Wandering Eyes

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — It's what sport is all about, isn't it? Choosing your team and rooting for them, through good games and bad times. The fleeting nature of the careers of some racehorses can make it harder to be a fan, but not if you pick Team Yahagi. For a start, there is a good chance that Yoshito Yahagi will turn up at a major meeting almost anywhere in the world with at least one horse. In Riyadh, a city which has become a happy hunting ground for the Japanese trainer in recent years, he has a team of three, and two of them are returning heroes from last year's Saudi Cup meeting. If ever there was a horse to get behind it is Forever Young. He has just turned five but it feels as though he has been around for ages. Let's hope that there's plenty of mileage left in those legs as valuable as Cyd Charisse's once were. He is grown up enough for us to call him a stallion now and he has already collected plenty of airmiles in travelling from Japan to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, America, home again, and then back to the USA – and that was just his three-year-old season. Last year, it was almost a case of rinse and repeat, bar the fact that he made just the one hugely memorable trip to the States in 2025 for the Breeders' Cup Classic. Forever Young could hardly have a more appropriate sire than Real Steel, for that appears to be what he is made of and he is gathering an expanding army of followers with every step he takes on a racecourse. Even Bob Baffert, who fields two rivals in the Saudi Cup, is a fan. “He's unbelievable, I have so much respect for that horse,” he said on Thursday morning. This Saturday, in defending his Saudi Cup crown, Forever Young will aim to add a further $10 million to his earnings of $21.2 million already accrued from 13 starts and 10 wins. And, for those suggesting that he may not be quite fit enough, having not raced since November 1, we're sorry to disappoint you but he looks, well, a million dollars, maybe more. A question was posed in Thursday morning's press conference as to whether the Japan Racing Association uses data scientists to give their licensed trainers an edge in honing runners for the racecourse. It was batted away by the jovial Yahagi, who, despite being one of the world's most successful trainers, doesn't appear to take himself too seriously. After winning the Breeders' Cup Classic he was filmed singing and dancing in a Mexican restaurant where he had gone to watch his team, the LA Dodgers, complete a memorable sporting double – for Yahagi at least – by winning the World Series. Data is useful, of course, but no weights or measures or stride-pattern programmes can replace the eyes and the intuition of a horseman. And when it comes to certain horses, attitude almost transcends talent. In Forever Young, there is a heady blend of both those attributes. Plenty of horses would never have put up another bold show after the kind of scrimmaging he was subjected to in the 2024 Kentucky Derby. That was the race that made the boy a man, and instead of raising a metaphorical white flag at that tender stage of his career, Forever Young appeared to gain strength from that narrow loss and double down on his will to win. However good Yahagi is at keeping his horses sweet, that kind of mettle cannot be taught. They either have it or they don't, and the fact that this horse is plainly as sound of limb as he is of mind only helps him in his quest. Travel doesn't faze him, neither does hard training. To watch Forever Young in the morning is a joy to behold, especially because such routinely unflappable behaviour is only exhibited by a horse with nothing to fear in being asked to draw deep once more on his athletic reserves. Forever Young and Shin Emperor paddock schooling on Thursday | Emma Berry “It's an honour to be back here for myself, and also Forever Young loves this place, so I am very pleased to be here,” said Yahagi, who has brought the horse here twice to win the Saudi Derby and Saudi Cup, having also trained Panthalassa to win the Cup in 2023. He is the only trainer to have won the world's most valuable race twice, and he has also claimed wins in the Neom Turf Cup and 1351 Turf Sprint. No wonder he likes returning. Having assured another questioner that Forever Young, who heads next to the Dubai World Cup, is “over 90 per cent fit”, Yahagi added, “There is a bit of a gap between the Breeders' Cup and here, and back in Japan I thought he was gaining a little bit of weight, but when I saw him this morning, I thought he looked very fit and ready for the race.” Reflecting on last year's unforgettable victory over 12-time Group 1 winner Romantic Warrior (Acclamation), the trainer said, “Honestly speaking, I would like to compete with him again. It was like something from a movie script. I wanted to give Forever Young an Academy Award.” If he romps through another season like he has his last two, then there is certainly a film to be made of Forever Young's career, even if there may be no Hollywood ending. Having competed in the last two Breeders' Cups in California, he appears unlikely to be asked to make the trip to Keeneland later this year. “The situation is going to be different from what we had in Del Mar, which is the on the west coast of the United States and closer to Japan,” Yahagi explained. “For Mr Fujita, the horse's owner, it is a long trip, so we haven't decided yet.” He added of achieving the accolade of becoming the first Japanese trainer to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, “For me, it's something I can be proud of in Japan. For horseracing in Japan, the Breeders' Cup Classic was a big obstacle. Everyone was reluctant to participate in it but I'm glad that it has been overcome, and I'm glad that there will be more challengers in the future.” Yahagi's regular jockey Ryusei Sakai sat alongside him in the morning press conference and appears to be drinking from the same well of confidence as his boss. He proclaimed that he will ride five winners on Saturday. He only has five mounts. Along with Forever Young, Sakai will be aboard Best Green (Smart Falcon) in the Saudi Derby, American Stage (Into Mishief) in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint, Fortune Time (Greater London) in the 1351 Turf Sprint and returning champion Shin Emperor (Siyouni) in the Neom Turf Cup. He'll sit out the Red Sea Turf Handicap and let someone else have a chance. Shin Emperor, the French-bred Arqana August-topping brother to Arc and Prix du Jockey Club hero Sottsass, has been another globetrotter for Yahagi, who was bullish in his assessment of the five-year-old pulling off a repeat performance in the newly upgraded G1 Howden Neom Turf Cup. “Shin Emperor has a very big chance because this race track – 2,100 metres on a left-hand course – is perfect for him, so he has a great chance,” he said. A double-double in the two Group 1 contests of the day on dirt and turf? If anyone can pull it off it's the man in the hat: the all-singing and dancing Yoshito Yahagi. The post Yahagi Returns With Sights Set on a Desert Double-Double appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 20:40, SAUDI CUP-G1, $20,000,000, NH/SH4yo/up, 1800m Field: Banishing (Ghostzapper), Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo), Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), Haqeet (Arrogate), Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah), Mhally (GB) (Sergei Prokofiev), Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach), Nysos (Nyquist), Rattle N Roll (Connect), Star Of Wonder (Uncle Mo), Sunrise Zipangu (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), Thundersquall (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Tumbarumba (Oscar Performance), Ameerat Alzamaan (GB) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}). TDN Analysis: Forever Young will be a prohibitive favourite to become the first to go back-to-back in the world's richest race. The Japanese Horse of the Year and American champion older dirt male makes his first start since taking the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 1. 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos was also a winner on Breeders' Cup Saturday in the GI Dirt Mile, but tries a distance as far as 1800 metres for the first time. He will have to do much better than his head defeat of stablemate Nevada Beach in Grade II company at the back end of December. Mhally and Ameerat Alzamaan enter off a 1-2 finish in the G3 King's Cup on Jan. 17. Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 19:10, NEOM TURF CUP (Presented By HOWDEN)-G1, $3,000,000, NH/SH4yo/up, 2100mT Field: Alohi Alii (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), Bolide Porto (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}), Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchesters {Ire}), Galen (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Phantom Flight (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), Royal Champion (Ire) (Shamardal), Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), Silawi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Yamanin Bouclier (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Direct Security (Ire) (Sioux Nation), Survie (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}). TDN Analysis: Shin Emperor made every yard in winning this when contested at Group 2 level last year, but has not been close in four starts since and looks vulnerable here. Royal Champion was outclassed in last year's G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes, but won the G2 York Stakes and defeated Galen in the G2 Bahrain International Trophy either side of a third to Delacroix (Dubawi) in the G1 Irish Champion Stakes. Alohi Alii was midfield in last year's G1 Satsuki Sho, but was impressive in taking out the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville in August and will appreciate these quicker underfoot conditions, having finished well down the field in a soft-ground renewal of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when last seen. Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 19:50, RED SEA TURF HANDICAP (Presented by Longines)-G2, $2,500,000, NH/SH 4yo/up, 3000mT Field: Presage Nocturne (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Tabletalk (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), Epic Poet (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Sons And Lovers (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Struve (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), Tennessee Stud (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Burdett Road (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), Espoir Avenir (Fr) (Montmartre {Fr}), Vermicelles (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}), Real Dream (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Tarriance (GB) (Frankel {GB}). TDN Analysis: Tabletalk is all set for Riyadh glory and was not disgraced when runner-up in the Listed Chester Stakes in August. Trainer Tom Clover is bullish on the son of Camelot, who has to contend with a duo of Joseph O'Brien runners, not least Group 1 winner Tennessee Stud. Group winner Sons And Lovers also represents O'Brien. Japan is always a danger when shipping to the Middle East and fields multiple group hero Struve and the multiple group-placed Vermicelles. Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 18:25, 1351 TURF SPRINT (Presented By Qiddiya City)-G2, $2,000,000, NH/SH 4yo/up, 1351mT Field: Annaf (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), Comanche Brave (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Fortune Time (Jpn) (Greater London {Jpn}), Geography (Jpn) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Lazzat (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), Love De Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Marvelman (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Panja Tower (Jpn) (Tower Of London {Jpn}), Reef Runner (The Big Beast), Shin Forever (Complexity), Zefzaf (Mo Town), Zio Jo (Nyquist), Time To Dazzle (Not This Time). TDN Analysis: Panja Tower is aiming to give Japan back-to-back victories in this race after the 2025 tally of Ascoli Piceno (Daiwa Major). The G1 NHK Mile Cup hero last year is coming off a fifth-place effort Down Under in The Golden Eagle. Annaf, a winner of the 2024 edition of the 1351 Turf Sprint returns to the scene of his greatest triumph. Placed in the G1 King's Stand Stakes of 2023, the seven-year-old entire has to contend with multiple Group 1 winner Lazzat, who was second in the G1 British Champions Sprint Stakes in the autumn. For the U.S., GII Eddie D Stakes winner Reef Runner steps up after a tally in the Listed Jannus Stakes. Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 17:40, RIYADH DIRT SPRINT (Presented By Saudi National Bank)-G2, $2,000,000, NH/SH 3yo/up, 1200m Field: American Stage (Into Mischief), Colour Up (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Don Amitie (Jpn) (Asia Express), Echo Point (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Imagination (Into Mischief), Just Beat The Odds (Munnings), Lovesick Blues (Grazen), Muqtahem (Ire) (Soldier's Call {GB}), Royal Zabeel (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Self Improvement (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}), Transferred (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Yamanin Cerchi (Jpn) (Four Wheel Drive), Gabby's Sister (Jpn) (Apollo Kingdom). TDN Analysis: Straight No Chaser (Speightster) landed this prize in 2025, and the Americans are back for more with Bob Baffert's Imagination (Into Mischief). The son of Into Mischief was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint last autumn. GIII Elite Power Stakes hero Just Beat The Odds makes his first start away from the East Coast in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint. A consistent sort, he's been on the board for all barring one of his 13 starts to date. Yoshito Yahagi saddles American Stage, who was second in last year's G3 Mahab Al Shimaal. UAE regular Colour Up has a brace of stakes victories to his name and carries five group placings. Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 17:00, SAUDI DERBY (Presented By ZOOD Realty)-G3, $1,500,000, NH/SH 3yo, 1600m Field: Acknowledgemeplz (Bucchero), Al Haram (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), Best Green (Jpn) (Smart Falcon {Jpn}), Cielo Di Roma (Fr) (Romanised {Ire}), Keiai Agito (Jpn) (Espoir City {Jpn}), My World (Essential Quality), Obliteration (Violence), Satono Voyage (Jpn) (Into Mischief), Shayem (Ire) (King Of Change {GB}), Tuwajeri (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}), Union Security (Maximum Security), Very Connected (Connect), Wonder Dean (Jpn) (Dee Majesty {Jpn}), Tokai Ma Cherie (Jpn) (Drefong). TDN Analysis: All eyes here should be trained upon Satono Voyage, who looks to give Japan a fourth win in the event in its seven-year history. Unblemished in three runs on the dirt, he most recently validated odds-on favouritism in the Cattleya Stakes (conditions) going Tokyo's one-turn mile Nov. 29. If he stays the trip, 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard and last-out listed romper Obliteration can be in the thick of this, as can My World, whose victories in the Nashua Stakes and Jerome Stakes in New York have come over a one-turn mile. Saudi Arabia's Al Haram will try to make it four-from-four lifetime, having whooshed home in the local 2000 Guineas on Jan. 17. Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia, post time: 16:20, TUWAIQ CUP (Presented By SHG)-Listed, $1,000,000, NH/SH4yo/up, 1800m Field: Akfeek (Macho Uno), Alaham (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}), Bernard Shaw (Into Mischief), Carracci (Quality Road), Final Destination (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Havildar (Arrogate), Lionel (Authentic), Michael Scofield (Tiz The Law), Power Of Beauty (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}), Riyadh El Ezz (Demarchelier {GB}), Sa'aeid (Munnings), Scotland Yard (Quality Road), Wadaatak Allah (Hard Spun), Waqtuk (Not This Time), Webinar (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}), Wootton'sun (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Ya Dar (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}), Gharamy (Ire) (King Of Change {GB}). Saturday, Al Rayyan (Doha), Qatar, post time: 16:15 p.m., H. H. THE AMIR TROPHY (Presented By Longines)-G2, $2,500,000, NH/SH4yo/up, 2400mT Field: Byzantine Dream (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), Deep Monster (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), GIavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), Lion's Pride (GB) (Roaring Lion), Satono Glanz (Jpn) (Satono Diamond {Jpn}). TDN Analysis: Some 51 weeks ago, Byzantine Dream ran out a ready winner of the G3 Red Sea Turf Cup Handicap in Riyadh and is the top-rated galloper here in a field short on numbers but high on quality. Last year's G2 Prix Foy hero makes his first start since a sound fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Godolphin took last year's running with the globetrotting Rebel's Romance and Charlie Appleby sends in US Grade I winner El Cordobes, who was last seen finishing third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf in California Nov. 1. Fourth in the Arc, Giavellotto fell a half-length short of repeating in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, with Goliath a half-length adrift in third. Satono Glanz returns looking to improve on his third-place effort from last year's contest. Click here for the complete fields. The post Black-Type Analysis: Can Baffert Duo Dethrone Forever Young? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Colonial Downs has revealed a new brand, logo, and digital presence ahead of the track's first Virginia Derby spring meet, which will be held Mar. 12-14. The Virginia Derby will be contested Mar. 14 and will offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the first time. “With a record number of race days, growing crowds and purses, a Kentucky Derby qualifier race, and some of the most passionate fans around, Virginia is stepping into the sport's global spotlight,” said Frank Hopf, Senior Director of Racing Operations at Colonial Downs. “This exciting new identity for Colonial Downs honors Virginia's rich history of Thoroughbred racing, while inviting new fans and longtime enthusiasts to come experience the thrill of live racing at Virginia's premier Thoroughbred racetrack. It's a new look for a new era, and we invite you to be a part of it.” Colonial Downs' new logo features a striding Thoroughbred whose shape mirrors that of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The five strands of the horse's mane represent five regions of the state: Southwest Virginia, Northern Virginia, Central Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the Shenandoah Valley. The track's new signature colors also carry significance. Colonial Downs Copper represents the sport's enduring connections to the earth and the dirt of the racing surface, while Regal Navy represents the noble history of horse racing and the steady strength of both horse and jockey. Colonial Downs has also unveiled an updated website, featuring race schedules, promotions, and track information, as well as updated Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts. The post Colonial Downs Announces Brand Reboot Ahead of Spring Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Martin Heydon, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, turned the sod on the new Tipperary all-weather track on Thursday, marking the beginning of the redevelopment project which is scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2027. Minister Heydon was joined by Nicky Hartery, chairman of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI); Maurice Moloney, Tipperary Racecourse committee chairman; Andrew Hogan, Tipperary Racecourse manager; Sinead Carr, CEO of Tipperary County Council; and Paul Dermody, CEO of HRI Racecourses, along with local representatives, community leaders, the Tipperary Racecourse committee and project partners for the sod turning ceremony. Work will now commence on the new all-weather track, with a view to staging a full winter race programme in 2027/28. The main contract has been awarded to Atlantic Golf Construction (AGC Ventures Limited), based in Ballybunion, County Kerry. Martin Collins Enterprises Ltd will develop the polytrack racing surface, while the floodlights at the venue will be provided by McSherry Electrical Limited, based in Mallow, County Cork. Minister Heydon said, “I am delighted to be here in Tipperary today to turn the sod on the new all-weather track project. It's an ambitious, exciting project and I wish Andrew Hogan, Maurice Moloney and the team in Horse Racing Ireland all the best. “The project is a major stimulus, creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and enhancing the horse racing and breeding industry that already generates €329 million in expenditure and approximately 3,000 jobs in Tipperary alone – contributing to the national figure of €2.46 billion and over 30,000 jobs, and will be hugely beneficial for the continued development of this world-class industry.” Hogan added, “Today is a hugely exciting day for Tipperary Racecourse and the broader county. The new all-weather track is a crucial piece of infrastructure for the racing and breeding industry in Munster and beyond, and we are thrilled to see the redevelopment work get underway. “On behalf of the entire Tipperary Racecourse team, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported this project and helped to get us to this point today. We look forward to hosting stakeholder engagement events over the summer, as the project develops and we have more updates to share.” Tipperary will become the second all-weather track in Ireland, along with Dundalk, which is located roughly 270 kilometres further north. “Today marks an important moment not only for Tipperary Racecourse but for our vibrant racing and breeding industry,” said Hartery. “The new all-weather track reflects Horse Racing Ireland's strategic goal to create opportunities at all levels, and the project will bring huge positives for the industry, creating significant economic and social benefits for Tipperary and the broader region. It will provide a major boost to racing throughout the south of the country, offering accessible racing and training facilities all year round. “I would like to thank the Minister and his Department colleagues, Tipperary County Council and all stakeholders for their ongoing support.” The post Minister Martin Heydon Turns Sod on Tipperary All-Weather Track appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

It's been three weeks since our last GI Kentucky Oaks Top 10, and a lot has happened. But no one stepped up with the type of explosive performance that would have shaken up the standings. We've dropped four horses from our original poll. Mythical (St. Patrick's Day) just wasn't good enough in the GIII Forward Gal Stakes. Tommy Jo (Into Mischief) has been injured and has been taken off the Oaks trail. Percy's Bar (Upstart) hasn't had a workout since Jan. 6, which doesn't bode well for her making the Oaks. Hit Parade (Street Sense) was a disappointing fifth in the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn. Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes at the Fair Grounds should provide a bit more clarity to the picture. So, here goes, your latest Top 10: 1) ZANY (American Pharoah–Mo' Green, by Uncle Mo) O-Repole Stable; B-D.J. Stable (Ky); T-Todd Pletcher. Sales history: $350,000 yrl '24 FTSAR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 3-3-0-0, $221,500. Last Start: Won Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 30. She didn't exactly burn up the racetrack in her 3-year-old debut, last Saturday's Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, but I can't see dropping a horse from the No. 1 spot off of a win. Though she won by 2 3/4 lengths, her running time for the mile and 40 yards was 1:40.56. In the very next race, run at the same distance, the maiden Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}) crossed the wire in 1:39.11 for trainer Chad Brown. That left Zany with an 81 Beyer figure, eight points slower than she ran in her impressive victory in the GII Demoiselle Stakes. She also ducked in sharply in the stretch. So why is she still No. 1? Because no one did enough to knock her off the top spot and I have all the confidence in the world in Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Likely, this was a starting place for Zany, and we will see a better filly when she returns in the Apr. 3 GI Ashland at Keeneland. 2) MEANING (Gun Runner–Figure of Speech, by Into Mischief) O-Bridlewood Farm & Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-Stonehaven Steadings (Ky); T-Michael McCarthy. Sales history: $440,000 yrl '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW, 3-2-0-0, $187,000. Last Start: Won Feb. 8 Las Virgenes Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 26. Unranked in the first edition of the Oaks Top 10, she roared into the No. 2 spot with a win in the Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita, where she beat two pretty tough customers in Explora (Blame) and Super Corredora (Gun Runner). It was her first start since she was a non-threatening fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. “She's a stronger filly, more mature,” winning trainer Michael McCarthy told reporters after the race. The knock on Meaning is that she got a perfect trip. She sat third behind Explora and Super Corredora, who battled it out in testing fractions of :22.57 and :45.98. When those two started to tire, the race fell into Meaning's lap. McCarthy has said that the Apr. 4 GII Santa Anita Oaks will be next for his filly. Meaning | Benoit 3) TAKEN BY THE WIND (Rock Your World–Up for Grabs, by First Samurai) O-Magdalena Racing, Terry Bradshaw, Graham Leveston, Raasi Stable; B-Courtney L. Meagher (Fl); T-Kenneth G McPeek. Sales History: $70,000 yrl '24 FTKJUL; $20,000 yrl '24 FTKOCT. Lifetime Record: GSW, 3-3-0-0, $270,710. Last Start: Won Jan. 17 Silverbulletday Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 30. Taken by the Wind has not raced since the first poll came out, but moves up because, well, someone had to, with so many disappointing performances from some of the more highly regarded horses. After his filly won the Silverbulletday Stakes, trainer Kenny McPeek expressed how high he is on her, and that means something from a trainer who has had so much success with star fillies. She only won the Silverbulletday by a neck, but there's no knocking her record–she's 3 for 3. McPeek reports that Taken by the Wind will have her next start in the Mar. 1 GIII Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn. 4) LIFE OF JOY (Gun Runner–Jordayn's Leo, by Malibu Moon) O-Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm & For the People Racing Stable LLC; B-Springhouse Farm (Ky); T-Brad H Cox. Sales history: $375,000 yrl '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW, 4-2-1-0, $180,260. Last Start: Second in Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 22. You know that Brad Cox is going to have a say when it comes to the road to the Kentucky Oaks. He always does. And Life of Joy might be his best hope. Her race in the Suncoast, where she was second behind Zany, is better than it looks on paper. She broke a step slow, which cost her position. Sensing that there was a slow pace (:24.89, :49.55), Flavien Prat rushed her up into contention midway down the backstretch in what may have been a premature move. Still, she held her own against Zany. Other than a fourth-place finish in the GII Golden Rod Stakes, she's never been worse than second and seems to be peaking at the right time. 5) EXPLORA (Blame–Collections Choice, by Bernardini) O-Michael Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman; B-Mesingw Farm (Ky); T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $22,000 yrl '24 KEESEP; $350,000 2yo '25 FTMMAY. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard.' Lifetime Record: GSW & MGISP, 5-3-2-0, $628,000. Last Start: Second Feb. 8 Las Virgenes Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 45. The Bob Baffert-trained filly made her 3-year-old debut in the Las Virgenes and probably didn't deliver the type of performance her Hall of Fame trainer was expecting. She's shown the ability to rate in the past, which she did in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, where she was fourth early before closing for second. But in the Las Virgenes, she got caught up in a speed duel with rival Super Corredora and didn't have enough left in the tank to hold off Meaning, who wasn't necessarily flying at the end. They went the final quarter in :27 4/5 seconds. The positive is that she held in there a lot better than Super Corredora, who finished last. She far from embarrassed herself and could easily rebound next out with a better trip. 6) DAZZLING DAME (Girvin–Awesome Dama, by Corinthian) O-Respect the Valleys LLC; B-Maria M Haire (Md); T-Brittany T Russell. Sales History: $50,000 RNA wnlg '23 KEENOV: $65,000 yrl '24 OBSWIN; $45,000 2yo '25 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: MSW, 5-4-0-0, $240,525. Last Start: Won Jan. 3 Busanda Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 22. Might be overrating a filly whose claim to fame is that she won the Busanda Stakes on Jan. 3 at Aqueduct, but that was a powerful performance. She won by 11 1/2 lengths and earned a 91 Beyer. That's the best Beyer number turned in by any 3-year-old filly so far this year. Trainer Brittany Russell reports that Dazzling Dame may go next in the Mar. 14 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs. If so, she may need to find a tougher spot to prove that her filly belongs among the best of her division. It's worth noting that she might have missed a work since she has not had a published workout since Jan. 23. 7) BELLA BALLERINA (Street Sense–Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit) O/B-Godolphin (Ky); T-Brendan P Walsh. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $301,525. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard.' Last Start: Won Nov. 29 GII Golden Rod Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 10. The Godolphin-homebred will make her 3-year-old debut in Saturday's Rachel Alexandra at the Fair Grounds, where she'll likely be favored over seven others. She was last seen winning the Golden Rod on Nov. 29 at Churchill. She took a 3 1/2-length lead into the stretch of that race and held on to win by a half-length while earning an 80 Beyer. Her rivals in the Rachel Alexandra will include Just Singing (Justify), who finished a fast-closing third behind her in the Golden Rod. There's very little speed in this race and Bella Ballerina will either set the pace or stay close to what is sure to be a slow pace. Either way, she should get a good trip. This will be an important test for her. 8) SUPER CORREDORA (Gun Runner–Super Simple, by Super Saver) O-Spartan Equine Racing LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert Gardiner & Michael Olszewki; B-Woodford Thoroughbreds (Ky); T-John Sadler. Sales History: $400,000 yrl '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo filly, GISW, 5-2-1-0, $1,099,600. Last Start: Fourth Feb. 8 Las Virgenes Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 34. It was not a good 3-year-old debut for last year's juvenile filly champion. Yes, she got caught up in a speed duel in the Las Virgenes, but she should have had more fight than she did. She finished last in the four-horse field, 6 3/4 lengths behind the winner, Meaning. It was nothing like her winning performance in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, where she hung on gamely after setting fractions of :22 2/5 and :45 3/5. “We will stay the course and go to the next one [Mar. 1 GIII Santa Ysabel Stakes],” said Terry Finley, whose West Point Thoroughbreds is a co-owner of the filly. “This was a tough race. The hope is our filly needed the race. She'll have to improve to stay in the top echelon.” On Time Girl | Coglianese 9) ON TIME GIRL (Not This Time–Girl Daddy, by Uncle Mo) O/B-Albaugh Farmily Stables, LLC (Ky); T-Brad H Cox. Sales history: $375,000 RNA yrl '24 KEESEP. 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard.' Lifetime Record: 5-4-1-0, $405,735. Last Start: Won Jan. 31 GIII Forward Gal Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 20. Another Brad Cox filly, she jumped into the picture with a convincing win in the GIII Forward Gal Stakes at seven furlongs. She's now four for five during her career. The problem is that she's never gone beyond seven furlongs. She is by Not This Time, which suggests she should be able to handle a distance, but until she proves it, the jury is out. Cox is looking at the Feb. 28 GII Davona Dale at Gulfstream, a one-mile race. But it, too, will be run around one turn, meaning it may not answer all the questions. 10) POWERED BY FAMILY (Quality Road–Icon Project, by Empire Maker) O/B-St Elias Stables & West Point Thoroughbreds (Ky); T-Cherie DeVaux. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $38,400. Last Start: Won MSW at Fair Grounds Jan. 10. Kentucky Oaks Points: 0. While this might be an outside-the-box pick, the Quality Road filly has a lot of upside. She looked terrific breaking her maiden at the Fair Grounds on Jan. 10. She broke terribly and spotted the field several lengths, but made up a ton of ground and drew away to a four-length win while earning an 84 Beyer. The problem is she also broke poorly in her career debut and could do no better than fourth. She steps way up in class for the Rachel Alexandra and can contend. It all depends on the break. She'll have no chance against this caliber if she again breaks poorly. The post The Kentucky Oaks TDN Top 10 For Feb. 12: Zany Stays on Top appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA — Bob Baffert may have won two Triple Crowns, six Kentucky Derbys, 21 Breeders' Cup races, and four Dubai World Cups but there is an itch that still needs to be scratched: the Saudi Cup. “We've gotten pretty close,” he said Thursday morning from King Abdulaziz Racecourse, and he's not wrong. Baffert has been represented in five of the six runnings of the world's richest race and has finished second twice, with Charlatan (Speightstown) then Country Grammer (Tonalist). Last year was his sole omission, and to make up for that, this year he will saddle two horses, with the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) being joined by his stablemate and runner-up in the GII Laffit Pincay Jr Stakes, Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach). In any other year, he'd be sitting pretty, but there is the small matter of the defending champion and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) in the field. Baffert conceded that this will be no easy mission, and he was full of praise for the odds-on favorite and his trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who had exited the press conference suite just moments before. “That was a fantastic race,” Baffert said of the thrilling stretch-long tussle between Forever Young and Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) 12 months ago. “I was watching that race in my office at Santa Anita, and Romantic Warrior, he looked so good going to the gate, and all of a sudden he took off, he got bold, and it looked like the race was over, and then Forever Young, he's just–he's a unicorn. Bob Baffert during a Thursday press conference at King Abdulaziz | Emma Berry “I'm telling you, he's unbelievable, and I have so much respect for that horse. He just put his head down, and what he did as a 3-year-old, to win in Saudi, Dubai, come to the Derby, and come so close, that is just unheard of, you know, a horse shipping that much. Credit to his trainer and his staff, and his jockey, riding with so much confidence, but that horse is an incredible horse, and he's a good-looking horse. I saw him the other day, he looks healthy, and he's going to be tough.” Of Yahagi, who is arguably Japan's most internationally recognized trainer with a haul of victories which stretches beyond Saudi and America to Dubai–with Forever Young's sire among his five winners there–Australia and Hong Kong. He has also won Japan's Triple Crown with Contrail (Jpn). “He's like the Charlie Whittingham of Japan,” Baffert added. “He's tough, and he looks like he's having fun, that's what I love about him. And when he says his horse is ready, they're ready. He said last night his horse is ready, and I didn't like to hear that, but that's what makes these races great. These races are supposed to be tough, and bring the best horses here. It's like that baseball movie, if they put up the money, they'll come, and so, we're here.” Yahagi is himself a big baseball fan. He was proudly sporting his L.A. Dodgers shirt along with a self-confessed hangover the morning after last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, which happened to clash with the final game of a tense World Series in which the Dodgers, with their smattering of Japanese imports, proved as tough to beat as Forever Young. But Baffert will be doing his level best to ensure that Riyadh does not remain a field of dreams solely for his rival. He will also take on the Yahagi-trained American Stage with 5-year-old Imagination–both of them sons of Into Mischief–in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint, but in Nysos, he says that he has his strongest chance yet to add the Saudi Cup to his portfolio. “I think Nysos is a brilliant racehorse,” he said. “He's got his work cut out, but he's got a good draw position, he's outside, he can just stalk, he's smart. He can go to the lead, he can come off the pace, whereas the horses I brought here before were one-dimensional, and they had horses hook them early and then got tired at the end.” The long stretch at Riyadh, on a dirt track modelled on the easy, sweeping turns of Belmont Park, is famously attritional, as Baffert knows to his cost. He continued, “We won a little Derby here [with Pinehurst in 2022] and stuff, but we've fallen short. I always tell everybody, I'm watching at home, it looks like I'm home free and I'm looking for the wire, and all of a sudden they show the 100-meter mark and I've lost millions of dollars just to make that last 100 meters. They just come get you there at the end. It's sort of a deep racetrack, it's a soft, very forgiving, safe racetrack, but it gets tough: that stretch is just so long. I prefer shorter stretches.” Nevada Beach | Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia Following a dominant victory in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February 2024, Nysos was not seen in action for the remainder of his 3-year-old season. Injury niggles kept him off the track until May 2025, when he ran Mindframe (Constitution) to a neck on comeback to finish second in the GI Churchill Downs Stakes. Thereafter he has remained faultless in four starts, including his first Grade I success at the Breeders' Cup. On that same day at Del Mar, Nevada Beach, then three, finished seventh in a Breeders' Cup Classic for the ages, in which Forever Young was chased home by Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), Fierceness (City of Light), Journalism (Curlin) and Mindframe. “He wants to go a mile and a quarter, and you need a horse that can go a mile and a quarter to run here,” Baffert said of GI Goodwood Stakes winner Nevada Beach. “I feel pretty good about both my chances. I think the Breeders' Cup [Classic] was a weird-run race, he was on the inside, and he was sort of tight in the inside there and the track that day was just really speed. But he won after that, he's come back and run two big races, so I feel he's more mature now. He gets over this track really well. He's big, he reminds me a lot of Country Grammer–a big, long-striding horse that gets over this track.” The second-place finishes for Charlatan and Country Grammer came in the two years following a disappointing effort in the inaugural running from McKinzie, who, like Nevada Beach, was owned by the triumvirate of Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. “I thought McKinzie was going to run really big, and he didn't pick up his speed at all, so, you're just hoping that when they turn for home, that they're running, and hopefully it's going to be Nysos, and I hope that Nevada Beach is right there too, but Nysos and Forever Young–it's King Kong versus Godzilla,” Baffert said. While Nevada Beach is likely to go on to next month's Dubai World Cup from Riyadh, Nysos will return to California. “We'll take him back home, and just freshen him up and point for the Breeders' Cup Classic,” he added. “I've brought good horses here, and I think Nysos, hopefully, is the best one I've brought here. It's one of those things where I just felt like I wanted to come back, and if we were to win, I want to be here, I want to enjoy it. “All I can hope for is when they turn for home, that Nevada Beach and Nysos, they're there in contention. It would be great to see my horses hook up with Forever Young. Last year, it was really fun to watch that race. It was incredible–that's what the Saudi Cup is supposed to be about: two great horses just going at it. “I think Nysos is a great horse. Forever Young is a great horse, maybe there's another. I've come here and I got beat by [80-1 shot] Emblem Road, so you never know. Crazy things happen in this race. I just hope that the horses show up–that's all you can ask for. “I like challenges, and this is a race I've never won, so it's on my bucket list, and we're going to keep coming until we win this thing. We're not going to give up.” The post ‘It’s King Kong Versus Godzilla’: Baffert Relishing Saudi Cup Battle Between Forever Young and Nysos appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Letters to the Editor for the Feb. 12 edition of BloodHorse Daily includes a submission from the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association requesting changes from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.View the full article

Francis Graffard targeted Thursday's debutantes event at Chantilly with two potentially smart fillies and it was The Aga Khan Studs representative Edaja (Siyouni) who enjoyed the stable bragging rights. Sent off the 12-5 favourite for the mile contest on Polytrack, the daughter of the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational winner and G2 Prix de Malleret and G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris runner-up Edisa (Kitten's Joy) was restrained early in mid-division by Clement Lecoeuvre. Reeling in stablemate Morgana Gold (Too Darn Hot) with 50 metres remaining, the homebred asserted to score by 1 1/2 lengths. Smart debut at Chantilly! Edaja could be a filly with a nice future after coming home strongly to score at the first time of asking for @GraffardRacing and @AgaKhanStuds… pic.twitter.com/WDhmoyrZNj — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) February 12, 2026 The post Siyouni Filly Edaja Another Bright Graffard Prospect appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

John Size will unleash a bumper squad of 11 horses at Sha Tin on Saturday as he looks to continue his strong run of recent form, with Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) entrant Enthusium one of his most fascinating runners. The champion trainer has designs on running the British import – who won once at Carlisle from four starts in the UK when owned by King Charles – in next month’s Derby and his overseas form suggests that is not a fanciful idea. His victory came over 1,800m and his pedigree is all...View the full article

Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock) is a four-time Group 1-winning miler, but can he extend his brilliance to a longer journey at the top level? Joe Pride has one burning question he wants Ceolwulf to answer this autumn – is he a Group One horse over 2000 metres? The gelding’s record offers conflicting data. His four majors have come over a mile, but he does have an Australian Derby placing at three, and a narrow win at Group 2 level over a middle-distance as an older horse. He has also been soundly beaten in the past two renewals of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m). So as the backmarker with a booming finish readies to launch his five-start campaign at Randwick on Saturday, Pride is already plotting how to solve the distance conundrum. “This preparation, I am about once and for all establishing if he can run 2000 metres as well as what he runs a mile,” Pride said. “There’s no doubt he runs 2000 metres, but is he as effective? “And does he get the right set-up for 2000? He never seems to get speed on, and that might be the defining factor for him. He might get in a 2000 metre race that is run a bit different and be a different horse.” Ceolwulf will be given two chances to prove his middle-distance mettle – at his fourth run in the Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington and his campaign swansong in the Queen Elizabeth. But first he has to get through Saturday’s Apollo Stakes (1400m) and a clash with undefeated mare Autumn Glow, along with her high-class stablemate, Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio). Ceolwulf has never won first-up, but he has run some cheeky races, including an eye-catching fourth to Fangirl in the corresponding event 12 months ago during a period when he wasn’t racing at his best. Pride felt there were a few reasons the gelding didn’t perform as expected last autumn, and has taken steps to rectify the main one. “I’m convinced one of them was that I had him too big,” he said. “I had him up around 530 kilos for his first-up run last time and he’s 510 now. I’m not a believer in a fighting weight for a horse so much, but with this horse, there is just a weight he runs well at and it’s around that (510 kilos).” As for Saturday, Ceolwulf is expected to be doing his best work late and Pride will be satisfied with a finish “in the first four or five”. He will then race every fortnight with the end goal of having him at his peak for his final two campaign runs, performances set to shape the remainder of his career. “It is always my aim to find out what the one perfect formula is for each horse, and I’ll repeat it all day long,” Pride said. “That’s why I want to work it out with Ceolwulf. I don’t want to waste any more time running him in 2000 metre races if he can’t perform at his best at that distance. “I’ll keep him a miler for the rest of his life if I have to. I’ve just got to find that out.” View the full article

Group One performer Hezashocka (NZ) (Shocking) has gone full-circle, returning to where his racing career began, with part-owners Shaun and Emma Clotworthy at Byerley Park. The now eight-year-old was purchased by Shaun Clotworthy out of Grangewilliam Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 3 Yearling Sale draft for $18,000 and went on to have three starts as a three-year-old for the Clotworthys, culminating in his victory in the Gr.2 Trelawney Stud Championship Stakes (2100m). Trans-Tasman syndicator OTI Racing purchased into the gelding and he continued his racing career in Australia for Melbourne trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, for whom he won a further four races, with his career earnings surpassing $1.65 million. His victories included the Gr.3 Premier’s Cup (2400m) and Listed Gosford Gold Cup (2200m), while he also placed in the Gr.1 Champions Stakes (2000m), two editions of the Gr.3 JRA Plate (2000m), and Listed Mornington Cup (2400m). “It was five years ago that we sent him over to Aussie and he has done a great job for us. He raced with some distinction against some quality horses,” Shaun Clotworthy said. “It is just nice to have a quality horse like him back in the stable.” Hezashocka made his first public appearance since arriving back in New Zealand in an 1100m trial at Te Aroha on Wednesday, and Clotworthy was happy enough with the hit-out over a distance well short of his best. “He is a horse that wants to get over 2000m-plus,” Clotworthy said. “They went pretty quick. We weren’t quite sure how much residual fitness he was going to retain from his Australian campaign. He hasn’t done too much work here so we will just build his work up and see where he gets to. “He is a sound horse and looks like he is ready to work. We can’t fault him, so we will press on a little bit further and see whether he has a desire to be a racehorse. If he does, and he brings any of his best Australian form, he will be competitive in New Zealand.” The stable is having a quiet week, with no runners this weekend, but Clotworthy is looking forward to heading to Ellerslie the following weekend to line-up last-start winner Espadas in a rating 75 1400m. The five-year-old son of Ace High has been a test of patience for his handlers, but it looks to be paying off, with Espadas putting in a convincing performance to win by 1-1/2 lengths over 1200m last month, bringing his record to two wins and a placing from six starts. “He has been a frustrating horse, he is quite a difficult horse to train,” Clotworthy said. “We do a lot of his work at the beach in a straight line because he has had a few maturity problems. “It was a nice win the other day. He has shown us a lot of potential, but it has been hard to get it out of him sometimes. He is back on track now and hopefully we can keep going. “He likes Ellerslie, so we will try and stretch him out to 1400m on the 21st (of February).” View the full article

Many stories are being shared this week centred on one of the true characters of racing, Stuart Dromgool, who passed away at age 90 at his Cambridge home last Sunday. As a young adult Dromgool mixed farming with horsemanship, riding successfully as an amateur and joining the training ranks in the 1960s under one of the best of the time, Cambridge trainer Wallace Townsend. “They were different times back then, and the way he operated was something you don’t see now,” said Dromgool’s son Mike. “He was an old pioneer and I suppose one of a kind.” Before embarking on his racing journey, Dromgool was a talented sportsman. As an axeman he won numerous titles up to national level and was also a successful athlete, especially over extreme distances. “He was a sub three-hour marathon runner, which got him selected for the Commonwealth Games trials, but then he was disqualified when the selectors found out he had been competing for money,” Mike said. “As he recalled later when talking about those days, why wouldn’t you take the money when you could earn two quid for running a road race? “Wood-chopping was his first love back then though, he loved that sport and was very good at it.” Becoming licensed in the racing industry led to numerous successes from his Cambridge stables, Waitful Lodge, named after the horse he rode to victory in jumps and flat races on the amateur and picnic circuit. As a trainer, Dromgool enjoyed his biggest successes in the 1970s, with stars from that era the Auckland and New Zealand Cup winner Royal Cadenza, noted mudlark Cattle King, whose wins included the Cornwall Handicap and Mitchelson Cup at Ellerslie and the Parliamentary Handicap at the Trentham winter meeting, and Reklaw, whose most notable of 19 wins was the Mitchelson Cup. “He was a great conditioner of a horse,” his son said. “Royal Cadenza won the Auckland Cup leading for most of the race for Bob Skelton, Cattle King just loved heavy ground and Reklaw began racing as a two-year-old and was still racing as a 13-year-old – you just don’t see that these days.” One member of Dromgool’s wide circle of friends was commentator George Simon, a neighbour for five years and one of many with memories of Dromgool’s laconic, dry wit. “The hard-case yarns we had over the fence, so many and all with the same Stuey touch where you had to follow that monotone and stay sharp for the hidden joke,” Simon said. “He was such a clever storyteller. “I remember one morning down at the track talking to him about this horse he was leading. ‘Yeah, I really like him, I reckon he’ll go a long way. We’ll start at Wairoa and then go to Gisborne, and after that we might even head up to Dargaville.’ “He was such a dry bugger, and a great guy with it.” Dromgool’s long training career ended just over a decade ago, but he remained with Daphne, his wife of nearly 70 years, in Cambridge to the day he died. “He had a stroke maybe six years ago and he was told he had three months to live,” his son Mike recalled. “He had smoked roll-your-owns all his life, so he went cold turkey and gave them up. “He was such a determined sort of bloke, he did things his way at the same time as being devoted to our mother and all the rest of us. He was a wonderful family man. “He turned 90 last year, he had a good life with no complaints and when his time came, he went out on his own terms. “One of his last instructions to me was to say a few words at his farewell but keep it short and sweet to save wasting any of the boys’ drinking time.” Stu Dromgool’s ‘final race’ will take place at 12 noon this Friday at Cambridge Raceway. View the full article

Wingatui filly Bobby Mcgee (NZ) (Ancient Spirit) will trek south to Invercargill on Saturday where she will bid to double her stakes tally in the Listed ILT Ascot Park Hotel Southland Guineas (1400m). She chalked up White Robe Lodge stallion Ancient Spirit’s first stakes win as a sire when taking out the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m) at her home track on Boxing Day and she will head into the Southland Guineas in a fresh state. “She had a week on the walker and has progressed well,” trainer Terry Kennedy said. “She is a nice filly and will get better the further she goes, she has done everything right since she has raced.” Bobby Mcgee has drawn the ace barrier on Saturday and Kennedy said she should get an ideal trip from that alley. “She seems well, has a good barrier draw, so I think she should go well,” he said. “She will get in behind them. At Invercargill you have got to be on speed, so a good draw does help.” Bobby Mcgee is rated a $6 third favourite with TAB bookmakers behind Canterbury raiders Miss Starlight ($3.10) and Luna Capella ($5.50). Following Saturday, the Listed Property Brokers – Ray Kean Dunedin Guineas (1600m) at Wingatui in a fortnight looms as her next target, with further black-type assignments in the offing if she continues on her current trajectory. “There is plenty for her as long as she keeps going ahead,” he said. Kennedy will head to Ascot Park with four other runners this weekend, including last-start winner Ray’s Awake, who will step up to rating 65 grade in the Shares Available Robert Dennis Racing Handicap (2200m). “He won well last start and from a maiden to a 65 is not a really big jump over 2200m,” Kennedy said. “He has done well since he last raced and he will be competitive.” Stablemate Tandia ran third first-up at Invercargill last month following a 12-month absence from the track, and Kennedy his confident she can break through for her maiden win in the Heineken Maiden (1600m). “Tandia was super last start and is probably my better runner of the day,” Kennedy said. The Otago horseman will also line-up Kingfisher in the More FM Racing To I Do Handicap (1400m) and Manfred in the McCallums Group Maiden (1200m). “Manfred went a good race last-start, he was in front with 100m to go and then weakened in the last little bit,” Kennedy said. “He has done well since he has raced so I expect him to go a good race from the good barrier draw. “Kingfisher went alright out here (Wingatui last week), his sectionals were good, I am just hoping the 1400m is going to help him.” View the full article

Stephen Marsh can’t take a trick with Ardalio (NZ) (Ardrossan) and the frustration has continued with the talented mare drawing poorly again at Matamata on Saturday. His daughter of Ardrossan finished midfield in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) and Gr.1 Railway (1200m) from wide barriers and will jump from 12 in a 13-horse field in the Listed Lisa Chittick Champagne Stakes (1400m). “She ran well in both races, and you just wonder how a horse can draw so many bad gates,” Marsh said. “If she had drawn a good gate on a Dead 4 on Saturday then I would be really confident. “She is very smart but it also concerns me what the weather will do, she’s a real Good track horse.” Marsh is keen to start Ardalio regardless, as the timing is ideal ahead of the lucrative Champions Day meeting at Ellerslie on March 7. “We’ll either run her in the mares’ 1400m (Gr.2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Classic) or the 1200m (Gr.3 Haunui Farm King’s Plate) there,” he said. Three of Ardalio’s victories have been at Group Three level, including the Almanzor Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie before she finished a close sixth behind Legarto in last season’s Lisa Chittick from the outside barrier. She ran bravely again for seventh after being caught three deep without cover from another wide alley in last year’s The NZB Kiwi (1500m). Marsh will also have black-type hopes on Saturday with juvenile King Of The Air in the Gr.3 Fairview Matamata Slipper (1200m) and Doddle in the Listed Matamata Veterinary Services Kaimai Stakes (2000m). King Of The Air hasn’t raced since his debut victory on a heavily rain-affected track at New Plymouth last month. “He won it well, he was very professional and jumped to put himself up on the pace,” Marsh said. “I don’t think he loves a wet track, but he certainly gets through it so any rain around isn’t going to worry him like it might affect a few of the others. “He’s done nothing wrong since then and is a nice horse and it’s big help to run on the speed.” Doddle accompanied him south but was all at sea in the ground when unplaced in the Gr.3 Taranaki Cup (1800m). Prior to that, she had finished runner-up at Tauranga on a dry deck where she gave the winner and stablemate Kiwi Skyhawk a kilo and a-half. “It was far too heavy for her at New Plymouth, and she was very good late before that,” Marsh said. “She’s a mare that deserves to get some black-type and I’m sure she will, she just hasn’t had the rub of the green when we’ve had a crack.” Of his other Matamata runners, Marsh liked the chances of Super Legacy in the Price Racing (1400m) following his breakthrough victory at Te Rapa. “He won very well last start, and he’s gone the right way since then,” he said. View the full article

Jen Campin Bloodstock confirms the passing of Group One winner Wyndspelle. The son of Iffraaj was best known for his victory in the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) and multiple elite G1 level performances that established him as one of New Zealand’s toughest and most genuine milers of his generation. Following his racing career, Wyndspelle commenced stud duties, where he was building momentum as a sire. View the full article

Florida Thoroughbred industry leaders anticipated this vote in the House and are expecting a different result when the companion bill is considered by the Senate.View the full article

Kentucky Oaks (G1) hopeful Bella Ballerina is looking to begin her 3-year-old season with a win in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) Feb. 14 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. View the full article

Orla Donworth has joined Fasig-Tipton as its new Global Brand & MultiMedia Manager, according to the organization on Wednesday. “We are delighted to have Orla join the team at Fasig-Tipton,” said Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. “Her experience and expertise will assist us in delivering content for both our live and digital sales.” A graduate of the University of Limerick in 2014, Donworth spent six years at top farms around the world including Ireland's Baroda Stud, Roundhill Stud and Rathmore Stud, in addition to Woods Edge and Dell Ridge in the U.S. and Coolmore Australia. A graduate in Digital Marketing Msc from the Technological University of Shannon in 2021, Donworth received a national award for 'Digital Student of the Year' at the 2021 Digital Media Awards. Chairing the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association's Next Generation (junior wing of the ITBA) from 2022-2023, she also served the past 4 1/2 years as Senior Digital Marketing Executive with Goffs. “I'm thrilled to join Fasig-Tipton at such an exciting time of growth across both live and digital sales,” said Donworth. “The development of the Fasig Digital platform has been truly impressive, and together the live and digital sales serve the market in a variety of ways. The strength of the team here definitely lives up to its reputation! I'm also incredibly grateful for my time at Goffs learning from Henry Beeby and Niamh O'Hehir, whom I consider the ultimate marketeers and who have had a huge influence on my career.” The post Orla Donworth Joins Fasig-Tipton as New Global Brand and Multimedia Manager 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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Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU)'s “pending” and “resolved” cases portals. Among this week's rulings, a HIWU arbitrator has banned Illinois veterinarian Dr. Donald McCrosky a total 24 years and fined him a combined $300,000 for a series of nine violations: One count of trafficking banned substances; five counts of possession of banned substances; two counts of tampering; and one count of using a banned substance. McCrosky had been a licensed veterinarian in Illinois for over 50 years. According to the final written decision by arbitrator Hugh Fraser, on April 22 last year, HIWU investigators searched McCrosky's minivan parked at Fairmount Park and found five banned substances. This included a bottle of Testosterone Cypionate/DHEA, two unopened one-pound containers of Thyro-L, three 50 mL vials of Ammonium Sulfate, a 100 mL bottle of P-Bloc and an unopened bottle of OsPhos. McCrosky explained these away by claiming he operated a mobile veterinary unit for off-track, non-covered horses. Despite warnings by the investigators not to, McCrosky took back one container each of the Thyro-L and the OsPhos, claiming they were expensive and that they were intended for off-track use. During a subsequent interview, McCrosky mentioned to the investigators how the horse he treated–Tigger Attack, owned by his wife–had tested positive for Testosterone after running at Fairmount Park on October 29, 2024. McCrosky admitted to administering Testosterone to Tigger Attack “after a groom advised that the horse was not eating well. He believed that administration of Testosterone seven to 10 days in advance of a race would not result in a positive test,” according to the final ruling. During the interview, McCrosky was also served an Equine Anti-Doping notice, claiming he had tampered with the “doping control” process after Childersattack–another horse McCrosky cared for that was owned by his wife–tested positive for Testosterone in October of 2024. Back in November of 2024 after being notified of Childersattack's Testosterone positive, McCrosky sent HIWU a handwritten note “in which he claimed he had performed a castration on Childersattack in March 2022, leaving Childersattack with one remaining testicle, thus explaining the Testosterone present in Childersattack's October 16, 2024, sample,” the final decision states. HIWU, however, subsequently determined via a regulatory database that Childersattack had been fully gelded in November of 2020. After initially failing to respond to HIWU's requests for medical records and to submit the horse for a veterinary examination, McCrosky later told HIWU that the horse's remaining testicle had been removed in December of 2024, according to the final decision. Furthermore, in August of 2025, HIWU investigators performed an inspection of trainer Isidoro Castro's tack room at Fairmount Park. “During the search, the Investigators found and seized two syringes located in a grey barrel in the tack room. The two syringes were labelled 'A' and 'B.' Syringe A also appeared to be labelled with the word 'Day' and writing that appeared to indicate the word 'Race,'” according to the final decision. They were later found to contain banned Testosterone and Glaucine. Castro told the investigators that he had purchased the syringes from McCrosky in a “Rural King” parking lot one month prior for $20. McCrosky admitted to selling “two loaded syringes to Trainer Castro but claims that he did not know they contained Banned Substances and that he had a 'genuine and legal therapeutic purpose' for the sale,” according to the final decision. McCrosky said he believed they contained Banamine and Aspirin. Ultimately, the arbitrator determined that McCrosky's degree of fault was “Significant.” “The actions of Dr. McCrosky were not due to innocent misinterpretation of the rules or a misunderstanding of his obligations. In committing these nine Anti-Doping Rule Violations, Dr. McCrosky acted with intent, and with a flagrant disregard for the ADMC Program Rules and for their overarching objectives of horse welfare and the integrity of the Thoroughbred racing industry,” according to the final decision. Also this week, trainer John Ortiz was issued six pending Dexamethasone positives, all taken from between Nov. 22 and Dec. 11 last year. They include two minor stakes winners at Aqueduct. Dexamethasone is a class C controlled corticosteroid. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 02/10/2026 Licensee: Darien Rodriguez, trainer Penalty: $3000 fine. Admission. Explainer: Violation of Rule 4222-Intra-Articular Injections Within Seven (7) Days of Timed and Reported Workout. The horse in question was Thirty American for an event dated 6/27/24. Dates: 02/09/2026 Licensee: Dr. Donald McCrosky, veterinarian Penalty: Combined 24-year period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 9, 2026; total fine of $300,000; payment of arbitration costs. Final decision of arbitral body. Explainer: One count of trafficking banned substances; five counts of possession of banned substances; two counts of tampering; and one count of using a banned substance. Read a detailed explanation of the arbitrator's final decision here. Dates: 02/09/2026 Licensee: Elias Lopez, trainer Penalty: Matter dismissed. Final decision of arbitral body. Explainer: This concerned an alleged medication violation for the presence of Albuterol (Salbutamol)-a banned substance-in a sample taken from La Clasica, who did not finish when running at Hawthorne on 6/5/25. Dates: 02/06/2026 Licensee: Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, trainer Penalty: 18-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 7, 2026; 60-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Horse, beginning on July 23, 2025; a fine of $12,500. Admission. Explainer: Out-of-competition medication violation for the presence of Albuterol (Salbutamol)-a banned bronchodilator-in a sample taken from Jet Set Warrior on 7/23/25. Dates: 02/06/2026 Licensee: Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, trainer Penalty: 18-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 7, 2026; 60-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Horse, beginning on July 23, 2025; a fine of $12,500. Admission. Explainer: Out-of-competition medication violation for the presence of Albuterol (Salbutamol)-a banned bronchodilator-in a sample taken from Jet Set Warrior on 7/23/25. Pending ADMC Violations 02/11/2026, John Ortiz, trainer: Pending medication violations for the presence of Dexamethasone-a class C controlled substance-in samples taken from Braverthanubelieve, who won at Aqueduct on 11/22/25 and won the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct on 12/6/25; from Doc Sullivan, who won the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct on 11/22/25; from Moe Eighty Eight, who won at Aqueduct on 11/29/25; from Quietside, who finished second in the GIII Comely Stakes at Aqueduct on 12/7/25; and from Drop Me a Dime, who won at Aqueduct on 12/11/25. 02/10/2026, Dominic C. Duree, owner-trainer: Pending violation of Rule 3216(c),” Prohibited Association,” for an event dated 1/5/26. 02/10/2026, Carlos Sedillo, trainer: Pending violation of Rule 3229, “Status During Provisional Suspension or Ineligibility,” for an event dated 1/11/26. 02/10/2026, Karina Gonzalez, trainer: Pending vet's list medication violation for the presence of Cannabidiol (CBD)-a class B controlled substance-in a sample taken from Dos Reales on 1/5/26. 02/10/2026, Caryn Vecchio, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Dantrolene-a class C controlled substance-in a sample taken from Poppy's Pride, who won at Mahoning Valley on 1/5/26. 02/09/2026, Daniel Hernandez, trainer: Pending medication violations for the presence of Phenylbutazone-a class C controlled substance-in samples taken from Julia's Promise, who won at Sunland Park on 1/4/26; from Holy Bullet, who finished second at Sunland Park on 1/5/26; and from Lovesonfair, who finished second at Sunland Park on 1/5/26. 02/09/2026, Jose D'Angelo, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Dexamethasone-a class C controlled substance-in a sample taken from Thirty Pound Test, who won at Gulfstream Park on 11/23/25. 02/05/2026, Alexis Leon, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Flunixin-a class C controlled substance-in a sample taken from Happy Does, who finished fifth at Turf Paradise on 12/27/25. The post National Rulings February 5 – February 11, Vet McCrosky Banned 24 Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Last year's GI Preakness S., GI Santa Anita Derby and GI NYRA Bets Haskell S. winner Journalism (Curlin), back in training with Michael McCarthy at Santa Anita since mid-January, is nearing a return to the worktab. Campaigned in partnership by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, breeder Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, and the Coolmore partners, the $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling concluded his brilliant sophomore season with a fourth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 1. “Journalism has been back with Michael McCarthy for about three weeks and we're very pleased with how he's returned from his freshening at Bridlewood Farm,” Eclipse President and Founder Aron Wellman said. “He put on about 50 pounds and he's returned with a controlled enthusiasm, which is exactly what we want to see. Meda Murphy, George Isaacs and their staff at Bridlewood did an awesome job during his downtime in Ocala and Michael is just biding his time before allowing Journalism to stretch his legs on the wood. If all goes well and the weather cooperates, he should hit the worktab within the next week or so, but we're in no rush.” Journalism's throwback, eight-race sophomore campaign also included a win in the GII DK Horse San Felipe S. and runner-up finishes in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and GI Pacific Classic S. He was an Eclipse finalist as outstanding 3-year-old-male of 2025 and was the only horse to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown. Any targets in mind yet for 2026? “The (GI) Met Mile (at Saratoga June 6) is very intriguing to us as a first half of the season major goal, and, of course hope to be able to structure the second half of the season working backwards from the Breeders' Cup,” Wellman said. “It's a long season and with the manner in which he's come back and his body language, he's postured for a serious, serious campaign.” 3x G1W & Classic hero, Journalism, is back w @mwmracing @santaanitapark after a much-deserved freshening @bridlewoodocala! The always announces his presence with authority. Looking forward to next week's @NTRA Eclipse Awards & a massive 2026 campaign ahead! #BelieveBig pic.twitter.com/DfcdOjXBCz — Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners (@EclipseTBP) January 16, 2026 The post Journalism Nearing Return to Worktab, ‘Postured for a Serious, Serious Campaign’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

EASY DECISION (c, 3, Charlatan–All Laced Up, by Bernardini) was unveiled as the 9-5 choice here. The chalk initially took on longshot pacesetter Lord King (King for a Day), but was reigned in to stalk up the backstretch. Taking aim at the leader and Complex Charlie (Complexity) around the far turn and into the lane, the 3-year-old was forced to tip to an outside lane. The bay became uncorked, struck the front with a furlong left and graduated by 6 1/4 lengths. Complex Charlie was the runner-up. A $120,000 buy for Gainesway at the 2022 Keeneland November Sale while Easy Decision was in utero, All Laced Up produced back to back siblings–a filly and a colt–by Olympiad starting in 2024. The winner's dam was bred to Muth for this spring. The Repole color bearer is part of an extended female family which includes MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy), MSW Sir Alfred James (Munnings) and recent $2.5-million Keeneland November grad & MGISW Randomized (Nyquist), who is off to Japan. 7th-Aqueduct, $80,000, Msw, 2-11, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:19.30, ft, 6 1/4 lengths. EASY DECISION, c, 3, Charlatan–All Laced Up, by Bernardini Sales History: $300,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $44,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-Repole Stable; B-Angela Beck (KY); T-Amelia J. Green. EASY DECISION ($5.96) with an impressive debut victory at Aqueduct under jockey @LuguJr. This 3YO colt by Charlatan is trained by @Ameliajgreen and owned by @RepoleStable. Bet The Big A with @FanDuel Racing. https://t.co/mGeXnEqN9C pic.twitter.com/IF2SJ5rWxw — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) February 11, 2026 The post Charlatan’s Easy Decision Off The Mark In Aqueduct Maiden appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Sometimes, you might as well just buy the factory. It was the fall of 2023 and Glenn Bennett already had two of Adorabella (Ghostzapper)'s three foals, the oldest of which (Girl Trouble, by Fast Anna) was a stakes winner for him and partner Swilcan Stable at Parx, and the youngest of which he'd just bought as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sale. He'd twice tried to make a deal for the third, the mare's then-2-year-old named Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who'd caught his eye after winning his first three starts at Monmouth and Aqueduct. “They weren't selling, which I understood,” said Bennett, “but I just loved the way he ran, so then I tried to buy the mom. At first she wasn't for sale until they decided to run her through Fasig-Tipton. “I was lucky before with some Pennsylvania-breds, had some success buying siblings and it worked out. I think I had seven different ones–from the same mom and dad each time–and the worst one won like $300,000 and the best one won over $1 million. That was pretty cool and a different story, but I guess that was in the back of my mind that this mare might be the same way and throw nothing but runners.” Bennett called Walnut Green Bloodstock's Mark Reid, who boards his mares, to ask what he thought about the then-7-year-old Adorabella. Reid and his wife, Barbara, who have Westerly Farm near Unionville, Pennsylvania, caught a flight to Kentucky. “We got there at dinner time,” said Reid, “went out back and looked at her. She was the only horse I bid on that night. “I was just blown away by her physically. She was a big, broad mare,” he remembered. “She'd already had three foals by then, but her body tone was great. Physically, I couldn't pick her apart and she had that look in her eye that I always go for. I've been fortunate to have been around some good horses and she's one of them.” Reid bought her on behalf of Bennett's LC Racing in foal to Medaglia d'Oro for $550,000 at Fasig-Tipton's November sale. “Then we had a bad thing happen in that she came home and promptly aborted the Medaglia d'Oro, which set the place into a tizzy,” said Reid. “I told Glenn Medaglia d'Oro was getting old, but let's go right back to him. She now has a beautiful colt by him that's a yearling here.” Adorabella, shown in December | Sarah Andrew Reid, a former trainer, was not only involved with Medaglia d'Oro as a young horse, but he also knew Adorabella's broodmare sire intimately. “A lot of my work was done with Bobby Frankel and I was there when Ghostzapper was in the barn,” said Reid. “He's as brilliant a horse as I've ever seen. On his 'A' game, Ghostzapper ran the fastest numbers of the last 20-some years or more and that includes Flightline, so you can't fault her on that. Then Adorabella is out of an Arch mare, so I thought there would be some route in her added to the brilliance of Ghostzapper.” Of course, in the two years since buying Adorabella, the mare's son, Book'em Danno, has become one of the nation's most popular horses, has won multiple graded races, including the GI Woody Stephens and GI Forego Stakes, and was named Champion Male Sprinter at the Eclipse Awards last month. “It's nice to buy one and have a prior mating come up with an Eclipse champion,” said Reid. “We were rooting hard that night. That doesn't happen much.” Bennett concurred. “For a bunch of obvious reasons, it was extremely exciting to watch him and just keep rooting and keep hoping that the next one is better than him. I'm an optimist here.” The 2023 yearling out of Adorabella is now a 4-year-old named Coach Bennett (Classic Empire)–after Bennett's 91-year-old father–and made his first career start Feb. 3 at Parx in an optional allowance. Trained by Reid's brother, Butch, the gelding has gotten a slow start to his career and the goal was simply to get a race into him although there wasn't a maiden available. He finished off the board, but both Bennett and Reid are optimistic that he might have some talent down the road. The mare with farm manager Marie Lagault | Sarah Andrew Adorabella is due in a month or so to Forte and will go to Not This Time this spring. “The mom's exciting,” said Bennett. “Might as well take a shot while you're hot. Not This Time has been on fire and the nicking part of it was really good with Adorabella. Mark loved the match, so we'll see what happens. See if we get lucky.” Reid agreed. “Glenn is a player. He's going to step up her breeding and really attack it. Look at what Adorabella did with her first dates, so let's take her uptown and see what happens. We're going to give her every opportunity to keep producing. Every stakes winner you look at in the TDN is by Not This Time. He's poised to be the next Into Mischief, it looks like. There are no bad ones out there.” Reid said he picks out two or three matings for each of Bennett's mares, presents them to him over lunch, and Bennett makes the final decision. Even so, Reid said it was a little daunting to suggest Not This Time for Adorabella. “I was a little timid about asking Glenn,” said Reid with a laugh.” I said, 'Glenn, here's a great match for her, but he's a quarter of a million bucks.' He said, 'Well, every time I pick up the paper I see Not This Time. Let's do it.'” Reid continued, “Genetically, it's such a wonderful match. She has the size and the bone to handle anybody. I hadn't seen Not This Time in person, but I figure they're all runners and she'll do the rest. Doesn't she deserve the chance to see if she can do it with a big fella? You've got to give her every opportunity and I feel like that's what Glenn is doing at this point.” Bennett does not sell his horses, but Reid said he had to do his due diligence by suggesting a sale. “I've already approached Glenn and said Adorabella would look good in foal to Not This Time at the Night of the Stars,” said Reid with a laugh, “but he said not to even think about it. My background is in buying and selling and the salesman in me jumped out so I had to ask. She'd be a monster! The dam of a champion in foal to Not This Time and only 10 years old…it would be great!” Bennett also had a hearty laugh over the possibility of a sale, but reiterated he likes to race. “Financially it would be great,” he said, “but unfortunately, I don't sell them. I like to run them. I'm in it for the action. I'd have to kill myself if I sold one and it wins the Derby or something!” Book'em Danno wins the Woody Stephens at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew The two affable men clearly love what they're doing and enjoy their time together. Each enthuses about the other, with Reid adding, “I've worked with a lot of great guys, but we're really having fun. Glenn does it right. If anybody deserves this mare, he does. You look up 'good guy' in the dictionary and there's his picture.” While Reid has had a long career in racing, involved in not only Medaglia d'Oro, Saint Liam, City of Light, Plum Pretty, You, and many others, Bennett is newer to the game. His 91-year-old father always enjoyed the sport, but Bennett can pinpoint 2012 as his start. The paving of the path began in his college days when he met Larry Ciletti, who hired him off a chance meeting on a fishing boat. Bennett, who is based in New Jersey, worked for Ciletti his entire professional life, ended up taking over the business–“doors, frames, hardware, some security, but not houses, we do big stuff like the Freedom Tower in New York”–and is now in the process of retiring at 62 after it's been sold multiple times. When Ciletti passed away in 2012, Bennett and some partners bought his racehorse holdings and Bennett named his Thoroughbred interests LC Racing to honor the mentor with his initials. “I got hooked and it just kept going from there,” said Bennett. “It really has evolved from maybe five or six horses who were very average to trying to get into big races. I just counted and I have 87 horses right now and that doesn't count the ones I have with Jason Werth. I just have trouble saying no, it's terrible. And now I have 10 more babies due in the coming months, but it's great. We've been so fortunate.” Adorabella | Sarah Andrew Bennett said he has 13 mares he owns outright and another one with Chuck Zacney, who is his main partner. “He's not as into the breeding as I am,” said Bennett. “I'm not sure how I got so into it, but I like when they send me the pictures of the little ones. It's pretty cool. Each one you're hoping is the one. Everything has worked out. Now we just need to top it off with a Derby winner.” Among the horses he's owned, whether alone or in partnership, are 2018 GII Remsen Stakes winner Maximus Mischief, now a young stallion at Spendthrift, and Kappa Kappa (Omaha Beach), who won last fall's GII Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland. “My one daughter was with me at that race,” he said, “and it was unbelievable. There's nothing like it when they're coming down the stretch in a big race and you've got a shot.” Bennett said Reid has been a tremendous part of his success thus far. “I don't claim to be a horseman,” he said. “To me, all the horses look pretty, but I do like going to the sales and to listen to the guys talk about all the different attributes, how this one is toeing in or that one's clipping his heel. I leave it to the experts, especially because I'm trying to get into the deep water now and I don't want to be screwing something up because I think I know what I'm doing when I don't. I'm still not making money, but I'm having fun.” Bennett and Reid both hope Adorabella is going to help move him to the next level. “She has a lot of quality to her,” said Reid, “she has that regal look. She's just a wonderful mare who's had a champion and is now going to top stallions and hopefully continues that quality.” The post The Producers: Adorabella, Dam of Champion Book’em Danno appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Illinois veterinarian and Thoroughbred breeder Dr. Donald McCrosky has been fined $300,000 and suspended for 24 years in rulings on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit website.View the full article

The Royal Delta Stakes (G3) is the featured race on Gulfstream Park's Feb. 14 card. View the full article