains a confident choice to shine with his first juveniles, and time may show that this was the moment–just as it was with his sire–to double down on Highly Motivated. That can only be guesswork, of course, as it must be for all of us. So we'll reserve the podium for horses that have at least put some horses through the gate. Apologies, in the meantime, to the many worthy animals that remain overlooked. This series is only ever a single, subjective opinion on paper values. Only you know the size and shape of your mare, and her performance strengths–complementing which should be the starting point for every mating. VALUE PODIUM BRONZE THOUSAND WORDS Pioneerof the Nile–Pomeroys Pistol (Pomeroy) Spendthrift $7,500 On the face of it, rather a surprise to find this fellow slipping within reach from $12,500 last year. That's doubtless a reflection of a pedestrian yield for his latest yearlings, but those emerged from a crop of just 34 live foals preceding the big impression made by his first juveniles last year. Nor has it helped his cause that his fertility has been a little ordinary, but this fee amply compensates for any such bumps on the road. Thousand Words has so far assembled eight stakes winners from 136 starters in his first two crops, including the $2,500 yearling Vodka With a Twist, a GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up whose latest near miss in graded company was by just a head in the GII Raven Run Stakes. That leaves GII Davona Dale Stakes winner The Queens M G as his solitary graded winner to date, well worth the extra outlay as a $3,500 yearling! His own physique qualified him as a $1-million yearling and his family has continued to flourish, with his half-sister producing the Grade I scorer Faiza (Girvin). They are out of the most proficient mare by Pomeroy, multiple GSW/dual Grade I runner-up Pomeroys Pistol, so this early success not hard to explain. Thousand Words having quickly established an ability to pass on his own precocity–The Queens M G broke her maiden on debut at the Keeneland spring meet before adding both the Schuylerville and GIII Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga–there will surely remain plenty of commercial breeders willing to get involved at a fee like this. The Queens M G | Sarah Andrew SILVER HONOR A.P. Honor Code–Hollywood Story (Wild Rush) Lane's End $7,500 It must be conceded that this horse finds himself at a crossroads. He has been underrated throughout, first as a runner and now as a sire. He didn't always make life easy for himself on the track, but the one time they had a clear sight of each other, he gave the Horse of the Year an unequivocal beating. Now he requires our indulgence once again, because he really doesn't have the numbers behind him (just 19 mares last spring, poor chap) to capitalize on a quietly productive start at stud. But that's the whole conundrum of “value.” Honor A.P. has now been clipped to half his opening fee, which was itself tremendously generous, despite giving every indication that he can replicate his quality with seven black-type scorers from 94 starters. Among second-crop sires in Kentucky only Vekoma (6.6%) and Complexity (6.5%) can beat Honor A.P.'s 5.9% stakes winners to named foals. That's well ahead of Tiz the Law and McKinzie, who are rightly lauded for their superior depth in the best company, but who also benefited from far greater opportunity. Honor A.P. has always had glamor. He was an $850,000 yearling out of a dual Grade I winner. And from limited chances he is producing some pretty flashy talent: Grade II winner Margie's Intention; a son beaten a nose in the G2 UAE Derby; and two of the summer's most impressive juvenile stake winners in Romeo (Bashford Manor) and runaway Saratoga scorer A.P. Kid. His second crop was further decorated a few days ago by the four-length Oaklawn stakes success of Counting Stars, so there's a surprising level of speed and precocity emerging from just 55 foals born in 2023. His own template suggests that there can only be more to come, and actually the handful of yearlings that found their way to auction this year maintained a degree of allure (one brought $195,000). So while Honor A.P. may call for a degree of courage, in the world we live in, he has surely earned our perseverance. Honor A.P. | Horsephotos GOLD BEAU LIAM Liam's Map–Belle of Perintown (Dehere) Airdrie $7,500 In contrast with the horse below him on the podium, this one is pressing all the right commercial buttons. We have barely glimpsed what he can do, Beau Liam having launched his first runners only this year. But 22 of them have won, a tally exceeded only by class leader Yaupon–who has fielded 82 starters for his 30 winners, compared with 54 to date for Beau Liam. The word was out by last spring, when Beau Liam covered 94 mares, up from 38 the previous year. And with two stakes winners by July, plus juvenile sales up to $300,000, Beau Liam saw plenty of demand for the few members of his second crop to make it to auction. Ten sold (of a dozen offered) for an average $132,300. Some yield, for a $6,000 conception fee! And an absolute object lesson, in terms of what I keep saying about keeping the faith with bubble sires. If your judgement is right, the time you're really going to get paid is when everyone else has nervously sidled away. The highlight of this knockout return to the sales (had batted a rock-solid $53k with his first crop) was a $525,000 colt at the September Sale. He was out of a $17,000 mare. This, in other words, could be exactly the kind of stallion that commercial breeders of modest means are always looking for. On the track, Beau Liam was a true meteor, bright but brief, derailing on his fourth start after three explosive wins. No horse in history has broken his maiden in a faster time over six furlongs at Churchill. He clocked a 106 Beyer on his second start, beaten only by Jackie's Warrior (107) among 2021 sophomores at seven furlongs and he then eked out a 107 of his own, romping over 6 1/2 furlongs at the Spa. His half-sister is the graded stakes-winning granddam of this year's turf star Fionn (Twirling Candy) and they are out of a GII Silverbulletday Stakes winner, whose own granddam had won the GI Fantasy Stakes. Everything is in place, then. Above all, Beau Liam stands at one of the very last farms that protects its clients from catalogue inundation while still giving them every chance at the fee. Many of those clients will have feared that they had missed the boat with this horse at $6,000. They will be pleasantly astonished to be able to get aboard at such a marginal increase. The trajectory may well get steeper from here. The post Kentucky Value Sires for 2026, Part 2: Sires Under $10k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

During the Second World War, in the early years of what has grown into a world-renowned breeding operation, the Aga Khan III leased Barton Stud, not far outside Newmarket, where his resident stallions included Dastur and Umidwar. It is a link that echoes in Barton's new recruit, Scorthy Champ, whose arrival sees a return to the stallion business for the farm owned for exactly a century by the Broughton family and run by Tom Blain. Skip back four generations in Scorthy Champ's female line and you will find the name Sharamana, a Darshaan half-sister to Shergar, who was of course bred by the Aga Khan Studs and won the G3 Prix Minerve. (In fact, nine generations back you'll also find the aforementioned 1934 Champion Stakes winner Umidwar.) Along the way, Herbertstown Stud bought Sharamana's daughter Sharafanya and bred from her the Noverre mare Ceist Eile, who in turn produced Scorthy Champ's dam Fidaaha, bred by Jim Bolger. Noble lineage aside, it would have been a bit of a stretch to make a case for Fidaaha's entry to stud on the back of her ordinary race record. But the 46-rated daughter of New Approach had been a €200,000 Goffs Orby yearling when sold by Bolger's Redmondstown Stud, and Tally-Ho Stud took a chance on her at €15,000 when put back through the ring two years later. Add several sprinklings of magic Mehmas dust and sure enough Fidaaha has proved to be quite the dab hand at producing black-type winners. First came Malavath, winner of the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte and half a length behind Pizza Bianca when second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She was later bought for €3.2m by Moyglare Stud, having started out as a £29,000 yearling. Her full-brother Knight then proved that this was no fluke by winning his first two starts, including the G3 Horris Hill Stakes, and later finishing second to Angel Bleu in the G2 Celebration Mile. Scorthy Champ, Fidaaha's fourth foal, also by Mehmas, is her first at the highest level. He won the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes on just his third start for Joseph O'Brien, beating subsequent G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Henri Matisse, having been third behind that same colt in the G2 Futurity Stakes. Scorthy Champ, who raced in the purple and gold colours also carried by the Wexford GAA team, raced for Rectory Road Holdings Ltd, Barry Fowler and Annemarie O'Brien, and the O'Briens will remain supporters of his at stud. “He's a horse that we've been following for a couple of years. He was obviously an incredibly good two-year-old, he won the National Stakes, but I never thought we'd get him because, being a new stallion operation, I just thought he was going to be too good,” explains Tom Blain, who is now leasing the entire 300-acre Barton Stud and does not hide his delight at being able to add a stallion element to what is already a thriving boarding farm and sales consigning business. “It was only towards the end of this year, after speaking with Joseph, that we realised that there probably was a deal to be done. There were a number of other people interested, but Joseph was very helpful in helping us get the horse and was very keen to support us.” In more recent years, Night Shift stood at Barton before joining Coolmore, and Sir Philip Oppenheimer's Most Welcome was also in residence, but still two decades have passed since then, and with Blain's more commercially-focused tenure of the farm close to Bury St Edmunds, returning to the stallion market was, he says, “the obvious next step”. “Barton's got a rich history of standing stallions and I've been running the stud for 13 years. Ever since I first came here, it became apparent to me that we could do it, and it's something I've always wanted to do. It's taken me 10 years or so to build the business up, we've got the consigning, we've got a great team of clients here that support us, we've got amazing mares,” he says. “We've looked really hard [for a stallion]. We've looked at a lot of horses, we've travelled all over the place – France a number of times. We haven't got the big budgets of some places but we're starting and it's something that I want to do more of, so it's a good beginning.” It has been a good year on the track for horses bred at Barton, led by the Group/Grade 1 winners Ciecero's Gift and Choisya, bred respectively by Fiona Williams and Rabbah Bloodstock. “I've been blown away by the clients that we do have,” says Blain, who has since 2017 served on the board of trustees of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA). “The support that they've already shown, they've all sort of jumped in behind this horse. I feel very lucky in that regard. A lot of the clients have become my friends and they've seen the progression of the business. It means a lot that they're coming in and supporting us.” He continues, “I started off breeding from one mare. I know how hard it is, it's only getting harder. I just want to help British breeders do as well as they can and then we all do well. It's as simple as that. It is an industry that has its many struggles, but I'm an optimist, always have been.” The TBA chairman Philip Newton has warned frequently in the past year of the potential of a “catastrophic collapse” for British breeding in light of reduced foal crops and a falling number of breeders. Blain, while admitting that it is worrying when looking at the figures, says, “What I try to think is that the people who do the job well will survive and be good at it. And I think if you can mate your mares properly, and you look after the horses properly and you raise the horses properly, there is money to be made in this industry. “I think the people that don't do those things, they'll be the people that struggle first. Whether we can help everybody, I don't know. But certainly with my TBA hat on, I think what is encouraging is schemes like GBB [Great British Bonus] have been amazing. And you see as a consigner, as a breeder, they really help. So I do think we can find a solution. We have to work together, as everybody says.” Following a year in which only three Flat sires retired to stud in Britain, there is renewed optimism, with eight new recruits to the UK for 2026, including the G2 Richmond Stakes winner Royal Scotsman, who heralds the entrance of Genesis Green Stud to the stallion market. Though Barton has an important heritage in this field, for Blain, this is an exciting new venture, and the amenable and scopey Scorthy Champ is already playing his part well, even in the early weeks of his residency. “It means a lot to me. It means a lot to the team,” Blain says. “The day he arrived, it's a different feel to have a stallion with a stallion yard back open. I think it's how a stud should be run, especially a stud of our size. We've got loads of space. “I just want to knuckle down and give it our best shot, and to give him the best shot.” The post ‘The Obvious Next Step’: Barton Back in the Stallion Business with Scorthy Champ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Each Christmas, Kempton hosts the most important day of jump racing in the British calendar outside the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals. It's a racecourse synonymous with the great names of this sport – Kauto Star, Desert Orchid, Wayward Lad, One Man. Yet Friday's compelling edition of the King George VI Chase crouches under extinction's peak – and we've learned it's been huddled in that brace position for the past seven years due to the wilful actions of its owners, the Jockey Club. Most people thought any immediate threat to Kempton, caused by the Club putting the whole site forward for redevelopment to Spelthorne Borough Council in January 2017, had elapsed. That proposal was triggered by changes to Britain's national planning policy, enabling previously developed land to be considered within green-belt submissions. When news hit the press 11 months later that the site had been categorised as “strongly performing” in the green belt, bulldozers appeared stood down. Of course, we weren't naïve enough to imagine the subject wouldn't ever be raised again. We heard the persistent rumours. But we didn't realise the implosion could be inescapably sparked at any point in the subsequent decade via further favourable change to planning law. The Jockey Club had however already set the mechanism. Our misunderstanding was permitted to perpetuate. An announcement from then chief steward Sandy Dudgeon in February 2020 stated: “We have now put forward another option alongside the original full site for their consideration. This would involve just a proportion of the available land there and allow Jump and All-Weather Flat racing to continue.” (My underlining.) At the time, this news was received as the racecourse having been “saved”. This article in The Sun is typical. The Jockey Club would have seen how their statement was interpreted and did nothing to provide the full context, even though the words I've underlined – read with the understanding we now possess – implicitly acknowledged the original proposal remained live but dormant. Yet this wasn't known for a fact until June of this year, when exclusively revealed by the same newspaper's Jack Keene. External factors, initiated by a property company with no interest in the sport's future, will now determine whether – in its owner's words – this “highly profitable racecourse” will be consigned to history Despite the scale and intensity of outcry about Kempton's proposed sale in early 2017, the following September, the Jockey Club signed what amounts to a 12-year option with developers Redrow to build houses on all or part of the site. The obliteration of the racecourse can thereby be sparked at any time, in effect until 2030. When Dudgeon spoke, the Jockey Club believed the existing planning landscape allowed little hope for its original proposal. Viewed from our perspective, however, its 2020 announcement misleads by omission. External factors, initiated by a property company with no interest in the sport's future, will now determine whether – in its owner's words – this “highly profitable racecourse” will be consigned to history. And that's the element rightly angering so many. In the summer of 2022, still no version of the Kempton submissions appeared in Spelthorne's draft Local Plan. To this day local residential opposition endures. Yet the world is changed. Labour's manifesto included an ambition to build 1.5m homes in five years. Their planning and infrastructure bill received Royal assent last Thursday. Five-time King George winner Kauto Star and Ruby Walsh | Racingfotos Kempton's future seems likely to rest on what remains of local powers to object. Whilst Spelthorne Council reiterated its opposition to development on “strategically important green belt” in recent days, in April 2027 it will be submerged in the new West Surrey unitary authority. Policy change could easily follow. The terms of the agreement between the Jockey Club and Redrow would also need to be met. It is reasonable to surmise those T&Cs might have been updated since September 2018 – commonplace with such options – and not least since Labour won its landslide victory in July last year. A minimum-value clause would always have been necessary. It's not outlandish to suppose there was some sort of condition, at least originally, relating to guaranteed planning permission for a replacement all-weather track in Newmarket. The FAQs accompanying the original announcement stated the Club would “require” this proposed new racecourse “to be operational before racing stopped at Kempton Park”. It is surely therefore significant that “presentations to Jockey Club members and various racing stakeholders around the proposed new racecourse, which would be situated on the large expanse of land behind the grandstands at the Rowley Mile” were delivered in May, again according to Keene. This Newmarket-centric retrospective divide-and-conquer strategy is effective. Some Flat trainers based there welcomed their own future transport and staffing costs tumbling. No surprise therefore to witness British racing's most vocal and influential figures all quiet over there, despite the potential loss of a swathe of gallops and disruption while construction takes place. Meanwhile, if you're a Flat trainer based in the west or south, your costs conversely soar – and you don't already have Chelmsford down the road, as those in Newmarket do. In already hard times, it is no exaggeration to suggest some businesses may fail or else be forced to relocate. If you're a Jumps trainer, bad luck but you'll always have Cheltenham and Aintree. Last weekend, amid what has felt like a rollercoaster Club communications strategy, new chief executive Jim Mullen outlined his vision. He hinted at an imminent deal to finance capital investment at those flagship tracks but also inevitable job losses across the group. This came days after his Epsom team unveiled an exciting £6m investment in 2026 for their Flat-racing jewel, the Derby. But it took a question from the Racing Post's Bill Barber to prompt the assertion: “Kempton is out of my hands.” As Mullen's June appointment post-dated all known machinations, he was washing them of responsibility. “Post the investment, when you go to Aintree and Cheltenham you should be able to see the difference,” he declared. “It will bring a better experience, which will be up there with some of the best sporting experiences in the UK.” Shame there will be less to see when you get there. Kempton is unique among British Grade One Jump courses in its ability to provide viable ground on which trainers would choose to run high-class horses in the depths of winter – which climate-change experts say are becoming warmer and wetter. Hosting the King George VI Chase at Sandown, or Aintree (or Ascot, in the unlikely event it's sold) would make that race more like the following day's Welsh National at Chepstow and less like the Savills Chase at Leopardstown. This critical nuance is still undervalued or inadequately understood by the Jockey Club. For Jump racing the closure of Kempton risks both fatally undermining customer demand for the British road to Cheltenham and Aintree and further nudging the supply dial in favour of Ireland Such a King George is far less likely to be on the agenda of a genuine Gold Cup contender. Ditto a Ryanair hopeful. Ditto a relocated Christmas Hurdle for a putative Champion Hurdler, or a relocated Kauto Star or Wayward Lad for a Festival-bound novice chaser. If Britain's best horses run in fewer numbers over Christmas, fans will vote with their feet and wagering apps. Attendances and betting turnover will fall further. This spiral heads only one way. Ireland already outperforms Britain in terms of the proportion of high-quality Jump horses each country currently trains – a trend that's merely slowed at best, according to Timeform data. British-based investors are increasingly choosing to deploy their horses in Ireland, where the overheads for training are cheaper to boot. In short, for Jump racing the closure of Kempton risks both fatally undermining customer demand for the British road to Cheltenham and Aintree and further nudging the supply dial in favour of Ireland. This from a racecourse group whose business model heavily relies on the continuing success of the Festival and Grand National. Go figure. Yet when we question the accountability of its processes, we get a patrician pat on the head. “I have always been a huge advocate for the Jockey Club and what it does, so any decisions we have made have always been in the best interests of racing,” Paul Fisher, its chief executive from 2017 to 2020, said only this week. That's “any decisions”, folks. Such quasi-religious zeal necessarily involves the Club marking its own homework. The terms of its Royal Charter require it to “act in the long-term good of British racing in everything we do”. Who defines what's in “the long-term good of British racing”? The Jockey Club, stupid. Bar Boxing Day, for many Kempton is a soulless track whose worth equates to driving betting turnover and media rights. Attendances at such meetings are nearly non-existent – a fact surely connected with how awful the customer experience is. Yet it is close to the M25 and has its own train station, 40 minutes from Waterloo, connecting it to the largest (or second largest, depending on your measure) city in Europe. There is a strong argument the track is unloved because the Jockey Club simply didn't work hard enough on basics like engaging the local community or after-work crowd. They did once run a horserace to music, though. Did external stakeholder consultation take place prior to the 2017 announcement, given the impact Kempton's closure will have on contingent businesses? Given the widespread shock generated, I doubt it. Was any attempt made to quantify, via commercial analysis, the steadily accreting long-term impact on British Jump racing? This in terms of high-quality, Festival-bound horses at the key customer-driving, narrative-generating period of Christmas? In terms of developing nascent high-quality jumpers season-round? And in influencing British owner decisions on where to patriate their investments? We don't know. The sport should demand to see it, if it exists. Back in 2017, things appeared more positive for British Jump racing than they are now (though the cracks were starting to show). This returns us to the folly of the Jockey Club having tied its own hands over Kempton until 2028 at least, with no knowledge of the headwinds to come. What's left to do? The serfs – including vocal critics Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and Alan King – must make our democratic voices heard in the arena of whatever remains of Britain's planning process, if the time comes when Redrow exercises its 2018 option. For those not prepared to allow the linchpin of British Jump racing to be removed without fight, frustratingly it's all we can do. If the worst happens and the racecourse is lost, the Club must consult on how and where the money is spent. Back in 2017, the “minimum figure” from the sale was posited as “in excess of £100m” and expected to be “significantly higher… [depending on] a number of factors including how much land is used for housing”. “Every penny of this will be reinvested in the sport,” its communications repeatedly trumpeted. But whose sport? Jump racing would suffer the body blow. Those who still value it should prepare to rail against the money raised being used to cross-subsidise all-weather Flat racing. What about the Jockey Club itself, whose Executive is mostly very different from 2017, but whose nine-strong Board is elected from fewer than 200 enduring invited members “appointed on account of their contribution to horseracing”? How can we know it won't again be this furtive and high-handed in its decision-making processes? The Club drew much praise in 2023 for backing away from its notion to expand to five days the Cheltenham Festival after receiving widespread negative feedback during a consultation process. Its thoughtful changes to the Festival's race programme last year were developed collaboratively. In recent years, its behaviour as a key industry stakeholder has been more reliably consistent with ambitions to maintain and grow quality racing in Britain. When Baroness Dido Harding became Senior Steward last July, she spoke of the need to “listen and learn”. What the sport needs now is further reassurance it won't be wrongfooted, patronised and let down again. The post Op-Ed: Synonymous With Greats, Kempton is Braced for Extinction appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. 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 Dec. 28 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Stephen Byrne of Knockgraffon Stables has quickly established himself as one of the sharpest young breeze-up handlers on the circuit. A former amateur jockey, Byrne built up a good relationship with Jim Will Fix It, and guided that horse to win a Grade 2 bumper at Leopardstown back in 2010. He also spent time working with Joseph O'Brien before returning home to Knockgraffon Stables. From under that banner, Byrne has sent out many high-class runners, including the 103-rated Hammer The Hammer along with recent Dundalk juvenile scorer Sovereign Cry (Ten Sovereigns). What was your defining memory of 2025? Is it a year you will look back on fondly? We had a good year at the breeze-ups and, if I had to pick a highlight, it probably was ending the Guineas Breeze-Up Sale as the leading consignor. It was made all the more special by the fact my father, Mick, made the trip over. Very special. Tell us something people don't know about Stevie Byrne? That I kick football with my left foot and I write with my right hand! What motivates you? Knowing that I have to put three kids through college someday. Give us an underrated sire to keep the right side of next year? Unfortunately he doesn't stand in Ireland anymore but Ten Sovereigns has been incredibly lucky for me. My father actually bought a foal by him this year so hopefully that luck might continue. Biggest regret? No regrets. Just learn from your mistakes and keep pushing forward. Best horse you've ever sat on or been associated with? There are a couple. I got to school Edwulf over fences when I worked for Joseph O'Brien. That was a massive thrill and he was a brilliant racehorse who won an Irish Gold Cup. I was actually lucky to have been around some very nice horses when I worked for Joseph. I got to go to Cheltenham a couple of times with Tower Bridge, while I also got to ride out Latrobe, who won an Irish Derby for Joseph as well. Your favourite sale/place and why? Tattersalls Ireland has been incredibly lucky for us down through the years. It has been a happy hunting ground. What's your go-to karaoke song? The Calling, Wherever You Go. Also, I do a good version of Shaggy, It Wasn't Me. I might sing it some night in The Wagon when we are in Newmarket. Who is your inspiration? My father. I wouldn't be where I am today without him. Your guilty pleasure? Jelly sweets – I have an awful sweet tooth! Give us one horse to look out for in 2026… Hammer The Hammer. I sold him at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale last year. He's won three times for Kevin Ryan and is rated 103. I'm excited to see what he can do next year. The post In The Hot Seat: Stephen Byrne appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Although it's not one of the three grade 1 stakes scheduled on Santa Anita Park's opening day card Dec. 28, the $200,000 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes (G2) will feature a clash of recent grade 1 winners in Nysos and Nevada Beach.View the full article

Drew Fleming, the president and chief executive officer of Breeders' Cup Limited, and Elliott Walden, president, CEO and racing manager for WinStar Farm, have been elected as directors of the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the organization said in a release Monday. For a second consecutive year, Walter S. Robertson, Jr., a member of the law firm Stites & Barbison PLLC, will serve as TAA president. “I am honored to continue serving as President of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and grateful for the continued confidence of the Board of Directors,” said Robertson. “It is a privilege to work alongside such a dedicated and passionate group of industry leaders whose leadership and generosity are fundamental to advancing our shared mission. Together, we will continue to build upon the strong foundation of accredited aftercare to ensure a safe, dignified, and meaningful future for Thoroughbreds after their racing careers.” The recently appointed directors will join the current board, which is comprised of Tony Allevato, Craig Bandoroff, Laura Barillaro, Donna Barton Brothers, Price Bell, Dr. Jeffrey Berk, Christina Blacker, Boyd Browning, Aidan Butler, Dr. Bonnie Comerford, Larry Connolly, Joe De Francis, Georganne Hale, Melissa Hicks, Jay Privman, Walt Robertson, Dean Roethemeier, Yvonne Schwabe, Mark Simendinger, Barbara Vanlangendonck and Ric Waldman. After dedicating years of expertise, leadership and resources, Madeline Auerbach, Tom Cannell, and Jack Damico will conclude their service on the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Board of Directors at the end of 2025. The post New Directors Elected to TAA Board appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Edited Press Release Leadership representing Florida's five principal Thoroughbred industry organizations gathered in Ocala recently for a collaborative summit with the goal of uniting the Thoroughbred industry to help preserve and promote our Florida racing and breeding legacy by providing a clear and concise message to our elected officials at the local, state and national level to support our interests. The organizations represented included leadership from the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA), Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA), Ocala Breeders' Sales Company (OBS), Tampa Bay Downs Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (TBDHBPA) and Thoroughbred Racing Initiative (TRI). Through constructive dialogue, the assembled leadership identified several key points of consensus to guide the industry in the months ahead. Leadership confirmed opposition to decoupling efforts pursued by Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs during the 2025 Legislative Session, including severance of live racing from revenue [1] sharing agreements and any dramatic reduction in live racing days. The group agreed that Florida Statutes, Chapter 550–the statute governing Florida's pari-mutuel and horse racing industries–is fundamentally broken and requires modernization. Of particular concern is the unregulated Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) market, which lacks transparency, contributes inadequately to purses, provides no support for breeders and operates outside statutory revenue-sharing structures that support live racing. The coalition committed to pursuing Chapter 550 reform once the 2026 decoupling landscape becomes clearer. No decoupling legislation has been filed to date. Stakeholders expressed deep concern over the absence of an annual purses and race dates agreement between the FHBPA and Gulfstream Park. With the current Horsemen's Agreement expiring Dec. 31, 2025, and no reasonable engagement from the track, the impasse presents significant industry hazards. The group affirmed continuing work on a potential Thoroughbred racing facility alternative as a safeguard against decoupling or further contraction of live racing in South Florida. Industry leaders agreed to establish regular communication through quarterly meetings, with participation from principal decision-makers of all five organizations. Chester Bishop, Vice President of FHBPA, said, “It was great to hear unanimous support of the FHBPA in our continuing efforts to reach a Horseman's Agreement before expiration of the current agreement on Dec. 31, 2025.” OBS President Tom Ventura said, “The Florida horse racing and breeding industry generates a tremendous economic impact to the state while promoting and preserving greenspace. Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Inc. stands alongside the breeders, owners, and trainers as we collaborate to navigate the landscape and educate Florida's elected officials about the importance of this long-standing signature industry. “We must remain united to provide a path forward that enables Florida racing and breeding to thrive and remain competitive with other horse-friendly states. A healthy Florida racing and breeding industry is not only important within the state but critical to the ecosystem throughout the country.” Mike Dini of TBDHBPA said, “We firmly believe in no decoupling and are excited to work together to keep live horse racing strong.” Aron Wellman, Director of TRI, stated, “The Florida racing and breeding industry is in the midst of a watershed moment, and we are collectively intent on posturing the industry to succeed on all levels,” FTBOA CEO, Lonny Powell, said, “We appreciate our colleagues from all four organizations for their constructive engagement. This was one of the best meetings of its kind in my 14 years as CEO. Kudos to Hugh Dailey for his professional facilitation.” The coalition issued the following joint statement: “The group met with a shared commitment to oppose decoupling across all branches of government, working closely with supportive allies in the Florida Senate and Governor's Office. They emphasized unity, collaboration on related challenges, including solutions for South Florida–and reaffirmed their collective support for live Thoroughbred racing in Florida. The post Florida Thoroughbred Leaders Unite On Key Industry Issues appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com At my core, I am an optimist. Fast forward to 2036 and horse racing is thriving. The NTRA remains a unifying voice throughout the industry and all of the major stakeholders are working collaboratively and thoughtfully to continue to make the sport fairer and safer for all involved. While some change is hard, it is also inevitable. The way we have always done things cannot be the way to do everything in the future if we want to remain relevant and not just survive but thrive. A girl can dream, right? We have already lost too many tracks and left major markets without ways to expose future fans, horseplayers and industry participants to the sport in meaningful ways. Each track lost is a significant one for the health of the industry as a whole. In 2036, perhaps the ownership of some tracks looks different but there is hope to preserve the ones that we have. Growing up at Suffolk Downs, we always felt like we were on the edge of extinction–we were a hard-knocking blue-collar track. The giants, like Arlington Park and Hollywood, seemed untouchable. We have learned that no track is immune at this point and all should be treated like the endangered animal that they are. I have optimism for the foal crop but if and only if we preserve and continue to develop the state-bred breeding programs throughout the country. These programs are the heart of the sport and bolster the agricultural economy in states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Virginia. Great horses can come from anywhere and the key to full fields and competitive racing comes from successful state bred programs. Horse racing needs to do a better job of cultivating additional sources of revenue whether it is coming from fixed-odds or other avenues. There is a generation of folks who are enthusiastic about wagering and are so engaged through the ability to bet through their mobile devices. The other change I hope to see in 2036? More female announcers on major circuits. The post Racing In 2036: Jessica Paquette, Track Announcer, Parx appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Jay Rooney SUGAR SUGAR - R4 (1) Should relish a drop in class and prove very hard to beat back at the Valley Owen Goulding RAGGA BOMB - R3 (6) Only found one too good last start and has a perfect barrier to work from here Trackwork Spy KING MILES - R8 (2) Won two of his past three in good style and should be hard to beat again Phillip Woo ROMAN CROWN - R7 (9) Was second two runs ago from an identical draw and can go one better Shannon (Vincent Wong) SURAR SUGAR - R4 (1) Class drop and...View the full article

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