Wandering Eyes

Kelvin Tyler is excited about the future with Freddie Time after he came within a nose of victory in last Saturday’s Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) at Trentham. The four-year-old son of Time Test showed plenty of ability last season, winning on debut at Riverton on New Year’s Day before placing in the Listed Dunedin Guineas (1600m) and running fourth in the Gr.3 Manawatu Classic (2100m). The Riverton horseman thought enough of his gelding to campaign him in Australia over winter, and while he was unplaced in his sole start across the Tasman, he took plenty of benefit from the trip. Freddie Time has continued to impress Tyler this season, winning two races while based out of Howie Mathews’ Otaki barn, and he was rapt to see his strong finish on Saturday where he came close to pipping runaway leader Sagunto on the line. “It was really exciting,” Tyler said. “He has really come forward a long way and he is going to go to the top, I am pretty sure about that. He has done really well for a young horse, he’s only four.” Tyler said Freddie Time has come through the run well and he will now likely target the Listed Vernon & Vazey Truck Parts LTD Marton Cup (2200m) at Trentham on January 3. “He had a trot and canter this (Monday) morning and he is perfect. He is eating everything and he has bounced out of it and is ready to go again,” Tyler said. “The obvious one would be the Marton Cup. I thought about going up north for something like the Queen Elizabeth (Gr.3, 2400m, at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day), but it is coming up a bit quick with the trip away, right-handed and you never know how the track is going to play up there, it might not suit him. We will be patient, run him in the Marton Cup and go from there.” Closer to home, Tyler finished the weekend in pleasing fashion when recording a winning double at Gore on Sunday, courtesy of Fourofus and Mamaea. “Gore is always a nice track,” he said. “We had some nice chances going into it, so it was nice to get a couple of wins.” Tyler is now looking forward to heading to Wingatui on Boxing Day where he will line-up a quintet of runners. “I am going there with five high-quality horses, I am quite excited going into Friday,” he said. Indie Ardie heads into the Property Brokers – Ray Kean R65 2200 in a purple patch of form, having won one and placed in three of her four starts this preparation, and Tyler is hoping she can extend that sequence on Friday. “Indie Ardie is flying at the moment,” he said. “She probably should have won on both days at Cromwell. “She has had a bit of a freshen since then, she doesn’t take a lot of work, and her gallop on Saturday morning was probably as good as I have seen. I am quite excited for her, especially getting over a bit of ground.” Stable veteran Prince Alby will contest the Grand Casino Open 2200, with his fresh-up run readying him for next month’s Gr.3 NZ Campus Of Innivation & Sport Wellington Cup (3200m) at Trentham. “He is really mature now and probably looks the best he has ever looked,” Tyler said. “It is a good starting point for him and all going well he will go up for the Wellington Cup. “He is in really good order and he will go a good race. With a bit of rain about, the track is going to be off, so that should suit him, and he comes into the race really well in the weights.” Stablemate Ripa Time will be seeking black-type when she lines-up in the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m), and Tyler believes she is up to the task. “She is a really nice filly,” he said. “I know she is still a maiden, but she has certainly got ability. If the rain comes it might slow a few down and she won’t be out of it. It is a bit of an ask for her but hopefully she can perform.” Tyler will also be represented by last-start runner-up performers Flash Roca and Sight To See in the ODT Southern Mile Heat (1600m). “Both of them are really good horses and rain won’t bother either of them,” he said. “They have really come forward and I can see both of them going really good races.” View the full article

No-one knows better than Lance O’Sullivan what it takes to win the Gr.1 TAB Telegraph (1200m), which is as good a recommendation as any around the engagement of James McDonald for Tomodachi in the Trentham Group One sprint. During O’Sullivan’s storied jockey career, encompassing 12 premierships and 62 Group One wins in his homeland as well as international majors for a career tally of 2,479, the Telegraph stands like a beacon. O’Sullivan rode the winner of the famous Trentham sprint a record six times and last January he joined his father Dave and brother Paul on the trainers’ honour roll with Grail Seeker. On January 3 he and Wexford Stables partner Andrew Scott will be double-handed in the 2026 edition of the Telegraph with Grail Seeker set to be joined by Tomodachi. The latter firmed to $3.80 favouritism following the weekend announcement that McDonald will make a special trip to Trentham to ride her in the $550,000 feature, while Grail Seeker shares the second line with Crocetti at $5. Coming up 14 years ago, McDonald added the Telegraph to his growing list of big wins when he combined with Guiseppina to down the Australian raiders Atomic Force and Nash Rawiller, who three weeks earlier had won the Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie. Like all others trained by Stephen Ramsay and Julia Ritchie, Guiseppina raced in the royal blue and white hooped colours of her breeder Sir Peter Vela, which is the common thread leading to McDonald’s engagement for Tomodachi. “The booking was made by Sir Peter’s racing manager Gary Cossey and we were very happy to receive confirmation,” O’Sullivan said on Monday. “James is obviously a world class jockey, he knows how to win the Telegraph, and for our part Tomodachi is right on target, so hopefully it will all come together with the right result.” Tomodachi and Grail Seeker were both ridden in the most recent phase of near-identical preparations by Joe Doyle, who has been confirmed for the defending Telegraph title-holder. They were placed in separate 1100m trials at the start of last Friday’s Matamata race meeting, satisfying their connections that all is well ahead of their Trentham mission. “We’re happy with both mares and even though their work patterns are a lot different, we’re confident that they’re on target,” O’Sullivan said. McDonald last rode in New Zealand almost two years ago, when he claimed the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and 3YO (1600m) double on Velocious and Orchestral. More recently before another Hong Kong stint, he signed off a productive Australian spring carnival on the final day of Melbourne Cup week when completing a Melbourne Group One double on Via Sistina. Having already claimed his fourth consecutive Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) and his second on the Chris Waller-trained mare, he and the champion expat trainer combined for their 50th Group One together with Via Sistina in the Gr.1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington. McDonald’s Hong Kong stint ended on Saturday with a double at Sha Tin, taking his tally there for the season to date to 13 wins from 84 rides, with his mounts’ combined earnings of HK$47 million placing him second on that metric to resident champion Zac Purton. Having been awarded his third World’s Best Jockey trophy at the start of the Longines Hong Kong International Meeting, McDonald combined with local champion Romantic Warrior for a record fourth consecutive victory in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m). A commitment to the world record stake-earner for his next Hong Kong start will prevent McDonald from attending the Karaka Millions meeting at Ellerslie, however, his single-race cameo appearance at Trentham on January 3 is bound to draw an audience befitting the occasion. View the full article

Young Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State has landed another timely winning blow across the Tasman. The son of Snitzel is two for two in Australia, with his first representative Torture claiming the Listed Debutant Stakes (1000m) for Lindsay Park and at Randwick on Saturday his second runner Warwoven scored on debut. Not to be outdone, associate sire Almanzor is also on a hot run, with Argo and Rambling On combining for a Te Rapa double, Touchdown and Roadcone scored at Caulfield and Lux Libertas was an impressive winner at Trentham. She was triumphant in the Listed Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Trentham to add to Almanzor’s recent black type victories courtesy of Qali Al Farrasha (Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes, 1400m), Mary Shan (Gr.3 Great Northern Challenge Stakes, 1600m) and First Five (Gr.3, J Swap Sprint, 1400m). Sword Of State’s son Warwoven is prepared at Warwick Farm by Bjorn Baker and is now headed toward the A$3 million Magic Millions (1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 17. “We don’t want to get too carried away, but when you look at how many eyes are on those races it was an awesome result,” Cambridge Stud’s Sales and Nominations Manager Scott Calder said. “The manner in which the horse won, and the significance of this time of the year as a pre-Christmas two-year-old leading into the Magic Millions, was terrific. “With all the expectation on the stallion with the way they have sold (up to $540,000) and having already had a stakes winner with his other runner in Australia, it’s very exciting.” Warwoven was bred by Kia Ora Stud and sold out of their draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $380,000 to Ridgmont, Bjorn Baker Racing, S & J Gosling and Clarke Bloodstock. He is the first foal of the Makfi mare Needle And Thread, winner of the Gr.2 Royal Stakes (2000m). “Kia Ora came in as a shareholder in Sword Of State and they purchased Needle And Thread through the Valachi dispersal,” Calder said. Sword Of State will be well-represented in Cambridge Stud’s draft to New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale, including a half-brother (Lot 513) to the farm’s multiple Group One-winning graduate Ceolwulf. “The favourite for many reasons is the colt out of Las Brisas, he’s the one the Guerin Report has been following,” Calder said. “When he was born, Ceolwulf wasn’t a stakes winner and he’s now won four Group Ones and Sword Of State is on everyone’s radar. “He has the pedigree and is a really nice colt, we think he’s one who will really stand out. “Ceolwulf was a really nice athletic horse and a Tavistock that looked like he would be a staying three-year-old, whereas this colt has a more precocious look and an early maturing, faster type.” View the full article

Cranbourne-based trainer Gavin Bedggood has travelled to New Zealand in preparation to saddle his first international runner. Bedggood and Kingswood (Roaring Lion) departed Melbourne on Saturday night to prepare for the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. The trip to New Zealand is two-fold, an attempt to land an elusive Group One win which in turn may secure the entire a home at stud. “He’s a stallion with a good pedigree page, but he’s not a sexy horse in Australia,” Bedggood said. “I think he would be commercial in that environment, so if he was able to go over there and jag one, that would be good. “There are races over there in the autumn for him too, but we’ll reassess after Boxing Day.” Kingswood is a son of Roaring Lion who raced in Ireland before coming to Australia, firstly with Maddie Raymond ahead of joining the Bedggood team. The six-year-old won the 2024 Gr.3 Coongy Cup (2000m) while his most recent victory was in the Listed Cup Day Plate (1800m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day. Kingswood’s latest outing was when fourth in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) on December 6. “Ballarat was too wet, so you can put a pen through that,” Bedggood said. “He was great the start before at Flemington and if he gets the ground that he needs, he’ll be right amongst the action.” Bedggood said Kingswood’s last piece of work on Saturday morning was as good as any he seen from the entire. He said with a flight back to Australia not scheduled until January 12, Kingswood would have some time in the paddock in New Zealand as plans are reassessed for the entire. Rory Hutchings has been booked to ride Kingswood on Friday. “He was riding a lot for Chris Waller in Brisbane for the last few years and he’s ridden Group One winners previously,” Bedggood said. “Jamie Bates, Logan Bates’ father, rides trackwork for me and he thought he would be a rider that would be a good fit for him, so that was the theory behind that.” View the full article

Hollie Doyle will chase some extra Christmas presents in the form of winners to take back home with her to the UK as she finishes up her six-week Hong Kong stint at Happy Valley on Tuesday night. The 10-time Group One-winning rider has enjoyed a huge amount of support in her short time in the city, which is evidenced by her final night at the Valley seeing her engaged in all nine races. Heading into Tuesday, Doyle has ridden five winners and was just half a length away from Group Two glory when...View the full article

If the My Charmer Stakes proves to be Caitlinhergrtness' curtain call, she went out in style, displaying her class with a masterful late rally orchestrated by jockey Flavien Prat. View the full article

If the My Charmer Stakes proves to be Caitlinhergrtness's curtain call, she went out in style, displaying her class with a masterful late rally orchestrated by jockey Flavien Prat. View the full article

Having a clear trip on the lead, the speedy Joe Shiesty outlasted a bid from defending winner Howard Wolowitz in the $247,835 Holiday Cheer Stakes during the Turfway Park Synthetic Championships Dec. 21.View the full article

Mr. A. P., who announced his arrival as one worth watching in the upcoming 3-year-old season, will be out of action until March, effectively taking him off the Kentucky Derby trail.View the full article

Holly and David Wilson's Mr. A. P. (American Pharoah), last seen finishing second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, has been sidelined and will not be on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. “He had a little setback,” trainer Vladimir Cerin told DRF's Brad Free. “I'm hoping he'll be ready at the end of March, which makes everything difficult.” Cerin declined to reveal the ridgling's diagnosis, but told Free the issue had been diagnosed and resolved. “He needs a little more time,” Cerin said. The Wilsons claimed Mr. A. P. for $150,000 out of a runner-up effort in his debut at Del Mar in July. He graduated in his third trip to the post Oct. 13 at Santa Anita and was one length short of Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) at the Breeders' Cup Oct. 31. The post Report: Mr. A. P. Sidelined, Off Derby Trail appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) and Wolfie's Dynaghost (Ghostzapper) are on target for assignments on Jan. 24 Pegasus Day following stakes wins at Gulfstream Park Saturday. Skippylongstocking rebounded from a pair of off-the-board efforts to win the GIII Harlan's Holiday Stakes, a prep for the $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and should improve for the effort, according to trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. “We didn't know if he was fit enough to be back to his best. He showed he was training well. [Saturday] he had to come and do it. Thank God, he did it,” Joseph said Sunday after reporting that 6-year-old came out of his game performance in good order. Skippylongstocking entered Saturday's Harlan's Holiday off a seventh-place effort in the Aug. 2 GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga and an eighth in the Aug. 22 GII Charles Town Classic, in which he experienced the thumps. “I think he's just as good, training-wise. I don't think he could have been at his optimum fitness going into the race. He was coming off the layoff,” Joseph said. “There's no reason to say that was at his best. He should move forward in his next race, if everything goes well.” Woodslane Farm's Wolfie's Dynaghost, who set a North American record while winning Saturday's GIII Fort Lauderdale Stakes, exited his 10th career stakes victory in good order. “He looks great this morning,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “Everything appears to be how we like it.” The 7-year-old gelding will now be pointed to the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. Wolfie's Dynaghost boosted his career earnings to $1.35 million Saturday while making only his second start since joining Lynch's stable. He was coming off a 2 3/4-length win in the Nov. 8 GIII River City Stakes at Churchill Downs. “He came over in really good order. There were no changes made. We just tried to keep him happy and slide him into our program. He's adjusted well, not that there was a lot of adjustment,” Lynch said. “He's just a classy horse that still has a lot of run on his mind.” The post Skippylongstocking, Wolfie’s Dynaghost on Track for Pegasus Assignments appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The opening day of Santa Anita Park's Classic Meet, traditionally held Dec. 26, will be postponed for two days until Dec. 28 ahead of this week's declining weather forecast.View the full article

Flying Mohawk, soundly beaten in a pair of races following his runner-up finish in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) in March at Turfway Park, will attempt to bounce back with a change in equipment in the $100,000 Woodchopper Stakes Dec. 27 at Fair Grounds.View the full article

Cavallerizzo found a late turn of foot and ran by pacesetter Diamond Knot in the late going to win the Asahi Hai Futurity (G1) Dec. 21 at Hanshin Racecourse.View the full article

The Australian Turf Club won an important interim ruling in its high-stakes standoff with Racing NSW, after the Supreme Court found no compelling evidence that the club was on the brink of insolvency or unable to continue trading in the short term.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 CARRIE BROGDEN, MACHMER HALL First of all, I am an eternal optimist by nature. With a game-changing program in the works by 2036, I believe that you will see a complete reversal in the gargantuan problem we currently face with aftercare. I am beyond sick of seeing all the ISO posts on social media wanting to buy riding horses but the last two words in almost ever ad ends in 'NO THOROUGHBREDS'. I mean, what other breed of horse sells 16.2 hands high, fancy and sound geldings for $3,500? The answer is none. Only the Thoroughbred does. They have become the pariah of the show hunter world. They have no value because there is no demand for them. It is like going into an animal shelter and seeing that all there are for adoption are pit bulls because only the hard core breed enthusiasts actually want them. From the 1950s to the 1990s, Thoroughbreds dominated show hunters, jumpers and eventers. We even had non-Thoroughbred classes because there were so few other breeds! An analysis of the Show Jumpers Hall of Fame revealed that 18 of its 20 inductees were Thoroughbreds–highlighting their former dominance. But as warmbloods grew in popularity due to their rideability, placid demeanor, etc., many top trainers shifted their focus and owners largely stopped investing in Thoroughbreds to ride. We need to make owning and riding second career Thoroughbreds cool and lucrative again. I am on the USHJA Thoroughbred Task Force with amazing dedicated and passionate people and we are proposing and developing the creation of a long-term incentive program designed to reverse this trend and re-establish the Thoroughbred alongside the warmblood as a competitive and desirable sport horse. The response to those I have pitched it to on both racing/riding Thoroughbred world has literally been overwhelming and I am often giddy with joy thinking about the potential. The problem with second careers is not the horses, it is the demand for them. I mean have you ever heard of a fundraiser for a warmblood retirement farm? We are designing and creating a Hunter Derby series of classes exclusively for Thoroughbreds competing in existing rated USEF horse shows. I am talking about $75,000 classes, which includes OBSCENE prize money in the riding horse world and not even the purse for a maiden special weight at Turfway Park in the race world– culminating in a $200,000 Thoroughbred-only final. The goal is to create a program strong enough to endure. I was inspired by Mr. Gaines vision for the Breeders Cup. We have the Thoroughbred world racehorse championships. Why can we not have the Thoroughbred equestrian championships giving both sides of their careers importance and value? Start with the show hunters, then the jumpers, then the eventers, etc. The Thoroughbred Renaissance series is what I see! Offering high-dollar, Thoroughbred-only classes and a championship will capture the attention of leading hunter trainers, encourage reinvestment in Thoroughbreds and demonstrate to racehorse trainers and owners the value of second careers for these horses. Can you imagine the ripple effect? TOP hunter jumper trainers and riders would be posting ISOs of a THOROUGHBRED! Demand would skyrocket literally overnight. Geldings and fillies coming off the track would be scouted well before “that one last race.” The doors would open and every top riding barn in the country would be seeking Thoroughbreds off the track for its second career to develop. If we build it and fund it…they will come. We can create a THOROUGHBRED ECOSYSTEM so by 2036 our horses are valued and beloved during their racing careers and after. ARNOLD BERGER In the next 10 years, racing must face very difficult times if it does not change all the different regulations throughout the country, also the structure of purses and state breeding programs must combine all their resources As a lifelong fan who saw Secretariat defeat Key to the Mint in the Garden State Stakes in 1972 the stands if I remember there where 30,000 fans in the stands. Only time you see that today is very few days. There should be a national breeding and reimbursement plan for all tracks and horsemen to share in as there will fewer tracks, notably Gulfstream and Santa Anita will be gone for the land is too expensive to keep as a race track, unless a national syndicate of owners, farms, and states get together to buy the facilities. Sorry to be so negative, but I also saw simulcasting 25 years ago causing loss of interest in going to tracks. The post Racing In 2036: Carrie Brogden and Arnold Berger appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

When it was announced last week that former New York Post racing columnist Ray Kerrison had been selected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor, New York horseplayers of a certain age had to be smiling. There have been plenty of gifted and talented men and women who have covered the sport over the years, but there's never been anyone like Ray Kerrison. He was fearless, a tremendous reporter, unafraid of whom he might alienate and was a fierce advocate for the $2 bettor. “It was never about him,” his son Patrick told me when his father passed in 2022 at the age of 92. “He was extraordinarily humble. He was very protective of the $2 bettor. When he came on the racing scene on Jan. 1, 1977, the other turf writers did not like him and neither did racing personnel, trainers, jockeys. That's because it was very insular and the turf writers acted more like publicity agents as opposed to investigative journalists. What my dad did upset a lot of people. He didn't care. He just wanted to protect the bettors and he wanted everything to be on a level playing field. That's how he was with everything in his life.” A native of Australia, he was working as the editor for Rupert Murdoch's The National Star in his native country. In late 1976, Murdoch bought the Post and asked Kerrison to come over and spearhead the tabloid's racing coverage. Though that's not all that long ago, things could not have been more different then when it came to the relationship between New York racing and the city's two raucous tabloids, the Post and the New York Daily News, whose star was the prolific handicapper and writer Russ Harris. Both papers covered the sport extensively, realizing that, especially with the opening of New York City OTB, their readers wanted to know what was going on at the track. Now, there's not a single daily metropolitan paper in New York or elsewhere, that covers the sport. The rare exception might be a wire service story around the time of the GI Kentucky Derby. While Kerrison excelled in all aspects, his greatest strength was his reporting skills. He broke stories on some of the biggest scandals in the sport's history and was once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Had he worked on some other beat and for a high-brow paper like the New York Times or the Washington Post, he certainly would have won a Pulitzer, and maybe more than one. His biggest scoop was when he helped to uncover the Lebon-Cinzano betting scandal. In May of 1977, Dr. Mark Gerard, a New York-based vet, purchased two horses in Uruguay. One, Cinzano, was a champion. The second, Lebon, was a perpetual also-ran. Because the two horses looked alike, Gerard figured there would be no problem switching their identities. Racing under the name of Lebon, Cinzano made his debut in September of 1977 in a $10,000 claimer. He ran up the track, most likely because Gerard did something to ensure that the horse would run poorly and knew that would drive his odds up for his next race. Lebon/Cinzano's next start was on Sept. 22 at Belmont. The horse won easily, paying $116 to win. Reportedly, Gerard's winning bets amounted to $77,920. He might have gotten away with it if not for that fact that a Uruguayan racing journalist saw the picture of “Lebon” and told U.S. authorities that he was positive that the horse in the winner's circle was not Lebon, but likely Cinzano. But it was Kerrison who picked up on the story in the U.S. and put the final nails in Gerard's coffin. Kerrison also wrote repeatedly about what was another black eye for New York racing during his time at his keyboard. Oscar Barrera was doing things that had never been done before in racing and seemed to be able to do the impossible. He would claim a horse on a Saturday for $10,000, run it back the next Thursday for $25,000 and it would win for fun. Like everyone else watching New York racing at the time, Kerrison knew that Barrera's success was too good to be true. When it came to Barrera, Kerrison often used the term “Miracle Man.” His sense of irony and disgust was evident and he likely knew that Barrera's feats had nothing to do with miracles, but to do with whatever drugs he was pumping into his horses. Kerrison believed that Barrera was using milkshakes, alkalinizing agents that kept horses from getting fatigued. But he saved his fiercest criticism for what was then known as the New York Racing and Wagering Board, which, he felt, did not do nearly enough to try to catch Barrera and bring a stop to the mockery he was making of New York racing. In 1988, Barrera was finally caught, though for a drug that probably wasn't potent enough to explain his “miracles.” But after he got a 1988 suspension for prednisone, Barrera went on an 0-for-138 streak. Kerrison wrote that the stable's performance had gone from “red hot to ice water” overnight. Kerrison and fellow racing writer John Piesen, another racing scribe who worked for the Post, helped break the story of the biggest race-fixing scam in New York history. “Racing's Darkest Hour” was the Post's headline. Kerrison's reporting played a key role in uncovering the scandal that led to charges being brought against jockey Con Errico, mobster Anthony Ciulla, and more than 20 others for fixing races during the mid-seventies. In the late eighties, Kerrison largely stepped away from the racing beat and took on a new job as a news side columnist for the Post. He did, however, continue to cover the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup races and write about major racing stories until he retired from the paper in 1993. There will never again be another Ray Kerrison. Newspapers have abandoned racing and all that is left is a handful of trade publications, most of them trying to get by with small budgets and small staffs, staffs that don't include investigative reporters The sport, and especially the $2 bettor, was lucky to have had Ray Kerrision. Why I Voted for Flavien Prat This year's race for the Eclipse Award-winning jockey may be the most competitive ever. Flavien Prat and Irad Ortiz, Jr. have both had spectacular years, and neither deserves to lose. To show just how close the race is, through Dec. 20, Ortiz's mounts have earned $39,982,010, while Prat is just behind him at $39,378,081. It seems that voters look first at money earned before casting their votes for champion jockey, so Ortiz may have a slight edge. Flavien Prat | Sarah Andrew But take a deeper dive and you can make a pretty solid case that Prat had the better year of the two. He accepted 374 fewer mounts than Ortiz did, the major reason why his average earnings per mount figure is much better than that of his rival. Prat has made $32,356 per start, much better than Ortiz's figure of $25,130. Prat has also won 45 graded stakes to 36 for Ortiz. Prat has won 12 Grade I stakes, three more than Ortiz. Prat also deserves extra credit for what he has done at Aqueduct during the fall. Prat set a NYRA record by winning seven races on a single card at Aqueduct Racetrack on Nov. 2, 2025. Turfway Deserved Better from Graded Stakes Committee While I am the first to say that there are still way too many graded stakes run in this country and that TOBA has to start making drastic cuts to the list of graded stakes, there's at least one instance where the Graded Stakes Committee has not done enough to reward a surging racetrack in the surging state of Kentucky. Sunday's card at Turfway, featured four ungraded stakes that were wiped out eight days earlier due to weather issues. The four–the My Charmer Stakes, the Holiday Inaugural Stakes, the Prairie Bayou Stakes and the Holiday Cheer Stakes–were worth a combined $1 million and attracted a total of 51 horses, many of them top-quality campaigners. These races were easily Grade III events, if not Grade II, and the American Graded Stakes Committee needs to rectify that mistake the next chance it gets. The post The Week in Review: A Well-Deserved Honor, Ray Kerrison is Inducted into Media Wing of Hall of Fame appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The opening day card at Santa Anita's Classic Meet, traditionally held Dec. 26, has been postponed two days and will now be held next Sunday, Dec. 28. Track officials made the decision to delay the start of the meet in the face of forecasted heavy rains in the area beginning Tuesday and continuing through Friday. “With the amount of rain being forecast, it's important to make this call as early as possible to give everyone advance notice,” said Santa Anita General Manager Nate Newby. “Everyone looks forward to opening day as it's traditionally one of our biggest days of the year, so it's not a decision we make lightly. But after speaking with our stakeholders, adjusting the racing schedule at this time provides the best opportunity to have a great opening to kick off the season.” Santa Anita's revised opening week schedule has live racing Sunday and Monday, Dec. 28 and 29, returning Wednesday, Dec. 31 and continuing through Jan. 4. Entries for opening day were held as scheduled Sunday, with entries for Dec. 27, to be taken Monday, Dec. 22. This will be the first time since the 2019-2020 winter season that Santa Anita has not opened on Dec. 26. The post Weather Delay: Santa Anita’s Opening-Day Card Postponed to Sunday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Express Kid, who sold for $2,000 at an Arizona auction last year, is now on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail after a dominant upset victory in the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park Dec. 20.View the full article

The top five betting choices were the first five home in Japan's G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes on Sunday, with second choice Cavallerizzo closing to take the juvenile contest by three-quarters of a length. Diamond Knot (Bricks And Mortar), a 7-1 shot, was second, with the formerly undefeated favourite Admire Quads (Real Steel) gamely snatching third, a length behind. Sent off at 13-5, the son of Saturnalia raced content in midfield well off the fence, with the first quarter covered in :23.20. At the half-mile marker, Diamond Knot was firmly in charge, with the lathered Cavallerizzo in good order as the field rounded the bend. In need of running room at the head of the straight, a gap slammed shut on the eventual winner and Christian Demuro called an audible and steered back to the inside. Rolling under a full head of steam, Cavallerizzo exploded late to just pass a stubborn Diamond Knot four jumps from the wire. “After a normal start, I had a good position behind Yuga [Kawada],” said Cristian Demuro. “In the last corner I had a little bit of a trouble with another horse next to me but when I asked my horse to go inside, he had a good reaction, a good turn of foot. Christophe [Lemaire] was trying to escape but my horse was very strong in the end.” A five-length winner at first asking at Chukyo in August, Cavallerizzo finished just a head short of Admire Quads in the G2 Daily Hai Nisai Stakes at Kyoto over this trip on November 15. Pedigree Notes G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) hero Saturnalia now counts six stakes winners among his progeny, five at the group level. Cavallerizzo is his first Group 1 winner worldwide. Like G3 Fantasy Stakes heroine Festival Hill, the colt is out of a Heart's Cry mare. The first foal for his dam who won thrice from three to five, the son of Saturnalia is followed by a yearling filly by Lord Kanaloa and a weanling filly by Leontes. Balladist was covered by Justin Milano last spring. Second dam Balada Sale (Not For Sale) was a champion three-year-old filly in Argentina and won a pair of Group 1 races there. Balada Sale also left the multiple group winner and G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) third Satono Flag (Deep Impact). The classy G1 Polla de Potrillos hero-turned-sire Le Blues (Roman Ruler) is a half-brother to Balada Sale. Sunday, Hanshin, Japan ASAHI HAI FUTURITY STAKES-G1, ¥135,480,000, Hanshin, 12-21, 2yo, c/f, 1600mT, 1:33.20, sf. 1–CAVALLERIZZO (JPN), 123, c, 2, by Saturnalia (Jpn) 1st Dam: Balladist (Jpn), by Heart's Cry (Jpn) 2nd Dam: Balada Sale (Arg), by Not for Sale (Arg) 3rd Dam: La Balada (Arg), by Confidential Talk 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Tatsuya Yoshioka; J-Cristian Demuro; ¥71,036,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, ¥93,624,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. 2–Diamond Knot (Jpn), 123, c, 2, Bricks And Mortar–Endless Knot (Jpn), by Deep Impact (Jpn). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O-Makoto Kaneko Holdings; B-Bando Farm (Jpn); ¥28,296,000. 3–Admire Quads (Jpn), 123, c, 2, Real Steel (Jpn)–Date Line (Jpn), by Zoffany (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (¥66,000,000 Wlg '23 JRHAJUL). O-Junko Kondo; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥18,148,000. Margins: 3/4, 1, HF. Odds: 2.60, 7.30, 2.10. Also Ran: Ecoro Alba (Jpn), Realize Sirius (Jpn), Good Piece (GB), White Orchid (Jpn), Tagano Aralia (Jpn), Storm Thunder (Jpn), Cosomo Red (Jpn), Corteo Soleil (Jpn), Kakuuchi (Jpn), Red Ligare (Jpn), Spe Luce (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video. The post Cavallerizzo Closes For Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes Tally appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

And on we go, to a sector of the market that will have great appeal to the shrewd and smaller breeders (you can certainly be both), with the next part of our Value Sires series devoted to those standing in the bracket of £7,500 to £14,999 (approximately €8,500 to €17,000). There are always deals to be struck in the stallion market, and perhaps that is especially true within the lower price tiers, where your bartering power may also depend on your previous support of a particular stallion or stud, and the number of mares you have at your disposal. The fact that covering numbers have dropped off in recent years will mean that stallion owners will be conscious of the need to retain and incentivise the breeders who remain in operation. Proven prowess Being the sire of this year's Derby and Irish Derby winner entitles you to go first, so step forward Australia, who completed the same double himself, as indeed did his sire Galileo. We like this very much, but Australia proved himself to have more than one dimension this season thanks to the cheering victory of his daughter Cercene for Joe Murphy at Royal Ascot. It was but one of a number of feelgood results on racing's biggest stage and, in a year when Australia was advertised for only €10,000, should have served as a timely reminder of his talents. He's back up a wee bit this year to €15,000 but that still represents value for a sire who could get you a horse capable of mixing it in some of the world's biggest races. The name of his stud-mate Churchill lurks behind some decent performers too, without the dual Guineas winner ever really being given the credit he deserves. So let's right that wrong. Churchill is sneakily quite good: Classic winners Vadeni and Blue Rose Cen have already let the cat out of the bag on that front, and this year his daughter Survie went close to giving him another Prix de Diane winner before selling for 1.9m gns at Tattersalls. Ridari changed hands from the Aga Khan Studs to John Stewart's Resolute Racing for €950,000 at the Arc Sale before going on to win the G2 Prix Wildenstein and is a colt to follow in 2026. At €15,000, Churchill is at his lowest fee yet for 2026. We will get to some English sires in due course but also in Ireland stands one of the best-value sires in Europe: Awtaad. He graced our podium last year and is rightly back up there again, his fee having been only marginally adjusted upwards from €7,500 to €8,500. Post-race press conferences can sometimes be rather sober affairs despite the excitement of the occasion, but that was not the case for Willie Mullins, who swiftly downed two glasses of bourbon while gleefully recounting to journalists the thrill of securing his first win at the Breeders' Cup. The extraordinary Ethical Diamond was the horse who gave rise to what would have undoubtedly been a proper session later on. He had also been one of two winners for Awtaad at Royal Ascot along with Ascending. The Irish National Stud's Phoenix Of Spain has barged his way into contention, and he too has risen slightly to a previous fee of €12,500, but that still looks reasonable following a year in which he notched his first Group 1 winner, Caballo De Mar, along with three Group 3 winners in Europe and one in Australia. One of those, Lady Of Spain, has joined Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm after being sold for 900,000gns in December. Phoenix Of Spain's 5.83 per cent black-type winners to runners in 2025 puts him right up there among the best of his intake. It was an elite band of European stallions, numbering just 17, who sired two or more Group 1 winners this year and Ballylinch Stud's Make Believe was one of them. He is also a former podium poser and we have to put him back up there again this year after the exploits of Sajir in France and Royal Supremacy in Australia, while G2 Oaks d'Italia winner Klaynn ruled the three-year-old division in Italy. Any stallion who can get a horse as good as Mishriff in his first crop is surely no fluke, and thus Make Believe is proving, at a fee which is back up to €10,000 for 2026, having been €8,000 this year. At the £10,000 mark in Britain for the third year running is Overbury Stud's Golden Horn, a horse for the big occasion, whether you like the Flat or jumps. At the Cheltenham Festival his handful of runners included the Champion Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle winners Golden Ace and Poniros, while at Royal Ascot Trawlerman landed the week's most prestigious race, the Gold Cup, and was later named Cartier Stayer of the Year. Another four Group winners were added to Golden Horn's Flat tally in 2025, most notably the G2 Park Hill winner Santorini Star. Newsells Park Stud's Without Parole provided one of the best two-year-olds of the year in Zavateri, who took the G2 July Stakes, G2 Vintage Stakes and G1 National Stakes in quick succession, narrowly beating subsequent Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Gstaad in the latter. With 52 and 43 foals from his first two crops, Without Parole has fewer representatives than some of his rivals in this year's second-crop sires' table, in which he is in sixth place. His fee has returned to £10,000, from £8,000 in his last two seasons. Ardad has been represented by 40 two-year-old winners, with five stakes winners among them in Europe this year, putting him top of the list of juvenile sires standing in Britain. Admittedly, he has had a lot of runners – 113 from his largest crop of 157 foals in 2023 after the exploits of his first crop encouraged more breeders to patronise him. In 2022 his fee rose sensibly to £12,500 on the back of that, but this year it has been cut to £7,500 which makes him a value proven option. A name worth noting among the young stallions in France is Victor Ludorum, who is the leading first-season sire in that country and has sired 17 winners across Europe, which puts him in eighth place by number of winners. He also has two black-type horses and is about to embark on his second season at Haras d'Etreham since Haras du Logis ceased standing stallions. After covering 102 mares this year, Victor Ludorum will be at his lowest fee of €10,000 (from €15,000) in 2026. His stud-mate City Light continues to be a consistent source of winners and is also at €10,000. Big year ahead As ever, there will be much interest paid to the runners of the first-season sires of 2026. Those who may take up the running early include Perfect Power, who was himself a prolific two-year-old, winning at Hamilton in June before landing the Norfolk, Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes. This year and next, the fee for the son of Ardad is £7,500, half that which he opened for at Dalham Hall Stud, and he posted a yearling average of 61,000gns for 32 sold. Perfect Power also collected the following season's Commonwealth Cup and another of his ilk who was smart at two, winning the Gimcrack, but went on to land the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup at four is Minzaal, one of an increasing cohort of sons of Mehmas at stud. Minzaal also started at £15,000 at Derrinstown Stud and has been dropped to £12,500. His yearling average for 89 sold was 79,112gns. What a racehorse State Of Rest was. His Group 1 victories came in America, Australia, France and Britain, with his Prince of Wales's Stakes win at Royal Ascot crowning that superb quartet. He won first up at two himself, and we know that his sire Starspangledbanner can get a good two-year-old. We'll be hoping to see some of his first two-year-olds starting to make their mark towards the second half of the season. He had some promising looking yearlings which averaged 53,514gns for 49 sold, and State Of Rest may well surprise some people next year, when his fee will be €15,000, down from €25,000 in his first year. We're prepared to die on the hill that says Stradivarius can be a good Flat sire if given the right backing. He's been given enough support, with around 100 Flat mares for his first book, and though only 16 of the youngsters from those matings were offered as yearlings in Britain and Ireland, they found favour in the market, selling for an average of 48,357gns for the 14 that changed hands. Plenty more will be lurking on their breeders' farms, about to head into pre-training, hoping that they will run their way to one of the £25,000 bonuses offered by Stradivarius's owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen for his first ten juvenile winners. (And don't forget the £250,000 bonus for a Group 1 winner at two or three.) The National Stud resident has remained at his sensible starting fee of £10,000 throughout. It was as a four-year-old that Naval Crown came into his own when winning the G1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. The son of Dubawi joined Kildangan Stud the following year at €15,000 but dropped to €9,000 last year and remains at that price for 2026. He had some well-made yearlings, and 42 of them were sold for 47,012gns. He might be a sneakily good bet for next year, and plenty of folks will be expecting much from the next Tally-Ho sire off the line, Persian Force, whose fee has returned to his starting fee of €10,000 (from €8,000), presumably following some encouraging yearling sale results, with 73 sold for an average of 45,849gns. In France, Sealiway, a winner of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and later the Champion Stakes, will be bidding to put the fledgling operation of Haras de Beaumont on the map when his first runners step out next year. A son of Galiway, who has been a revelation at Haras de Colleville, starting at €3,000 and settling at €30,000 for the last four years, Sealiway was the busiest young stallion in France on his retirement in 2023, and he is now down to €10,000, having started at €12,000. First yearlings The risk of using a stallion in his third year at stud is of course that by the time a breeder might be wanting to sell a foal, the first runners will have come through and you can find yourself either in clover or in trouble. Stick to your guns if you like a horse, and there has been nothing but favourable comments about Shaquille since he retired to stud – both of his own physique and now in praise of his foals. He was of course a tiptop sprinter at three and the Ace Stud resident is now available for £10,000, having stood his first two seasons at £15,000. He has it all to prove, but that is true for all names mentioned in this section. The burly Native Trail was the champion two-year-old of his generation and is now at €16,000, while his fellow Darley sire Triple Time remains at £10,000, representing good value for a Group 1-winning son of Frankel over a mile. Another smart Frankel horse from this intake is Shadwell's Mostahdaf, winner of the Juddmonte International and Prince of Wales's Stakes at four, and who really does stand out at £9,000, down from his initial £15,000. There are Frankels from a range of distances in this intake and Onesto took the G1 Grand Prix de Paris over a mile and a half. His Juddmonte-bred dam Onshore (Sea The Stars) is out of a full-sister to Hasili, and we've all seen what that particular family can do. He stands for €10,000 in 2026. A Champagne Stakes winner at two and winner of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes the following year, Bayside Boy represents a more affordable way into the New Bay line and is now €12,500 at Ballylinch Stud (from €15,000) After a false start, when injury prevented Mishriff from covering in his first season with Sumbe, we hope that the remainder of his stud career will be plain sailing. A stunning horse, he lived up to those good looks with a body of work which included the Prix du Jockey Club, Saudi Cup, Dubai Sheema Classic and Juddmonte International. From the family of Kodiac and Invincible Spirit, Mishriff is now available at £12,500, a fee which could look very reasonable in the years to come. Second-year stars Among those about to embark on their second covering seasons are the National Stud's Bradsell, who boasts a terrific race record for his £10,000; Coolmore's statuesque son of Dubawi, Henry Longfellow (€12,500); Group 1-winning miler Big Rock, who is at the rejuvenated Haras de Grandcamp for €12,000; fellow French Group 1-winning recruits Puchkine (€8,500, Haras de Beaumont) and Metropolitan (€12,000, Haras d'Etreham). The trio of Big Evs (€15,000, Tally-Ho Stud), Good Guess (€12,500, Tally-Ho Stud) and Mill Stream (€10,000, Yeomanstown Stud) covered 159, 210 and 170 mares respectively this year, and you can expect them to be well represented and well supported at next year's foal sales. New to stud In this price bracket the significant new recruits are Inisherin, a member of the final crop of Shamardal and a close relation to his fellow retiree Rosallion and to Triple Time. The G1 Commonwealth Cup winner joins the Dalham Hall roster at £12,500. Juddmonte's well-bred G1 Lockinge Stakes winner Lead Artist – another from the Hasili family -has been turning the heads of visitors to Banstead Manor Stud and is also at £12,500. The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Unquestionable is one of four sons of Wootton Bassett to join the Irish ranks this year and he will start at €10,000 at Rathbarry Stud, while the Irish National Stud has taken charge of Amo Racing's G1 Flying Five Stakes winner Arizona Blaze and has put him in at €12,500. Bolstering the French ranks is the G1 Prix Morny winner Whistlejacket, who joins Big Rock at Grandcamp for €14,000. Value Sires Podium The first thought here is 'We're gonna need a bigger podium'. There are so many in this category worthy of highlighting, but since only gold, silver and bronze medals exist, the stewards had a very close look at the stud-mates Australia and Churchill and decided they wouldn't mind passing the silver medal back and forth across the yard. GOLD Awtaad, Derrinstown Stud, €8,500 You want to breed a racehorse, right? Well, look no further. SILVER Australia and Churchill, Coolmore, €15,000 Dual Classic winners, dual Classic producers, and now dual silver medal holders. A snip at this price. BRONZE Make Believe, Ballylinch Stud, €10,000 Can deliver sprinters through to those with Classic potential, and he remains terrific value. Click the links here if you missed Part I or Part II of our Value Sires series. The post Value Sires 2026 Part III: Affordable Options appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A key member of the Elliott Bloodstock Services and Imperium Sales teams, Lucy Ryan lets us in on her background in the bloodstock business as the first person to be back in the TDN hot seat this winter. TDN: How did you become involved in bloodstock in the first place? LR: More by chance than design. I was lucky enough to be introduced to ponies at an early age, joining the local pony club, which led to a bit of eventing, hunting and point-to-pointing (very badly!). I met Mathilde Texier at a friend's barbecue and she offered me a job as her assistant so I paused my studies at Leeds University and never returned. I had a wonderful time with Mathilde (hopefully she thought the same); it was an amazing experience and she was a superb teacher. This then led to working for one of the top judges Amanda Skiffington; again a great education and I'm very grateful to the both of them who helped kickstart my career. TDN: What's your proudest moment to date? LR: It has to be the creation of Imperium Sales. It was a real challenge, and something completely different to my day to day. I'm very thankful to Nicola Short who answered all my questions and guided me throughout. We're very lucky to have the platform to do it, and I'm very grateful to clients of Elliott Bloodstock Services who entrusted Imperium Sales to present and offer their stock at the sales. TDN: What was your defining memory of 2025? LR: Probably selling Pintara at the mares' sale for 1.8 million gns to Resolute Bloodstock. Achieving another million-pound lot within only our third year of consigning at the Tattersalls December breeding stock sale was pretty special. I'm very proud of all the team, and more importantly very thankful to the connections of Pintara for allowing Imperium Sales to offer her. TDN: Tell us something people don't know about you… LR: I'm a devoted shopper — whether that's at the sales or during Black Friday. TDN: What keeps you awake at night? VAT returns and customs! TDN: Any regrets? LR: None worth mentioning. Things have naturally gone wrong, and we're all human. Of course I've made mistakes but it's best to focus on the present and what's ahead. There's no point dwelling in the past. TDN: What motivates you? LR: You Got To Me winning the Irish Oaks was a very proud moment for all of us, so we want to repeat this success by finding another Classic winner. TDN: Give us an underrated sire to keep onside next year… LR: Nathaniel. Perhaps not entirely underrated, but at his fee I think he represents huge value, providing breeders with nice returns within the sales ring and on the racetrack. Alex [Elliott] has had great success with him — notably through the 2024 Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me and dual Listed winner and Group-placed filly Understated, who was sourced from BBAG. TDN: Your favourite sale/place and why? LR: The BBAG September Yearling Sale in Baden-Baden. I love the vibe of the sale, it's very relaxed. The sale itself offers excellent quality and it has been a lucky hunting ground for Elliott Bloodstock Services over the years. The town itself is a beautiful spa town. You must visit the casino for a night of old-school glamour. Ladies, take a frock, and gentlemen, you'll need a blazer to enter. TDN: What's your go-to karaoke song? LR: Valerie by Amy Winehouse — and I can, and have, sung it with or without the music. TDN: Who is your inspiration? LR: Gosh, within our industry there are lots of inspiring people and you learn from each other all the time but, if I had to narrow it down, I would say probably my two prior bosses and my present one! Both Dr Mathilde Texier and bloodstock agent Amanda Skiffington are incredible women have carved out wonderful careers in a tough industry, and they are still very much at the top of their games. So if that's not inspiring, I'm not sure what is. Last but not least, my current boss Alex Elliott has achieved a lot of notable success in a relatively short career, so you could say he's only just getting started. The post In The Hot Seat: Lucy Ryan appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Throughout its history, WinStar Farm's stallion program has been anchored by raw speed, with champion Speightstown and fellow sprinting specialist Distorted Humor among some of the first sires to define the farm's identity. As WinStar wraps up its 25th anniversary this year, the blueprint is much the same. Patch Adams, Mullikin and Straight No Chaser are the latest Grade I-winning sprinters set to join the roster. Two of the recruits carry the direct influence of the aforementioned cornerstone sires and the third is out of a mare by Congrats, another WinStar stalwart who has emerged as an influential broodmare sire. “Horses that have pure speed is something you can't fake,” said WinStar's Director of Bloodstock Services Liam O'Rourke. “It's a quality that we are always trying to inject into our breeding program and we're really excited to have three very fast horses coming to us in 2026.” PATCH ADAMS (Into Mischief — Well Humored, by Distorted Humor). Standing for $30,000 in 2026. Dual Grade I winner Patch Adams is a particularly meaningful addition to the WinStar roster as a third-generation homebred for the farm. WinStar purchased Patch Adams's third dam Well Dressed (Notebook) at the 2001 Keeneland November Sale. In the quarter-century since, the family has flourished with Grade I winners Well Armed (Tiznow), Cyberknife (Gun Runner) and Played Hard (Into Mischief). Patch Adams is out of the stakes-winning Distorted humor mare Well Humored, a half-sister to GISW American Patriot (War Front) and Parchment Party (Constitution), winner of this year's GIII Belmont Gold Cup Stakes. “Patch Adams is a horse that has been so rewarding for everyone here at WinStar,” said O'Rourke. “So many people in the WinStar family have had a hand in this horse's success. For him to return home and retire to our stallion barn is really coming full circle.” O'Rourke said the WinStar team had high hopes for Patch Adams from early on in his career. Trained by Brad Cox and campaigned in partnership with China Horse Club, the son of Into Mischief broke his maiden last November by 10 1/2 lengths, becoming a 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard.' Patch Adams as a foal at WinStar | courtesy WinStar Farm “He was a third of a second off Groupie Doll's track record under wraps as a 2-year-old,” recalled O'Rourke. “It was a 'wow' performance. He ran a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, which was the second-highest Beyer of any 2-year-old that year, so it really got us excited that he was going to be that special horse we thought he could be.” After testing the Kentucky Derby trail early this year, Patch Adams successfully cut back to one turn, defeating future stakes winner Big Truzz (Justify) on Kentucky Derby weekend. That victory launched a summer campaign in Saratoga where he reeled off back-to-back Grade I wins. “He was dominant in the Woody Stephens, going the fastest seven furlongs by a colt at Saratoga this summer,” said O'Rourke. “The Allen Jerkens was an elite sprinting performance, going in 1:21.61 which was faster than Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in the GI Forego that day and Hope Road (Quality Road) in the GI Ballerina. It wasn't an easy trip for him, so to gut that win out and run as fast as he did that day really solidified him as a special racehorse.” An injury sustained in training kept Patch Adams from making a trip to the Breeders' Cup before his retirement. Standing for $30,000 in his debut season, Patch Adams is bred on the same cross as fellow WinStar resident Life Is Good, who will see his first 2-year-olds on the track next year. O'Rourke reported a strong initial response from breeders, noting that Patch Adams should fit a wide variety of mares. “He has a lot of the qualities of both Distorted Humor and Into Mischief,” he explained. “He's a great-moving horse with beautiful action to him. He's got strength and balance and he stands over a lot of ground. He's gone over extremely well with some great judges.” MULLIKIN (Violence — Tulira's Star, by Congrats). Standing for $10,000. Mullikin -paddock-schooling-07-17-2025-SA6_9166-PRINT-Sarah-Andrew.jpg" alt="" width="1155" height="840" /> Sarah Andrew Like Patch Adams, Mullikin shares a connection to the WinStar brand. He was named after the farm's longtime CFO Jack Mullikin, who retired in 2023. Bred by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding, Mullikin was a $500,000 yearling at the Keeneland September Sale. The son of Violence placed in 12 of his 16 lifetime starts over a three-year career and earned over $1.1 million. As a 4-year-old last year, Mullikin reeled off four straight wins culminating in the GII John A. Nerud Stakes and GI Forego Stakes. “The Nerud was an especially important performance,” said O'Rourke. “To go as fast as he did in 1:20.54, he was half a second off Artax's record that has stood for 25 years. He came back in the Forego and put in a dominant performance, winning by 5 and three-quarter lengths. He ran a 105 Beyer Speed Figure over a very quality field that day.” Mullikin also placed third in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and was second behind Locked (Gun Runner) in the GII Cigar Mile Handicap. This year at five, the Rudolphe Brisset trainee's highlights included two runner-up performances behind Book'em Danno in the GIII True North Stakes and GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes. O'Rourke said that Mullikin is a natural fit for the WinStar roster as a son of Violence out of a Congrats mare. Congrats is the broodmare sire of GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), recently retired Grade I winner Johannes (Nyquist) and this year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). “To have the speed that he had coming off that sireline is critical and really appealing to breeders,” said O'Rourke. “Some really excellent horses have come from the Congrats line and I think he's going to continue to be an important influence in pedigrees for years to come.” STRAIGHT NO CHASER (Speightster — Margarita Friday, by Johannesburg). Standing for $10,000. Straight No Chaser wins the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint | Horsephotos Straight No Chaser first came on WinStar's radar as a stallion prospect when he claimed in the 2023 GIII Maryland Sprint Stakes in a record time of 1:08.27, earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure. The following year the MyRacehorse-campaigned colt claimed 2024 Champion Male Sprinter honors with back-to-back scores in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championships Stakes and the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. The Dan Blacker trainee added another win to his resume this year in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint. “What was really impressive was the way he carried his race with him wherever he went, whether it was Del Mar, Santa Anita, Oaklawn or shipping east for Maryland's biggest day of racing,” said O'Rourke. “Especially as a sprinter, to come back year after year, have those unbelievable performances and run elite speed figures just speaks to his quality as a racehorse.” The $2.6 million earner is a half-sibling to two other stakes winners and is from the family of Hall of Famer Housebuster. O'Rourke said that the first time he got a look at Straight No Chaser, he immediately started looking forward to showing the horse off to breeders. “I was blown away by his physique, his scope and his general build,” he said. “I think he's well-priced and we've had a lot of great feedback from breeders.” Straight No Chaser follows his grandsire Speightstown, who passed away in 2023, as an Eclipse and Breeders' Cup-winning sprinter to stand at WinStar. “Speightstown was so important to WinStar's history and he continues to produce new Grade I winners,” said O'Rourke. “The parallels as champion sprinter from that beautiful Gone West sireline make us really excited about Straight No Chaser.” The post WinStar Farm Welcomes Speedy New Trio appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

At 34-1, Cal-bred Express Kid outran his odds in the Springboard Mile to close out Remington Park's Thoroughbred meet and in the process the colt took home 10 Kentucky Derby points on Saturday evening. The $2,000 buy out of the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association Fall Mixed sale broke his maiden at first-asking at Canterbury in early July and was the runner-up in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes in mid-August. Express Kid shipped to Oklahoma City to contest the Clever Trevor Stakes, but was well-beaten Sept. 28. Switching to the local course's turf for an allowance condition Nov. 6, the Wade Rarick trainee won by a head. The longshot hustled out of the blocks from the extreme outside post and was able to wrestle the top spot away from Jets Rio (Candy Ride {Arg}). Traveling like a smooth operator under Jose Alvarez up the backstretch, Express Kid separated himself from the rest of the field, but heavy favorite Arctic Beast went on the attack around the far turn. Still, the pacesetter proved he had plenty in the tank and running down the lane his 'catch me if you can' tactics worked to perfection as he became the second longest shot to win the race behind 128-1 Texas Bling (by Too Much Bling). “He broke so sharp in them, I was like, Wow!” trainer Wade Rarick said. “I don't have a lot of these kind [that win $300,000 races). He is eligible for a lot of things in Arizona (where Rarick stables), but I think we might go a different direction with him now.” Of note, the owners of the top three finishers in the Springboard Mile received a special complimentary 2026 breeding season to Lane's End stallion Senor Buscador (by Mineshaft), who won the 2020 edition of the race for owner Joey Peacock and trainer Todd Fincher. The winner's dam is responsible for a yearling filly named Burglarized (Cat Burglar) and a weanling colt by Tap Back. She was bred to Shaaz for 2026. Express Kid's second dam is MSW Stormy West (Gone West). REMINGTON SPRINGBOARD MILE S., $300,000, Remington, 12-20, 2yo, 1m, 1:38.99, ft. 1–EXPRESS KID, 121, c, 2, by Bodexpress 1st Dam: Sensationalize, by Street Sense 2nd Dam: Stormy West, by Gone West 3rd Dam: Storm Beauty, by Storm Cat ($12,000 RNA Ylg '24 FTCAYR; $2,000 Ylg '24 ARZOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Steve Haahr; B-Richard Barton Enterprises (CA); T-Wade Rarick; J-Jose L. Alvarez. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $236,902. 2–Arctic Beast, 121, c, 2, Yaupon–Frostie Anne, by Frost Giant. ($120,000 Wlg '23 FTNMIX; $275,000 Ylg '24 SARAUG). O-Paradise Farms Corp., JP Racing Stable, Staudacher, David, Zilla Racing Stables and Rice, Jennifer; B-Rockridge Stud, LLC & Saratoga Glen Farm & Beal's Racing Stable, LL (NY); T-Michael Maker. $60,000. 3–Royalamerican, 121, g, 2, Upstart–Scat for the Cause, by Creative Cause. O/B/T-C. R. Trout (OK). $33,000. Margins: 6 1/4, 2 1/4, HF. Odds: 34.50, 0.90, 9.50. Also Ran: Western Man, Way Beyond, Big Apple Patrick, Essential Time, Jets Rio, Time for Music, Supreme Good (Ire), Spice Runner. Scratched: My Dream Zapper. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. A HUGE upset! It was all #12 EXPRESS KID ($71.00) who goes gate-to-wire to easily win the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at @RemingtonPark and earn 10 points towards the @KentuckyDerby. The son of Bodexpress was ridden by Jose Alvarez and is trained by Wade Rarick. pic.twitter.com/JOpL2ciijg — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) December 21, 2025 The post OKC Boxcar: Express Kid Rocks Tote In Remington Springboard Mile Upset appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Lyle Hewitson is hoping to turn some near misses into winners and continue his strong start to the campaign when he partners some useful chances at Happy Valley on Tuesday night. The South African is on the 12-winner mark for the campaign and has no complaints about his start, but a combined 30 second and third place finishes so far have left him feeling like there was more in the locker. “I can’t complain, there’s been plenty of seconds and thirds that of course we’d love to turn into winners,”...View the full article