Wandering Eyes

Philip Serpe, a licensed trainer since 1984 who has maintained a nearly violation-free record while campaigning graded stakes winners up and down the East Coast, is fighting “banned substance” sanctions involving the alleged detection of clenbuterol in an Aug. 10 Saratoga Race Course winner he trained by suing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in federal court. Serpe's Oct. 17 lawsuit in United States District Court (Southern District of Florida) cites the purported unconstitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), “because, first, HISA's delegation of federal regulatory power to the Authority violates the private nondelegation doctrine, and, second, HISA and the HISA Rules violate the Seventh Amendment's right to a jury trial.” Those allegations of unconstitutionality share common legal underpinnings with no fewer than eight other lawsuits in the federal court system in which HISA is under attack. Three of those cases have already been decided at the federal appeals court level (two in favor of HISA's constitutionality and one against). And in each of those three lawsuits, the losing party at the appeals court level has recently initiated legal action in the U.S. Supreme Court that could lead to the nation's highest court deciding once and for all whether the 2020 law that governs the sport in America is constitutional or not. Serpe's lawsuit stated that the 65-year-old trainer “challenges the Authority's enforcement and seeks to dissolve and vacate the provisional suspension imposed against him, which is causing Serpe to suffer irreparable injury.” Serpe's complaint is asking the court to “declare HISA and the HISA Rules to be unconstitutional, preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants from enforcing HISA and the HISA Rules against Serpe, and dissolve and vacate the Authority's provisional suspension against Serpe.” Beyond the provisional suspension, Serpe is facing a two-year period of ineligibility and a monetary fine up to $25,000 if HISA's clenbuterol allegations go against him. The lawsuit continued: “In addition to lost once-in-a-lifetime racing opportunities, training income, and racing winnings, Serpe has lost customers, goodwill, and business. Further, the provisional suspension is causing Serpe reputational harm… “Over his more-than-40-year career, with more than 8,000 starts, none of Serpe's trained horses have tested positive for a prohibited medication,” the lawsuit stated. That claim is backed up by Serpe's rulings history posted online by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI). That portal, which lists most (but not all) actions reported by state racing commissions, shows only two entries for Serpe: One was a 2013 Class 4 (lowest level) phenylbutazone overage detected at Gulfstream Park, to which Serpe agreed and consented to a $250 fine. The other was a 2018 workout violation at Saratoga related to breezing a horse too soon after it had received shock or pulse wave therapy, an infraction to which Serpe waived his right to appeal and had $500 stayed from a $1,000 fine. The HISA Authority's director of communications, Mandy Minger, told TDN via email on Friday that the Authority did not wish to comment on Serpe's lawsuit. The HISA Authority's web portal currently lists Serpe as being “suspended.” His case status is listed as “pending.” Clenbuterol is listed as a “banned” substance under HISA rules. It is a drug that over the past 30 years in racing has evolved from being an unregulated bronchodilator used to treat equine airway disease to a sometimes-abused, performance-enhancing substance that eventually became heavily sanctioned in North America because it was known to mimic the muscle-building properties of anabolic steroids. Serpe's lawsuit outlined the timeline of what happened over the past two months, starting when Fast Kimmie (Oscar Performance) won a four-horse, off-the-turf $30,000 claimer at the Spa for owner WellSpring Stables. “As a result of winning the race, A Samples and B Samples of Fast Kimmie's blood and urine were collected,” the lawsuit stated. “Testing and analysis of the A Samples of blood and urine was performed by the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis. “The Authority began flexing its enforcement muscle against Serpe on Sept. 4, when the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) notified Serpe that Fast Kimmie's A Sample of urine had resulted in an adverse analytical finding for the detection of Clenbuterol. “This was the first time that Serpe learned of his alleged violation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program, even though the subject race occurred nearly a month earlier. By written response to HIWU, Serpe denied he administered, or caused the administration of, Clenbuterol to Fast Kimmie. “Adamant in his innocence, Serpe requested that B Sample testing and analysis be performed, exercising his right under HISA Rule 3246. “Serpe also requested that HIWU conduct blood and hair testing, together with DNA analysis, which would identify and confirm whether the A Sample tested by UC Davis was actually collected from Fast Kimmie. “HIWU responded that Clenbuterol was not detected in Fast Kimmie's A Sample of blood and denied Serpe's request for hair testing and DNA analysis. Hair testing and DNA analysis are critical to Serpe's defense against the alleged ADMC Program violation. “B Sample testing and analysis was performed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture Analytical Toxicology Laboratory. On Oct. 10, HIWU issued Serpe a charge letter stating that testing and analysis of the B Sample of urine confirmed the detection of Clenbuterol. “The charge letter further stated, '[A]s required by ADMC Program Rule 3247(a)(1) of the Protocol, HIWU has imposed a Provisional Suspension on you as the Responsible Person effective as of today's date.' “The charge letter advised Serpe that he had one week–until Oct. 17–to (1) admit the ADMC Program violation and accept, dispute, or seek to mitigate HIWU's proposed consequences or (2) deny the ADMC Program violation and dispute HIWU's proposed consequences” at a hearing, the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit explained that Serpe's interpretation of the HIWU charge letter was that if he declined to proceed with the arbitration, then he would be “deemed to have waived [his] right to a hearing, admitted the Anti-Doping Rule Violation(s) charged, and accepted the Consequences specified by HIWU.'” Instead, according to the lawsuit, on Oct. 14, Serpe responded to HIWU's charge letter by demanding, in writing, that HIWU rescind the provisional suspension and advise whether it will bring its enforcement action in federal district court.” The post Trainer Serpe Sues HISA over Clenbuterol Suspension appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

After a hearing before the Board of Stewards, jockey Luan Machado was suspended for three days and fined $2,500 for his ride aboard Ultimate Strike (Mineshaft) in Wednesday's eighth race at Keeneland. Keeneland uses two finish lines, one for mile-and-sixteenth races and the other for mile-and-an-eighth races. Ultimate Strike was five lengths in front as he hit the first finish line and was clearly on his way to victory. But Machado apparently believed the race was over at that point and began to pull up his horse prior to the actual finish line for the race. Machado's gaffe allowed longshot Gotta Have Dreams (Creative Cause) to just get past him at the wire for the win. He will be suspended three racing days, Oct. 27, Oct. 30 and Oct. 31. Machado is the regular rider of marathon specialist Next (Not This Time), who will likely make his next start in the Breeders' Cup. With 62 wins, Machado was the leading rider at the recently concluded Turfway Park meet, 25 wins ahead of runner-up Gerardo Corrales. (7) Gotta Have Dreams wins the final race of the day for @James_D_Graham. (9) Ultimate Strike is second, (10) Rocket Night takes third. pic.twitter.com/uYVXbIXTqP — Keeneland Racing (@keenelandracing) October 16, 2024 The post Machado Suspended Three Days And Fined $2,500 For Misjudging Finish At Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a half-sister to a Derby winner. 4.10 Leopardstown, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, f, 7f 30yT TAKEMETOTHEMOON (IRE) (Uncle Mo) is the sixth foal out of the G1 Fillies' Mile winner Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who is now enshrined in Coolmore mythology as the dam of their outstanding Derby hero City Of Troy (Justify). Joining her from Ballydoyle is fellow newcomer Guarded (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a daughter of the dual group 3 winner and multiple group 1-placed So Perfect (Scat Daddy). 2.30 Leopardstown, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, f, 8fT MINNIE HAUK (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) bids to build on her debut second at Cork at the start of the month for Ballydoyle and carries considerable weight into this contest as the €1.85-million topper at last year's Goffs Orby Book 1. Out of a half-sister to Kingman (GB) from an excellent Juddmonte family, she encounters eight peers. The post City Of Troy’s Half-Sister Debuts At Leopardstown appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

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Having come out of his Oct. 16 five-furlong breeze in great shape, star dirt marathoner Next will take his talents to Del Mar for a start in the Breeders' Cup World Championships, trainer Chief Stipe Cowans confirmed Oct. 18.View the full article

The National Thoroughbred League (NTL), a new series of races meant to bring the team concept to the sport and to attract new fans, will put on its second 2025 event Saturday at Parx. It is called Oktober-Fast and is hosted by NBA Hall of Famer and Philadelphia icon Julius (Dr. J) Erving. When the NTL was in the planning stages last year the focus was on purchasing horses and then having them divvied up between the teams. There are currently 10 teams in the league and they would own the horses. It turned out the plan was impractical, so President of Horse Operations Tom Ludt came up with a new concept. Now, a racetrack draws a card as it normally would and then the team owners draft the horses, much in the same way football fans draft their fantasy football teams. The actual owners of the horses keep all the purse money, but must agree to let their horses run in the silks of whichever team drafted them. The Parx races that will be part of the NTL are the sixth through the tenth. “We don't own any of the horses,” Ludt said. “It's a Iot more like a fantasy sports game. One condition of entry is that the horse has to run in silks of team that drafts them. The racetrack does its draw and the gives us a one-hour window for a fantasy draft based off a random draw. Unfortunately, one race only has seven horses so three teams were excluded.” A point system is based on where the horses finish for each of the teams. In the inaugural NTL event this year, which was held at Kentucky Downs, the Miami Seahorses came out on top with 570 points. There is no prize structure in place this year to reward the winning teams, but that may change in the future. NTL events are supposed to be about more than just horse racing and that will be the case this weekend at Parx. Erving, who is a co-owner of the Philadelphia Stallions, will be the main attraction, He, along with other sports stars, will be available throughout the afternoon to have a meet-and-greet with fans. There will be no charge to enter the area where the sports stars will be congregating. NTL event | Sue Finley This year's series will wrap up in December at Turf Paradise. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is a co-owner of the Phoenix Mustangs. Ludt is already planning for 2025 and believes the NTL events scheduled for Pimlico in the week between the Derby and the Preakness will be the league's biggest hit. “Lamar Jackson has bought into the Baltimore team, the Maryland Colts,” “Ludt said. “The Governor has been very supportive of us. We have negotiated with Pimlico and we got May 10, the Saturday between the Derby and the 150th Preakness. To have Lamar Jackson and the Governor behind us, I think that's going to make that event by far our biggest event.” While still a work in progress, the NTL's goal remains the same, to introduce new fans to the sport of horse racing. “Our idea is to put butts in the seats, to bring new people out to the racetrack. We're doing it through different avenues. The meet-and-greets should get sports fans not interested in racing to the track to see what the sport has to offer. As he has in the past, Ludt made it clear that he was hoping the industry as a whole would be more supportive of the NTL concept. “It's a challenge,” he said. “This industry is very segregated. I have finally found a model that works for the tracks and works for us so that we can economically survive. People don't want to hear this but I think we're going to be doing this industry a huge favor. On Saturday, we will bring a lot of people to this track who don't normally follow horse racing. That's our mission.” The post Next Stop For The National Thoroughbred League, The City Of Brotherly Love appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) will host the 2024 T.I.P. Championships at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, which will be held Oct. 24-27 after its postponement due to Hurricane Helene, the organization said in a presser on Friday. The show welcomes hunter, jumper, English pleasure, dressage, combined test, Western pleasure, ranch riding, competitive trail and in-hand competition. The in-hand classes will include classes designed to specifically celebrate horses that have started 50 or more times, have won more than $100,000 in earnings, and were adopted from Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited organizations or Thoroughbred Charities of America grantees. Six special awards will be given at each show recognizing the youngest, oldest, most recently raced, highest earning, highest sale price and most-raced Thoroughbred. The event welcomes nearly 240 Thoroughbreds competing in 42 divisions. Each championship division will be awarded prizes and $2,000 in prize money with awards through 10th place. Click here to learn more. The post Rescheduled T.I.P. Championships Set For Oct. 24-27 In Aiken, South Carolina appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

NEWMARKET, UK — The contrast could not have been more stark. From the high-flying bids of Book 1, the wave of a hand or catalogue was harder to spot on Friday as Books 3 and 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale drew to a close. If last week and the beginning of this week had an almost surreal air, this then was reality. Overall, however, there was little doubting since the close of Book 1 that this would be a vintage edition of the sale as a whole, and so it proved, with more than 204 million gns spent is eight sessions during the past fortnight. By Friday, in what felt like the blink of an eye, it had become a buyers' market, with a high proportion of those yearlings to have been sold changing hands for less than their cost of production. This is not a new story; it has been repeated through most of the lower-end sales in Europe this season. Boom or bust. It has to an extent been ever thus, but the polarisation has felt more pronounced this fortnight, with the one exception being the greater range of stallions who have been propelled into the spotlight. That's a good thing, for sure. The offspring of the subfertile multiple Group 1 winner Al Kazeem (GB) are something of a rarity in the sale ring, but one of his sons played a leading role during the final session of Book 3. Lot 1617, offered by the National Stud on behalf of breeder Smardon Thoroughbreds, is now under the ownership of Al Kazeem's breeder, John Deer of Oakgrove Stud, where the stallion stands. After bidding 65,000gns on Deer's behalf on the half-brother to the 112-rated multiple winner Live your Dream (Ire), Oakgrove's manager David Hilton said, “I thought this colt is a direct mix of the stallion and broodmare sire Sea The Stars. The mare looks good, she has had a very well-rated horse who could have black-type. It's a lovely back pedigree and we couldn't not have a go at buying him.” The colt's dam Dream Book (GB) is an unraced Sea The Stars (Ire) daughter of the Ballymacoll Stud mare New Morning (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), herself a sister to the champion racemare Islington (Ire). The National Stud also presented the second-top lot of the day, a colt by Territories (Ire), who had been represented by a 750,000gns colt in Book 2. It took a bid of 62,000gns from Sean Grassick and Ollie Sangster to buy lot 1724, the first foal of the dual winner Pax Britannica (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) whose granddam is the noted racemare and producer Cerulean Sky (Ire). Michael Dods bought the top-priced filly of the day, a daughter of Washington DC from Bearstone Stud. Bought for 60,000gns, lot 1761 is the first foal of the Fountain Of Youth (Ire) mare Seaclusion, who is in turn a daughter of the Listed Hilary Needler Trophy winner On The Brink (GB) (Mind Games {GB}). The filly's sire and the sires of her first two dams have all stood at Bearstone, as did Indesatchel (Ire), the sire of the dam's Listed-winning half-sister Aetna (GB). Book 3 was conducted in a slightly different format to last year, with around 80 fewer catalogued and the sale conducted over two days. Day-by-day comparisons are tricky, but this pared-down offering overall saw the average rise by 5% to 20,017gns and the median hold steady at 15,000gns. The sale is graded, so the day two average was roughly half that figure at 10,348gns, and the median was 8,000gns. The clearance rate dropped a little on the second day to 71%, but for Book 3 as a whole it was 81%, with 405 of the 503 horses offered finding a buyer. Turnover was 8,136,700gns. Book 4 followed on immediately in the dusk. Seven of the 61 yearlings offered were by Mickley Stud stallion Ubettabelieveit (GB), a son of Kodiac (GB) who won the G2 Flying Childers Stakes. Don't bet against his offspring showing up well in the early skirmishes in next season's two-year-old races. He will have been well backed by the Mickley Stud team, which breeds plenty of winners, and he has some well-made stock. Michael Dods bought a colt by Ubettabelieveit in Book 3 for 26,000gns and top of the pops in Book 4 was his colt from the Consign draft out of the seven-time winner Available (Ire) (Moss Vale {Ire}). Bred by Richard Kent, he was bought by breeze-up rider Gordon 'Flash' Power for 20,000gns. A clearance rate of 54% was pretty much par for the course for Book 4, which ended with 33 sold for turnover of 111,500gns. The average of 3,379gns (-31%) and median of 2,000gns (-43%) tell their own story, and it's hard not to interpret that as that this exercise would be more cost-effective for vendors if the yearlings had been entered for an online sale. Mahony Hails Appetite for Quality Yearlings While the October Sale was always going to end with more of a whimper than a bang, taken in its entirety the fortnight's trade has been pretty jaw-dropping. The strength of the “outlandish” Book 1 undoubtedly had a knock-on effect for Books 2 and 3, and the decision to prune the numbers has helped this sale, if not the Somerville Sale in September, which was expanded to two days to accommodate the demand from breeders. The Somerville and Books 3 and 4 may well be affected by the extra costs involved in shipping horses from Britain to the EU following Brexit, which must surely be a deterrent for some buyers from those member countries who find it easier to buy at Irish, French and German sales. The strength of the October Sale as a whole is indicated by the turnover of 204,561,700gns. Though this easily beats the 200,403,100gns spent at the blockbuster 2022 edition, this year's tally is all the more notable considering that it is derived from 167 fewer yearlings sold compared to two years ago. Then, the average stood at 125,916gns, compared to this year's 144,464gns. The overall median was 58,000gns. Reflecting on the last two weeks, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said, “I suspect that the 2024 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale will be remembered for a very long time. From the moment the buyers began to descend on Park Paddocks in advance of Book 1 it felt as if something out of the ordinary was beginning to unfold, but nevertheless, not even the most incurable optimist would have predicted that in a period of two weeks more than 200 million guineas would be spent on yearlings at Tattersalls. “The sustained demand has been breathtaking and the fact that records continued to fall throughout Books 1, 2 and 3 of the October Yearling Sale has, in the current climate, been a very welcome boost for the wider European bloodstock industry. Amongst the numerous extraordinary figures perhaps the most remarkable statistic is that after an unprecedented Book 1 clearance rate of 88%, Book 2 produced three consecutive sessions which achieved clearance rates of 90% or higher and day 1 of Book 3 had a clearance rate of 88%. Only yearling sales of the very highest quality produce such impressive returns and we must pay tribute to the breeders and consignors from Britain, Ireland and further afield whose consistent support of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale brings the buyers to Park Paddocks and Newmarket in such huge numbers year after year, and more than ever in 2024.” He added, “Not every sector of the market has been as robust as we would all like, but the appetite for quality yearlings has been truly global and it has been particularly rewarding to have welcomed so many new buyers from all over the world in the course of the past two weeks alongside those whose support has long been a feature of so many sales at Tattersalls. Between them all they have demonstrated not only the enduring international appeal of the sport of horse racing, but also that Tattersalls in October remains unrivalled as a source of the finest yearlings to be found in Europe.” Thought for the Day An oft-repeated concern from breeders as the week has worn on is to what level the booming trade of Books 1 and 2 will affect stallion fees for 2025. Some obvious big names will certainly be in for a price hike but holding the middle-to-lower tiers at a reasonable level may well end up being the theme when, for the second year in a row at least, there will be plenty of breeders opting not to cover mares. Of course, breeders are entitled to cover whatever they like if their end game is racing the offspring themselves, but placing a foal or yearling in a crowded market is hard enough in the first place, and a couple of blank dams or a poor production record on the page will rarely be tolerated by buyers who have plenty from which to pick and choose. The post ‘Sustained Demand’ as Tattersalls October Concludes in Record Fashion appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Despite not having the best of breaks, Ellen Jay (f, 3, Constitution–Covfefe, by Into Mischief) kicked home best of all in the straight to secure her career-first black type win in the Glen Cove Stakes. The 4-5 favorite made sure to keep pacesetting Ready to Jam (More Than Ready) honest on the front end after the jump and was sailing into striking contention leaving the bend. Taking command as that early leader tried valiantly to fight back, she inched away from her rivals to secure a clear win as Agra (Blame) came on late to claim second over the longtime frontrunner. The final time was 1:07.38. O/B-LNJ Foxwoods; T-Brad Cox. ELLEN JAY takes the Glen Cove Stakes, securing her third consecutive win. Flavien Prat was in the saddle for trainer @bradcoxracing. pic.twitter.com/ZNvbXIeiSL — NYRA () (@TheNYRA) October 18, 2024 The post Ellen Jay Claims First Black-Type in Rescheduled Glen Cove appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

It's QIPCO British Champions Day, so it stands to reason that we are talking about autumn soft ground as the European flat season continues to turn on its axis. Where the summer specialists City Of Troy (Justify), Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) are missing for varying reasons, the way is open for those who relish the kind of test this surface provides. Every one of the five pattern races on Ascot's fixture boasts at least one soft-ground lover and recent history tells us this is often the most significant factor when the chips are down. Then there are those who can sit in either category, the truly versatile like Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) seemingly immune to misfortune and adversity and others who have yet to display their flexibility. Saturday's feature G1 QIPCO Champion Stakes–a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf–offers the chance for Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) to do just that, having gained all his group wins on good ground, while his chief rival Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) has winning form on a similar surface but only really took off when he encountered one he could really bounce off this summer. Both colts are top-drawer performers, with Economics's G1 Irish Champion Stakes success and Calandagan's second in the G1 Juddmonte International standing them apart from the crowd. The latter's closing sectionals in the G2 King Edward VII Stakes at the Royal meeting here in June outshone those of Auguste Rodin in the G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes over a shorter trip, while his performance in chasing home City Of Troy at York was again outstanding on the clock. Economics, whose dam La Pomme D'Amour (GB) (Peintre Celebre) was at her worst on this type of ground, has yet to match the kind of fireworks of Calandagan in terms of sectionals but with the ground as it is his sheer determination might be the most effective weapon. He just wouldn't let Auguste Rodin get the upper hand at Leopardstown and while he had enjoyed the better run through that race, he pulled it out where it mattered and few would claim he wasn't the worthy winner. William Haggas is aware of the threat posed by the French challenger. “Calandagan is obviously a very good horse and will be a danger to everyone,” he said. “He has won over a mile and a half and I think he'll need every inch of the trip–I think it will be very interesting. He's a very smart horse, let's hope they both get there and what will be, will be. He was very impressive at Ascot. I fancied our horse in that race very much and he was binoculars away in second.” The Aga Khan's stud manager Georges Rimaud said, “We're looking forward to it and Calandagan is very well. It's good to give them a break and I believe he has come back well and has worked very well, so we are very happy and we'll see what will happen. I understand they have moved the course to the track with the smaller straight, so it's going to be acceptable ground I believe. Of course, Economics is a very good horse but it's a Champion Stakes and you've got to be a champion so it's a good thing that there are good horses in there.” On paper, this does not appear to be one of Ballydoyle's key targets with only Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) successful for the operation despite hefty representation. Sitting between the Arc and the Breeders' Cup and often staged on ground that tends to compromise the kind of thoroughbreds housed in Rosegreen, it is not the biggest surprise that Aidan O'Brien has different priorities. Unbowed, the stable returns with this year's Arc third Los Angeles (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) who is tough and resilient and boasts a similar profile to last year's winner King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}). Of the remainder, there is a danger that Iresine (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) could be patronised given his connections, but he proved when dispatching Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) in last year's G1 Prix Ganay that he is dangerous to ignore while Jeff Smith's G1 Nassau Stakes runner-up See The Fire (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) has something to find to beat the best of these but so did her dam Arabian Queen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the 2015 G1 Juddmonte International. Iresine's rider Marie Velon is relishing the prospect of riding such a live contender in one of Europe's highlights. “To ride in the Champion Stakes on Iresine is a dream, as he is the best horse of my life,” she said. “We grew up together, so to run in this big race is unbelievable, for both me and the team. Calandagan and Economics are the best horses of the season, but I will count on Iresine's experience to beat them. It's a beautiful challenge and we will do our best. He is in great form, better than last time. He will be 100 per-cent for Saturday and the ground will be perfect for him.” Can Charyn? This season's surprise package has been Nurlan Bizakov's Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who has gone from top-level contest to top-level contest enhancing his reputation each time. Proving in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois that his G1 Queen Anne Stakes success was no fluke, the homebred was caught out at ParisLongchamp where the mechanics of the G1 Prix du Moulin worked against him on the day. This straight mile of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Sponsored by QIPCO is his counting house, so as smart as the 3-year-olds Tamfana (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) and Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) have looked so far they have to up their game to make this a true contest. Last year's runner-up Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) has no peak-form Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) to contend with this time and the lightly-campaigned 5-year-old was the subject of a positive bulletin from Barry Irwin. “This is probably going to be it for this year for him, but we're looking forward to this race,” he said. “My trainer uses one of those smart saddles where they get all sorts of data and information and his numbers for his big pre-race work were better than they were going into Dubai and that was previously his best work ever heading into a race. I wouldn't say my trainer is over-confident, but I would say he is hoping for a big race.” Aidan O'Brien said of Henry Longfellow, who has ground to make up having been third in the Moulin, “Things haven't really gone to plan for him this year, things have never fallen into place. We think we haven't seen the best of him yet and we have him in good form.” Packed Content… There is no standout on the formbook in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, with Ballydoyle's Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) edging it among the swollen field on her G1 Yorkshire Oaks success on lively ground in August. Sporting a hood for the first time when disappointing in the G1 Prix de l'Opera earlier this month, she is headgear-free once more and remains a potential improver alongside Juddmonte's fellow 3-year-old Kalpana (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}). Favoured here on the back of her authoritative G3 September Stakes success, she has to prove her stamina with the ground placing extra demands but the confidence behind her is hard to ignore in this GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf qualifier. Juddmonte's Barry Mahon said of Kalpana, “It will be the same for them all, it depends on how much rain arrives. She won't mind soft ground but if it turned heavy, that would be a whole different ball game. She's in good form, Andrew [Balding] is happy with her work and we're looking forward to seeing her run. She did it well at Kempton, to be fair she's probably been improving all year physically, but you'd have to be impressed with how she did it.” Aidan O'Brien said of his leading contender, “The trip was a bit short for Content, the ground didn't suit and she normally wears ear plugs but in France she had to wear a hood as well, so maybe the combination was too much for her.” Testing going brings Jurgen Sartori's impressive G2 Grand Prix de Deauville winner Quantanamera (Ger) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) firmly into the mix, with this meeting tending to favour overseas challengers accustomed to a deep surface. The Elite Racing Club's homebred Tiffany (Ire) (Farhh {GB}) has also shown an affinity with easy ground having been to Baden-Baden twice this season to take a listed contest in May and the G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis and she has that all-important Pivotal connection through her sire. Carefully steered towards this test by Sir Mark Prescott, she has the right material if the 3-year-olds fail to deliver. Elite Racing's Dan Downie of owners said, “Ground-wise, I think she's pretty versatile, I don't think we know what she wants really. She tends to be pretty effective on any ground she's run on. We're not particularly fussed about that. She's had a good season and she's been improving. It's a difficult time of year for fillies, but hopefully she remains in good form. We're very happy with her and the plan is to stay in training with her next year, as there's so much more to come from her.” The Long And The Short Of It… The other two contests on the card offer contrasting experiences, with Kyprios and last year's winner Trawlerman (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}) potentially set to craft a long-drawn-out saga in the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup and the likes of Montassib (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and co ready to show their muscle in around 75 seconds in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes. Cheveley Park Stud's G1 Lockinge Stakes and G2 Lennox Stakes winner Audience (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) is back in trip for the first time in over two years, while the 2022 winner and 2023 runner-up Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) tries again, as is his wont. Kinross's jockey Rossa Ryan said of Marc Chan's veteran TDN Rising Star, “If he is going to Ascot, he will be 110 per-cent right, he's that sort of customer and he won't be turning up just to make up the numbers. All credit has to go to Ralph [Beckett] and the team, they are the ones who deserve all the praise as they are the ones to have wrapped him up in cotton wool–he still hasn't lost his mojo and it's great to see.” William Haggas said of Montassib, “Since I dropped him back to six, he's been very good but he keeps pricking his ears when he gets to the front and you always think when they do that, they have a bit left. I don't know how much left there is.” TDN Rising Star Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), who was second to Montassib in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup and has been acquired by Wathnan Racing, is following in familiar footsteps with his dam's full-brother Deacon Blues (GB) (Compton Place {GB}) having won the inaugural running of this in 2011 and her half-brother The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) emulating that achievement five years later. Aidan O'Brien won't be using the ground as an excuse if Kyprios is subdued as he was 12 months ago. “The ground has never seemed to bother him, whatever it is,” he said. “This year it was fast ground in the Gold Cup and then it was soft in France the last day, it all seems to come alike to him. We've not had many like him, he's been an incredible horse.” John Gosden revealed that Trawlerman would be coming into this a fresh horse having gone down by a length to a much straighter Kyprios at Royal Ascot. “He had a hard race in the Gold Cup, so we put him away–he had a nice holiday on his owner's stud farm,” he explained. “He has come back in and is in great order for the rematch.” The post Testing Champions Day Awaits appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Knightsbridge (Nyquist) will square off with GI Woody Stephens Stakes winner Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in a deep renewal of the GIII Perryville Stakes going seven furlongs at Keeneland Saturday. 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner), last seen finishing third as the favorite in the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, is expected to scratch and instead make his sophomore debut in the lidlifter at the Big A Saturday. Godolphin homebred Knightsbridge posted a double-digit victory going seven furlongs on debut at Churchill Downs Nov. 4, then fired fresh off the bench with another dominating decision in an optional claimer going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park last out Mar. 28. The latter performance earned him a 96 Beyer Speed Figure. Knightsbridge has been working smartly at Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's Saratoga base for his return, including a five-furlong bullet in 1:02 2/5 (1/7) Oct. 7. “The timing and distance of the Perryville makes sense as a good opportunity to start him back,” Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. “It will be good to get him back to the track, as he had some bone bruising in the spring so he needed a few months of turn out before he could resume training.” The New Jersey-bred Book'em Danno closed from ninth to finish a good third in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes at Saratoga last time Aug. 24. “He's doing great, hopefully he gets the job done,” trainer Derek Ryan said. “I thought he should have won the Jerkens. If he gets to the outside, he wins. The rail that day was dead.” Saturday's 10-race card at Keeneland also co-features the GII Lexus Raven Run Stakes. Emery (More Than Ready), winner of the GIII Victory Ride Stakes July 4 and runner-up in the GI Test Stakes Aug. 3, is the 7-5 morning-line favorite. The weekend's graded stakes action also includes Saturday's GIII Ontario Derby at Woodbine and Sunday's GIII Rood & Riddle Dowager Stakes. The post Sophomore Sprinters Enjoy Spotlight at Keeneland Saturday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The $165,368 New York Breeders' Futurity highlights one of the richest cards in the history of Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, with three stakes races and four claiming-series finals packed into the nine-race program Oct. 21.View the full article

The Japanese Classic finale sees G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) hero Danon Decile (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) line up against 17 rivals in the 3000-metre G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) at Kyoto on Sunday. Trained by Shogo Yasuda on behalf of Danox Co, the favoured son of dual Grade I runner-up Top Decile (Congrats) has been on a break since his Derby win in May. He will also be venturing beyond 2400 metres for the first time and leaves from stall four. Yasuda said of the 2024 G3 Keisei Hai victor, “Things went well with him through the summer, and he's now bigger on his return to the stable, but looks more muscular. He's coped well with the workload we've given him since being back. He's not as excitable now as he was before the Derby. I think he should be fine over the 3,000 meters of the race.” Second to Danon Decile in the Keisei Hai and unplaced in both the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and Japanese Derby, Silk Racing's Urban Chic (Jpn) (Suave Richard {Jpn}) was on something of a recovery mission in last month's G2 Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen. The Japanese Guineas fourth duly delivered in that 2200-metre contest, beating Big Red Farm's Group 2 winner and Japanese Guineas second Cosmo Kuranda (Jpn) (Al Ain {Jpn}), who was one place better than Masatoshi Haramura's G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes bridesmaid Ecoro Walz (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}) in third. “He was returning from a break for his last race, and I think he'll be better for that run,” said trainer Ryo Takei of Urban Chic. “He found a good rhythm in that race, and it sets him up well for this next one. He's becoming more mature now. It'll be his first time to transport to the Kansai region, so we'll have to see how he handles that. The jockey [Christophe Lemaire] can bring out the best in him. I've thought the Kikuka Sho would be the best of the Classic races for the horse. He's lost twice to Danon Decile so far, so I want him to do his best here.” A winner of the G3 Mainichi Hai in relatively rare soft going at Hanshin in March, Yoshio Matsumoto's frontrunner Meisho Tabaru (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}) should thrive over the 3000-metre trip. Scratched from the Tokyo Yushun, he resumed in the autumn with a tally in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai at Chukyo on Sept. 22. Tetsuhide Kunimoto's Shonan La Punta (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) was third that day. Trainer Mamoru Ishibashi said, “Jockey Suguru Hamanaka has been riding him in training and feels the horse is more relaxed now than he was for the Kobe Shimbun Hai. The horse had a nice break in the summer. We won't know about the 3000 meters distance of the race this time until we try, but with the way he ran in the Kobe Shimbun Hai, if he can find a good rhythm again, we'll get to see what he's capable of. He does have plenty of stamina.” Untested at this level is Peace One Duc (Jpn) (Greater London {Jpn}), who is a homebred for Narutoshi Hasegawa. Second at first asking in March, the colt sports three straight victories over 2000 metres, 2400 metres, and 2200 metres in April, June and August, respectively. However, he has yet to face a stakes -quality field and he will breath from gate one. Jockey Yoshitomi Shibata said, “The horse's condition and reactions are good. He's a powerful horse with a lot of stamina. His wins have been good, even though they have been at a lower level. I don't think we have to lead, with another frontrunner [Meisho Tabaru] in the line-up.” The post Japanese Derby Hero Danon Decile Aims For Another Classic Ring appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Top Japanese 3-year-olds tackle 3,000 meters in the third leg of their Triple Crown, the Oct. 20 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1).View the full article

The Jockey Club reported in press release on Friday that 1,181 stallions covered 28,104 mares in North America during 2023, according to statistics compiled through Oct. 13 of this year. These breedings have resulted in 17,700 live foals of 2024 being reported to The Jockey Club on Live Foal Reports. The Jockey Club estimates that the number of live foals reported so far is 85-95 percent complete. The reporting of live foals of 2024 is down 2.4 percent from last year at this time when The Jockey Club received reports for 18,143 live foals of 2023. In addition to the 17,700 live foals of 2024 reported through Oct. 13, The Jockey Club also received 1,979 No Foal Reports for the 2024 foaling season. Ultimately, the 2024 registered foal crop is projected to reach 18,000. The number of stallions declined 5.4 percent from the 1,248 reported for 2022 at this time last year, while the number of mares bred declined 1.6 percent from the 28,548 reported for 2022. The 2024 breeding statistics are available alphabetically by stallion name through the online Fact Book on The Jockey Club website. Kentucky annually leads all states and provinces in terms of Thoroughbred breeding activity. Kentucky-based stallions accounted for 60.7 percent of the mares reported bred in North America in 2023 and 65.6 percent of the live foals reported for 2024. The 17,056 mares reported bred to 211 Kentucky stallions in 2023 have produced 11,605 live foals, a .4 percent increase on the 11,564 Kentucky-sired live foals of 2023 reported at this time last year. The number of mares reported bred to Kentucky stallions in 2023 increased 1.4 percent compared to the 16,827 reported for 2022 at this time last year. The statistics include 176 foals by stallions standing in North America but foaled abroad, as reported by foreign stud book authorities at the time of publication. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia counted 61 live foals, and Japan was second with 52. The report also includes 66 mares bred to 24 stallions in North America on Southern Hemisphere time; most of these mares have not foaled. In 2022, there were 67 mares bred to 23 stallions in North America on Southern Hemisphere time. The post The Jockey Club Releases 2023 Breeding And 2024 Live Foal Statistics appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–Even though Incurable Optimist (Cure the Blues) does not appear anywhere in Edict's (Arg) (Il Campione (Chi)) pedigree, think of her as a direct descendent of the precocious 1998 New York-bred Horse of the Year, who became a top sire in Argentina. Family ties notwithstanding, there is a straight line between Incurable Optimist and Edict, who will make her first start in the U.S. in the listed $150,000 Athenia Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday. Their connections, stretching across decades, are rock solid: from owner John Behrendt, through trainer David Donk and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. Without Incurable Optimist, who died at the age of 28 in January, there would be no Edict story to tell. Like Incurable Optimist, Edict is a champion. A pair of Group I victories in Argentina last year carried her to the country's 3-year-old filly title and inspired Behrendt to import his Triple Alliance homebred to run in North America. Her start in the 1 1/8 miles Athenia completes the circle that started with Incurable Optimist's successful racing career with Donk and subsequent move to Argentina to stand at stud at Haras El Paraiso in Buenos Aires. Behrendt and his wife, Theresa, have a long history of owning and racing in the U.S. They had met the owners of Haras El Parasio, Victoria and Pablo Duggan, prior to relocating Incurable Optimist to what is now the nation's top breeding farm and in the years since have developed a thriving breeding and racing business in Argentina. The Behrendts's 92 mares reside at Haras El Paraiso and the Duggans and the Behrendts are partners in the farm's nine stallions. The standout of their stallions is Il Campione (Scat Daddy), who was the 2015 Horse of the Year in Chile and was the leading sire in Argentina the past two years. Edict outside of Tomorrow's Wish | Sarah Andrew Edict is the first of the many horses he has bred in South America that Behrendt has brought to race in North America. Why her? Why now? “Because we think she's good enough to compete,” he said. “Our model is we sell about 80% of what we raise. But we keep good fillies to race to replenish the broodmare band. We've always said that if we got one that we thought could come up here and compete at the top level, we would bring her up. And she showed us enough that we thought she might be able to do that.” The breakthrough races took place late in 2023 at the Hippodrome de San Isidro. Following a seven-furlong allowance win on turf on July 30, Edict finished second by a half-length in a Group 1 race at a mile on dirt on Sept. 2. Six weeks later, she was a distant fourth in a 1 1/4 miles Group 1 on dirt. A switch back to turf proved to be the right move and she won the G1 Enrique Acebel Stakes at 1 1/4 miles Nov. 4 and the G1 Copa de Plata Roberto Vazquez Stakes against older horses at 1 1/4 miles Dec. 16. “So we brought her up in February, and she acclimated in Florida for a while with Pat Hopple and then came to David at Belmont,” Behrendt said. “The experience people have changing hemispheres is that their best year is the second year they're up here. Not the year they come up, because, for some reason, the acclimation process and hemispheres, north to south, is very different than going east to west. Nobody's ever been able to say exactly why. But there's been a bunch of great South American horses that have done well in North America.” As a result, the Behrendts and the Donk consider this season as a prep for what they hope will be a strong 2025 campaign. Donk said that if all goes well in the Athenia, Edict might make one more start in 2024. Edict's connections | Sarah Andrew Edit arrived at Donk's barn in early April and began preparations for her first U.S. start. Since she he had a long layoff, Donk was aiming for an allowance race for her debut. He planned to run her at Saratoga the first week of August in one of the few where she could fit the conditions, but she got sick. Edict was entered in GIII Noble Damsel Stakes Sept. 21 at Aqueduct, but did not make that race either. “A few days after I entered her, she came up with a foot bruise,” Donk said. “Fortunately, we were able to clear it up fairly quickly. This is the next option. She has had two breezes since that weekend. I don't know if she is 100 percent, but I need to run her somewhere. We are running out of time here, but she's had two good works and I want to get a line on her.” Velazquez, who was aboard all of Incurable Optimist's races 26 years ago, is set to ride Edict. He has breezed her a few times for Donk. The Behrendts purchased Incurable Optimist as a yearling from agent Mike Ryan, who had acquired him as a yearling in 1996 for $44,000. The colt out of the Seattle Slew mare Miss Turlington, was bred by Drs. Bill Wilmot and his wife Joan Taylor at their Stepwise Farm in Saratoga Springs. He raced twice in dirt sprints in June 1998, finishing second and then third. Donk moved him to turf at Saratoga Aug. 31 and he opened many eyes with a 14-length victory at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course. Though he had a rough trip during which he was blocked, Incurable Optimist won the World Appeal Stakes at the Meadowlands by 1 1/4 lengths. He led from gate to wire to win the GIII Pilgrim Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths and justified the cross-continent trip to Hollywood Park to win the GIII Generous Stakes by nine lengths. Incurable Optimists' glowing resume with four wins by a combined 28 3/4 lengths carried him to two New York-bred division titles and Horse of the Year honors that punctuated his short but brilliant career. While being prepared for his 3-year-old season that his connections hoped would include Classic races in Europe, he suffered a career-ending soft-tissue injury. Incurable Optimist stood one season in New York at Highcliff Farm, but it became clear to the Behrendts that he did not have enough appeal to be a commercial success. Edict | Sarah Andrew “We had just met Pablo and Victoria,” Behrendt said. “They needed a sire and we were still struggling to find out the right home for him. He took us down there and it's just been a really great decision because they become dear friends. It's really thrilling racing there. The racing community is terrific. The horsemanship is terrific. We love it. We love the people.” Incurable Optimist was an immediate hit in Argentina, where he stood for 22 seasons. He was the leading freshman sire in 2004, the leading sire in 2008 and was the sire of two Horse of the Year winners. As a result of Incurable's success–“a good horse can take you places where you can't buy the ticket,” Behrendt said–his owners shifted the majority of their breeding and racing interests to South America. “It changed our lives,” Behrendt said. The post Behrendts’s Edict Is An Incurable Optimist Legacy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The John Forbes Memorial, a two-mile flat race to be run Saturday at the Far Hills, New Jersey hunt meet isn't for every horse. The horse needs to be able to handle the grueling distance of two miles and carry as much as 148 pounds. But there are plenty of trainers who believe their horses can handle the test. A race that is getting better every year, the $150,000 race attracted 14 entries, including Thoroughbreds from the stables of Mike Maker, Christophe Clement, Graham Motion and Peter Eurton. The Forbes Memorial is named in honor of longtime New Jersey-based trainer John Forbes. Forbes's widow, Vicki, is the Thoroughbred Daily News's Director of Customer Service. She will present the trophy to the winning connections. This will be its third running and once again the race is an interesting handicapping puzzle. There are flat horses trying to prove they can go the distance, there are jumpers trying to prove they are fast enough to beat some decent flat horses and there's an entry from Gordon Elliott, one of the premier jump trainers in the U.K. McLovin | Sarah Andrew “The main difference this year is that we bumped the purse from $100,000 to $150,000,” said National Steeplechase Association Director of Racing Bill Gallo. “That ended up being fairly significant because, as you can see from the entries, it attracted a stellar field. I certainly think the additional $50,000 caught their attention and last year might have had an impact because Rodolphe Brisset, a flat trainer, sent in a horse (McLovin) from Kentucky and won it. We did some recruiting, too, talking to some of the flat trainers when we were in Saratoga.” The 8-5 morning-line favorite is the Graham Motion-trained The Grey Wizard (Ire) (Caravaggio), the winner of this year's GII Belmont Gold Cup Stakes, also a two-mile grass race. “I think it's a great idea,” Motion said. “My background is in steeplechasing and for me to support them is important. I appreciate the crossover.” Motion is not taking the race lightly. “I thought the horse (California Frolic) that won at Monmouth last time is a very good horse,” Motion said. “You've also got Dean Martini, who won the Japan Cup at Laurel last time out on the dirt and is a nice horse. So I don't think it's a gimme by any means. But I imagine he will be the favorite.” Motion will be riding Parker Hendriks, who is fourth in the National Steeplechase standings. “Parker has galloped the horse for me and he worked him last Saturday, so he's familiar with the horse,” Motion said. “Some familiarity with how things work is not a bad thing. It's definitely a toss-up (between and jump and flat jockey) but since Parker has been on the horse I thought that was the right way to go.” John Forbes Stakes | Sarah Andrew Three others have named flat jockeys, including Jose D'Angelo, who has given the assignment on Gilded Age (Medaglia d'Oro) to Pedro Cotto, Jr. The 5-year-old has never gone beyond a mile-and-three sixteenths. “He's well-bred to go long and he's much better on the grass,” D'Angelo said. “The distance can help him. It's not an easy spot. There are some quality horses in this race. Pedro fits this horse well and fits his style of running and that's why I named him on the horse. They always say anytime you make it to the starting gate you're in with a chance. Now, for this, there's not even a starting gate.” Joe Sharp actually named himself to ride Tide of the Sea (English Channel), but reports that the horse will be scratched. “I was ready to do it,” he said. “Hopefully, he can make this race next year and I will ride him.” The Far Hills card is topped by the GI American Grand National. It has a purse of $250,000 and is widely considered the most prestigious race on the steeplechase circuit. The 8-5 morning-line favorite is Snap Decision (Hard Spun), who began his career for Shug McGaughey. He's 2-for-3 this year with a win in the GI Iroquois Stakes at Percy Warner. He's going to have to prove that this race is a good fit for him. In the 2023 edition, he was pulled up and in 2022 he lost by 44 lengths. The post John Forbes Memorial Growing In Stature appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

From a young age, Jeramie Fennell was certain that he was born to be a jockey. Addicted to the thrill of riding, becoming a jockey was the only thing he really cared about, the only thing he knew for certain. So when, as he continued growing taller throughout his teenage years and maintaining weight became increasingly difficult, Fennell did what he thought he had to do in order to live out his dream. He turned to a different kind of addiction, but this time the consequences would lead him to a place so bleak that he never thought he would find a way out. Fennell is not ashamed of his dark past. Instead, he hopes that his story can be an inspiration to others because, against all odds, he managed to come out on the other side. Fennell grew up in Fort Pierre, South Dakota and spent his childhood following his father around the backside. Fennell's father was an exercise rider for top Quarter Horses like Special Effort, the first horse to win the Triple Crown for 2-year-old Quarter Horses. “I was the kid that didn't want to read books, but my parents bought me horse racing magazines and I'd read those all day,” recalled Fennell. “In the mornings I'd go help feed and my dad would take me to school and then I'd come back after school and help groom and walk horses. Once I got old enough to where I could start getting on horses, my dad let me start riding. When I turned 16, I started riding races and traveling with the horse racing industry.” Fennell found success in Quarter Horse racing early on in his career. In 2012 he rode Corona for You to a third-place finish in the G1 AQHA Distaff Challenge Championship. He traveled everywhere from Prairie Meadows in Iowa to Arapahoe in Colorado and Canterbury Park in Minnesota. But then his life took a turn for the worst. “I was always a bigger rider because my body frame is not built to be 118 pounds,” Fennell explained. “I started doing drugs, drinking alcohol and stuff, and it took a toll on me. I got in trouble in 2018 and didn't learn from it.” Jeramie Fennell at Turfway Park | Katie Petrunyak Fennell was at Remington Park, riding both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, when he realized he needed a change. Giving up his dream of being a jockey, he moved to Wyoming to gallop horses. But while he was there, he fell in with a group that only encouraged his substance abuse. Hoping to get away from that lifestyle, he moved to Montana and then to Idaho to work the starting gate. At those small fair meets, jockeys were in high demand. Fennell did what he had to do to lose weight and start riding again, his addiction worsening by the day. Eventually he could no longer find employment as a jockey or an exercise rider. He wandered the backside every morning looking for mounts, but people would tell him to get out of their barn, that he wasn't welcome there. Rejected and alone, Fennell wondered where he had gone so wrong. “At the time I was thinking I didn't look any different. I didn't act any different. But everyone was telling me, 'Man, you need to change your life. You're a heck of a hand on the back of a horse, but until you figure out what you've got to do, we can't help you,'” Fennell recalled. “That dawned on me for a couple of weeks and then one day I said, 'God, just show me something, a sign, to get help.' Sure enough, a couple of days later, I got pulled over and go to jail.” Fennell called his parents, but they wouldn't answer the phone. His family had already told him months ago that they would no longer help him. “After that day of sitting in that little cell, I knew I had to do something for myself,” said Fennell. “I made my mind up that with the road I'm on, I'm going to be in prison or getting buried.” Fennell had heard about a program called Stable Recovery, where men in the early stages of recovery from addiction were placed in a supportive, therapeutic community that was centered around horses. After he was released from jail, he went to his court date and then drove 26 hours to Lexington, Kentucky. Upon his arrival, Fennell met Stable Recovery's CEO Christian Countzler, who asked him if he was serious about wanting to change his life. “I said that I was open minded and willing to do anything, go to any length, to change my life because I just wanted to be on the backside of a racetrack on a horse,” Fennell recounted. Fennell started Stable Recovery on December 24, 2023. This spring, as he was nearing the end of the 90-day program, Countzler introduced Fennell to trainer Will Walden. Walden, who went through his own battle with drug addiction, had launched his stable just two years prior and his team was made up of graduates of the Stable Recovery program. As soon as Fennell graduated from Stable Recovery, he began traveling with Walden's stable. “When I started, Will told me, 'If you come to the barn, all I ask is that you attend AA meetings,'” Fennell said. “So to this day I still attend at least three AA meetings, work my steps, call my sponsor and if I have any trouble, I go to Will about it. Will has been there and done it. I have a lot of respect for that guy and this team.” Working with Thoroughbreds was a totally different game than the Quarter Horse circuit Fennell was so accustomed to. Walden taught Fennell a new way of exercise riding and showed him the ins and outs of the Thoroughbred industry. “When I first got in the barn I felt very out of place,” Fennell admitted. “But I felt like it was home at the same time because I knew there was people in the barn like Will who really cared about me because he had seen something in me that I didn't see in myself. I've been on horses that ran in the All American Derby, the big Quarter Horse race, but I never pictured myself getting on the type of high-quality horse that could go to the Breeders' Cup or the Kentucky Derby.” This fall, Fennell is living a dream that even less that a year ago, he never could have envisioned for himself. He is the regular rider of Minaret Station (Instilled Regard), the winner of the GII Bourbon Stakes who is now pointing for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1. Jeramie Fennell and Minaret Station on their way to morning training at Turfway | Katie Petrunyak A homebred for Larry Best's OXO Equine out of the multiple graded stakes winner Beau Recall (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), Minaret Station arrived at Walden's barn at Turfway Park early this summer. Right away, Fennell took a liking to the boisterous 2-year-old. “He has always been a character,” Farrell explained. “Every day I'll walk by his stall and he'll try and bite me or grab my saddle or something. We have a really strong connection with each other. He's an unbelievable type of horse to gallop. He goes out there and does his thing because he just loves to train.” In his first two starts at Ellis Park and then Horseshoe Indianapolis, Minaret Station ran third on debut and then broke his maiden by a neck on Sept. 6. Fennell was there to watch both of those races, but tuned in from Turfway for the colt's stakes debut at Keeneland because he had to help with afternoon chores back at the barn. A 38-1 longshot, Minaret Station settled at the back of the pack in the mile-and-a-sixteenth Bourbon Stakes. He saved ground along the rail, then came flying in the final strides before the wire to get the win. All systems are now a go for Minaret Station to take a trip to Del Mar in a few weeks for the Juvenile Turf. The colt is only the second graded stakes winner for Will Walden and he will be the young conditioner's first Breeders' Cup starter. Fennell, who has been working with the colt at Turfway Park every morning since that breakout graded stakes victory, knows just how much talent Minaret Station has left to show. “He's still growing,” he shared. “If you compare him to humans, he's a little kid and he's still learning, but he tries his best. He's progressing and hopefully in the Breeders' Cup, he can run like a champ. Getting on a horse that is going into a big race like that in the Breeders' Cup, it's so exciting. There are times that I'll think about it and I almost want to cry tears of joy because it is very exciting for this team to get to send a horse to a race like that.” When Minaret Station and the Will Walden racing team get to Del Mar in a few weeks, Fennell knows there will be plenty of eyes on him during training each morning. But the ones he really cares about are those of his family, who will be tuning in to support him. After graduating from Stable Recovery, Fennell was able to reestablish a relationship with his parents and sister. He is also getting to know his young son, who he had not been to interact with when he was in the midst of his battle with addiction. “The last few years of my life, I didn't get to talk to my son because I was out in the chaos of my life and my son's mother said she didn't want my son seeing me that way,” said Fennell. “Now I get to go see him and it's amazing. He knows who his dad is and he knows his dad is sober. I can help him. I can help myself and others suffering from addiction. I can be a son, I can be a father and I can be a brother.” Fennell also has big goals for his future in the racing industry. He plans to continue exercise riding and eventually become an assistant trainer so that somewhere on down the line, he might be able to launch his own training career. “I look back to my past and think, 'Man what was I doing?'” said Fennell. “That's what I really thank Will Walden for, helping me be the best I can be in this industry. Over these past couple of months, I've been really tuning in to what he's been explaining to me about how in this industry, the sky is the limit. If you work hard, things will pay off.” The post Breeders’ Cup Connections: Jeramie Fennell Finds Redemption on Horseback appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

April Vintage, a stakes-placed mare who is pregnant to Justify on Southern Hemisphere time, will be on offer by WinStar Farm in the Inglis Digital USA October Sale, taking place Tuesday, Oct. 29, the online auction company said in a press release on Friday. The 3-year-old daughter of Vino Rosso was a stakes-placed juvenile in 2023, winning a Del Mar maiden special weight, and following up with a third-place effort in the Speakeasy Stakes, both going five furlongs on the turf. After her racing career came to a close, April Vintage was bred to the Triple Crown winner this summer on Southern Hemisphere time. “She was a talented, stakes placed, 2-year-old, and she has the physical makeup to suit the Australian market,” said Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm. Justify was Australia's leading freshman sire of 2022-2023 and continues to be a commercially-strong force Down Under, with a yearling average of more than AUS$350,000 at Australasian yearling sales and turning in prices as high as AUS$1.4 million. “We've been very fortunate to have been involved with a horse like Justify,” Walden said. “He's one of the world's elite stallions, and is excelling in every jurisdiction. This is a unique opportunity for those in the Southern Hemisphere to own one of the very few mares available in foal to this stallion.” Bred in Florida by Loren Nichols, April Vintage is out of the Uncle Mo mare Beautissimo, and she is a half-sister to the SP colt Arman (Bolt d'Oro). Her extended family included champion 2-year-old filly Halfbridled (Unbridled). “We're all very excited about this opportunity,” said Kyle Wilson, Inglis Digital USA senior director of sales and recruitment. “The chance to offer April Vintage in foal to a world class stallion like Justify from a world-class operation like WinStar is a privilege.” Entries close for the Inglis Digital USA October Sale on Monday, Oct. 21. The catalog will be released Friday Oct. 25. Click here for more information about the sale and to register to bid. The post Inglis Digital USA Lists April Vintage, In Foal To Justify, On Behalf Of WinStar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Whether or not you liked the 'Bill and Ben' analogies of the Racing For Change days, or the removal of the Champion Stakes from Newmarket to Ascot, you cannot fail to like the man who played a part in some of these attempts to modernise and market racing: Rod Street. This QIPCO British Champions Day – the 14th since the significant shake-up to the autumnal racing programme in 2011 – will be Street's last as CEO of British Champions Series. He stepped down from his role as CEO of Great British Racing (GBR) at the end of April. “Obviously with traditionalists and diehards, it wasn't the most popular decision,” he says of the creation of British Champions Day as the culmination of 35 Group 1 races throughout the season being brought together under the single Champions Series banner. “But since it launched in 2011, the day has grown and by many has become accepted as a really important day's racing. It's certainly the last day of high-quality older horse Flat racing in the UK season. It comes after the Arc, so it's really the the European finale, and it has become embedded now.” From Frankel to Frankie, Street has been there for every momentous renewal. “We were very fortunate in the first two years that Frankel came along when he did,” he acknowledges. “And that couldn't have launched the day more successfully. And since then we've had all sorts of milestones, fast-forwarding to Frankie Dettori's exit, which couldn't have been better, especially that he did it in the Champion Stakes on King of Steel. “It's a £4 million race day, full of high-class group races and I think we've created a really nice platform in the autumn for such stories to be told.” QIPCO was the key sponsor from the start and, though it remains the brand behind Champions Day, it will no longer sponsor the Champions Series from 2025. A new partner will be sought, along with a new person at the helm of the project. To crib from Joni Mitchell, sometimes we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone and British racing will be without one of its most steadfast supporters when the dust settles after this weekend. Street has that rare ability to be not only relentlessly positive but also unfailingly nice. Being nice is an underrated quality, in life generally and perhaps especially in racing. If you can keep your head while all about you others are squabbling then you may just be able to see it out, and that it is what Street has done, splitting his time almost equally over the last 30 years between racecourse management and promoting the sport itself. But everyone has that 'time's up' moment, and he has decided that it is time to pursue his own mentoring business. Time perhaps to let someone else deal with those on the inside whose failure to put aside vested interests can place the sport into something of a tailspin. “I started with Uttoxeter Racecourse in 1994 as an assistant commercial manager,” Street says, casting his mind back to the days working for Sir Stanley Clarke, the owner of the 'bomb scare' Grand National winner Lord Gyllene who would become the head of the Northern Racing group. “I'd come from a background in travel and entertainment and my immediate job before starting there was performing stand-up comedy. I was promoting music and comedy in the Midlands and, through the challenge of rarely being able to secure a warm-up act for gigs, I started doing the warm-up myself. It saved money. But I'd quite recently been married and I was never going to hit the heights as a comedian.” The Comedy Club's loss then was racing's gain as Street turned his love of entertainment into working out what would keep the racegoers entertained, and ideally becoming repeat customers. “Because I've come from an environment of promoting comedy or music or working in travel and tourism, the consumers have always been at the very forefront of my thinking,” he says. “The question you're always asking yourself, whether you're promoting a a race day or something in racing, is 'Why would someone be interested in this?' “Racing's got something for everyone and I think as a sport we're terribly down on ourselves. We love to talk about the latest crisis and we undoubtedly have challenges in generating new followers for the sport. There's so much competition and we know it's been a challenge since Covid with admissions, for example. But we're still, despite that, an incredibly popular choice for a a day out.” During Street's tenure, GBR has been behind the National Racehorse Week initiative, which was the brainchild of trainer Richard Phillips and this year saw more than 80 racing yards and stud farms open their doors to the public across the nation. “The horse is at the centre of racing, and we should never drift away from that. We can put on any number of music events or themes to race days, but if the horse isn't central, we're losing our purpose,” Street says. “National Racehorse Week has been a really big success. It has to be a good thing for people to make their own minds up about the sport, especially with the challenge we've got now with perceptions around equine welfare. “The world is changing. All sports other than football are facing this challenge. Cricket and rugby, particularly, are also facing real challenges about relevance and new customers, so we're not alone. And racing isn't due anything that it hasn't worked or strived for, so we mustn't think that things should come to us any easier than they come to anyone else. We've got to fight for customers. But we have great assets, and I think that other sports would look at some of the assets we've got and be full of envy. We have more than our fair share of iconic moments – Grand Nationals or Cheltenham Festivals or Derbys or Royal Ascot. And we've got that heritage which other sports just don't have, that connection to royalty, which is really powerful.” He's on a roll now, and it is hard not to wonder who will pick up this baton of enthusiasm in his wake. “The other thing is that you can play at any level in racing if you want to. You can be an expert, you can come and be a paddock watcher, but you can engage on a very basic level too, and turn up and with your friends and have a flutter and enjoy the action. And it's fast and dramatic and colourful. I think we're much more accessible than we think we are.” One also wonders if that early experience in stand-up comedy, with its rowdy hecklers, gave Street a good preparation for delivering marketing strategies and new ideas to an often inward-looking in-crowd. “It did, really,” he admits. “When Racing For Change then GBR came around I think there were quite a few constituents that hadn't really acknowledged that I'd already been working in the sport for 14 years prior to that point. So I think some would say, 'Oh, look, there's that marketing man.' “When 'marketing man' is used in racing it's invariably pejorative. But I think, over time, anyone who got to know me understood that I've been a lifelong fan and that I actually had a lot of racing experience. It was bumpy early doors when we were trying to do new things and talk about promoting the sport, and it was particularly bumpy around the Champions Series because it was such an emotive topic. That actually went away quite quickly but, yes, it certainly helped to have a thick skin, and when you've had things said to you on stage as a comedian, or even things thrown at you, it prepares you in going into certain racing boards and committees. “And I think one of the things that helped me do my job is recognising that at the heart of it, there's passion. There's passion for the sport, there's passion for the horse, there's passion for the jockeys and passion for the participants, and National Racehorse Week is a really good example of everyone uniting around that passion.” It is clear that there will be no looking back in anger from Street. It's not his style to carp at others from the sidelines and, after all, as he says, he's been a lifelong fan of the sport. “To have been close over the years to so many superstars, often in the paddock, because you work so closely in the sport and you're always there doing your job, you can forget what it's like to be a fan,” he says. “That's something I'm looking forward to next year – going racing for racing's sake.” He adds, “I don't want to be that person that has something to say about the racing industry. Having served in it for 30 years, I know it's really tough to be in the thick of it, whether you're trying to promote the sport or whether you're trying to administer the sport or you're trying to do veterinary work or you're trying to work out the fixture list. Dealing with a multitude of stakeholders is challenging. It really is like herding cats. “I'm still very aware of how hard it is to be trying to do that and trying to make progress, with any number of people making helpful comments about how you do your job. So I don't want to add to the challenge of whichever executives are running racing in the future by having an opinion on how well they're doing their job or not.” He adds, “I do always want to be a cheerleader for the sport, and I think I'm much better suited to that than being a racing Cassandra.” The post No More Mr Nice Guy: Rod Street Waves Farewell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A total of 40 networks, covering over 170 territories, will broadcast QIPCO British Champions Day. Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and HBA Media (HBA), working with QIPCO British Champions Series, have secured global coverage of the £4.1m raceday, which includes four Group 1 races. Fox Sports US will showcase the full card for the first time on Fox Sports 1, while ESPN / Disney + and SuperSport will broadcast to their significant South American and African audiences. The Green Channel (Japan) and HKJC, Cable TV, TVB and Now TV (Hong Kong) will serve Asian viewers, while the Middle East will be served by Dubai Racing Channel. First-time broadcasters include Racing.com (Australia), Sportsnet (Canada), Transvision (Indonesia), NTV (Mongolia) and Eurovision (Europe). The broadcast will be shown in the UK and Ireland by ITV, Virgin Media, Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing. Rod Street, CEO of British Champions Series, said, “All six races are set to be of the highest quality, and we are delighted that TV audiences from all corners of the globe will share in the excitement. Thank you to the teams at RMG and HBA for helping facilitate this record coverage.” The post QIPCO British Champions Day To Be Aired On 40 Networks Worldwide appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Airdrie Stud's 2025 stallion roster will be headlined by four young stallions all being offered for a fee of $25,000, according to a press release from Airdrie Friday. The quartet includes breakout freshman sire Complexity. Currently ranked fourth in earnings according to TDN's Sire List, Complexity has three stakes winners–including two graded winners–and five stakes horses from his first crop of 2-year-olds. The 8-year-old stallion joins GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), as well as Girvin (Tale of Ekati) and Upstart (Flatter), who all come in at the price tag of $25,000. Coming off of an initial season at stud in which he bred a full book of 171 mares, Mage enters his second season with a pedigree further bolstered by his GI Belmont Stakes-winning full brother, Dornoch, who became the second Classic winner in as many years for Good Magic and dam Puca, a favorite to be named Broodmare of the Year. Grade I sires Upstart and Girvin, who each register lifetime stakes winners to named foals of more than 8%, will see their best-bred crops reach the racetrack in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Rounding out Airdrie's list of proven stallions is Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile), already the sire of 10 individual stakes winners in 2024, and Collected (City Zip), who has 15 stakes winners from his first three crops, trailing just Justify and Good Magic from their intake year. The latter stands to be represented by a pair of juveniles at the upcoming Breeders' Cup in Thought Process and Iron Man Cal. From those stallions yet to have runners, at the sales this season Beau Liam (Liam's Map) achieved the highest return-on-investment of any first-year yearling sire. Highly Motivated (Into Mischief), is a two-time track record setter and claims GISWs like Ways and Means and Surge Capacity. Finally, GISW Happy Saver (Super Saver) has his first weanlings headed to auction this November. “Our stallion roster is a tremendous point of pride for our team at Airdrie,” said the farm's Bret Jones. “We've been fortunate to have had a very strong year on the track in 2024 and we really believe we've laid the foundation for some very special seasons ahead. It is a young roster that, in our opinion, has a very high ceiling. We also take great pride in our ability to give our breeders a genuine opportunity to be profitable with their matings, as our stallions punch well above their stud fees in their abilities to produce stakes winners and return value in the sales ring. “As always, we will be breeding the overwhelming majority of our own mares to our stallions as we will never ask a breeder to support a stallion that we're unwilling to support ourselves,” said Jones. “We will also limit our book sizes so as to give our fellow commercial breeders what we believe is their best opportunity to sell and sell well. We look forward to continuing the momentum we've been able to build with our stallions and to working with the wonderful and loyal breeders that have paved the way for their success.” Airdrie's 2025 Stud Fees: Complexity-$25,000 Girvin-$25,000 Mage-$25,000 Upstart-$25,000 Cairo Prince-$15,000 Collected-$10,000 Happy Saver-$7,500 Highly Motivated-$7,500 Beau Liam-$6,000 Divisidero-$5,000 The post First-Crop Sire Complexity Set At $25k As Airdrie Releases 2025 Fee Schedule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk Consistency was the key as Crystal Hackett clinched her first McMillan Equine Feeds New Zealand Junior Drivers’ Championship at Addington on Friday night. At her third attempt to win the coveted title, Hackett finished with 45 points from this week’s five heats at Cambridge and Addington to win by just three points from 2020 champion Kerryn Tomlinson and Olivia Thornley one point further back on 41. It was the first time since the championships started in the mid 1970s that female drivers have claimed all three places on the podium. Female drivers have also now taken out the seven championships in a row, with Sarah O’Reilly winning four of the last five being graduating to the open ranks this year. “I’m pretty stoked,” said Hackett to Harness Unhinged’s Nigel Armstrong post race, “to follow in Sarah’s footsteps, she’s been a great friend of mine and my cousin Robbie Close also won it (in 2015) so it’s cool to be on the board alongside him.” Hackett was a solid points accumulator during the series with three seconds in the five heats. “After the first day I was second to last.” Going into the final heat she was equal third on 33 points, four behind Zev Meredith. She clinched the championship when Winnzyback charged home late into second, 10 lengths behind runaway winner and hot favourite Borrisokane. Meredith finished ninth with The Coalman. In what was the tightest championship in recent years Meredith ended up fourth overall, with Olivia Thornley grabbing bronze on a countback after finishing third with Katherine. Before the championships Hackett spoke of her keenness to win the Championships saying it was something “every junior driver wants to tick off.” Now she’s not only achieved a career goal she’s also booked a spot at the Australasian Young Drivers’ Championships in December. Final points McMillan Equine Feeds NZ Junior Drivers’ Championships : Crystal Hackett 45 Kerryn Tomlinson 42 Olivia Thornley 41 Zev Meredith 41 Sam Thornley 38 Seth Hill 38 Max Hill 37 Monika Ranger 34 Carter Dalgety 33 Wilson House 30 Riley Harrison 28 Emily Johnson 19 View the full article

Strawberry Lace (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will be offered during the first day of Arqana's Vente d'Elevage, the sales company announced on Friday. The sale will run from Dec. 7-10. The dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is carrying a full-sibling to the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up. Offered by Normandie Breeding, the 9-year-old mare was bred by Swettenham Stud Bloodstock, Ltd., and is out of the listed winner Crying Lightening (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The extended family features Group 1 winners Cityscape (GB) (Selkirk), Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio). The Vente d'Elevage catalogue will be published online on Monday, Oct. 28. The post Dam Of Unquestionable To Be Offered At Arqana Vente D’Elevage appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ramatuelle (Justify–Raven's Lady {GB}, by Raven's Pass), a 'TDN Rising Star' and recent winner of the G1 Prix de la Foret Stakes at ParisLongchamp, headlines the latest group of supplemental entries to Fasig-Tipton's November Sale which will take place on Monday, Nov. 4 beginning at 2 p.m. ET in Lexington, Kentucky, the auction company said in a release early Friday morning. The 3-year-old daughter of the Triple Crown winner and top sire will be offered as hip 310, and is consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by Bedouin Bloodstock, agent. Winner of the Prix de la Foret by three lengths, Ramatuelle tackled older males for the first time, and in the process defeated a deep field that included Group 1 resumes like Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}). The race at ParisLongchamp capped a 3-year-old season which included a classic placing in the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, as well as a third in the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot this summer. Racing as a juvenile at Chantilly, the filly earned her 'Rising Star' badge on debut that April. Over the same surface that summer Ramatuelle captured the G2 Prix Robert Papin Stakes and G3 Prix du Bois Stakes, then she finished as the runner-up in the G1 Prix Morny Stakes at Deauville. She faced males in all five of her starts that year. Under the care of trainer Christopher Head throughout her career, the latest edition to the Fasig-Tipton catalogue is slated to make her next start at Del Mar in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile. Ramatuelle is the first foal out of German champion and MGSW Raven's Lady. Her second dam, Pivotal Lady (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), is a daughter of GSW Sueboog (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}), who is also the dam of G1 Prix d' Ispahan Stakes winner Best Of The Bests (Ire) (Machiavellian). “Ramatuelle is a true international collector's item,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “She is a beautifully bred three-year-old daughter of Justify, in the best form of her career, and headed for the Breeders' Cup after a dominating performance over older males in one of France's great races. Ramatuelle is one of the most exciting offerings to be sold in the world this year and Fasig-Tipton is honored to have the opportunity to showcase her at our marquee November Sale.” Additional supplemental entries to the Fasig-Tipton November Sale: Flightline-Ghostslayer weanling filly (Hip 311): Daughter of champion Flightline is from the immediate family of Grade I winners Forte, Contrail, and Essential Quality. Consigned by Woods Edge Farm, agent. Street Sense-My Philly Girl weanling colt (Hip 312): Half-brother to a pair of stakes winners, the colt is consigned by Shawhan Place, agent. Olympiad-Protect weanling colt (Hip 313): Colt from the first crop of Olympiad, he is consigned by Ballysax, agent. Click here to view the catalogue. The post G1SW And ‘TDN Rising Star’ Ramatuelle Supplemented To Fasig-Tipton November Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article