Wandering Eyes

Ellis Park announced the morning of July 4 that the opening-day card there would be run without patrons due to an unscheduled grandstand maintenance issue involving a water tank after thunderstorms the previous day.View the full article

The judge wrote the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission "cannot prove that a horse testing positive for over 10 ng/ml of HEPS is 'conclusive evidence' of an ace violation."View the full article

Aidan O'Brien hopes the July 6 Eclipse Stakes (G1) will be the first step on a road to greatness for City of Troy after mapping out a challenging route for the second half of the season. View the full article

Owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stables aim for a third win in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) with the Cherie DeVaux-trained She Feels Pretty.View the full article

The first U.S.-based horse to sell on the Tattersalls Online platform, Moqadama (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) (lot 101) duly topped the July Sale, when ended on Thursday. Andrea Brereton of Fortune Bloodstock, bidding online, secured the 6-year-old mare for 160,000gns post-sale from the consignment of Castleton Lyons for an unnamed client. In foal to 2015 American Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, the bay is a full-sister to dual G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes hero Khaadem (Ire) and stakes winner Log Out Island (Ire). “Obviously the Khaadem update was a huge positive for the family,” said Brereton, who was bidding from home. “My client really loves American Pharoah and the opportunity to breed something by him also attracted us. The depth of the mare's pedigree caught our eye with a predominantly turf pedigree and the plan is to bring her back to the UK to breed from.” Added Brereton of the ease of the Tattersalls Online platform, “It gives the vendor the chance to really 'strike while the iron is hot'. With the update from Khaadem, it was such a fantastic opportunity to put her in an online sale while everyone is still buzzing off his back-to-back Group 1 victories at Royal Ascot. From a purchaser's point of view, the opportunity to see a mare like this as a standout in the catalogue allows time for that focus. It was an excellent opportunity for the market and brings another dimension to buying top quality thoroughbreds.” Sam Hawkens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 109), from Richard Hannon's East Everleigh Stables, hammered for 105,000gns on the bid of Hurworth Bloodstock. The 3-year-old son of the two-time group-placed Perfect Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) has a win and a placed effort from five starts. He is rated 88 on the Flat. Another horse-in-training, the winner Glor Tire (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) (lot 27), changed hands for 82,000gns, with Transatlantic Thoroughbreds the name on the docket. Consigned by Jim Bolger's Glebe House Stables, the 3-year-old filly is out of a full-sister to G3 Killavullan Stakes and G3 Amethyst Stakes winner Steip Amach (Ire) (Vocalised), who was also third in Deauville's G1 Prix Rothschild and G1 Prix Jean Romanet. At the conclusion of the sale, 63 lots were marked as sold (65%) of 97 offered with a gross of 918,700gns. The average was 14,583gns and the median settled at 5,000gns. The post Khaadem’s Sister Moqadama Tops The Tattersalls Online July Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The outside-drawn gelding whose change-of-plans entry made it a foursome in Saturday's GIII Dwyer S. at Aqueduct has quite a bit going for him despite being ranked as the longest shot at 4-1 on the morning line. The cleverly and elegantly named Save the Trees (by Preservationist out of the Forestry mare Canopy Lane) sports a 2-for-2 record, an adversity-overcoming, off-the-pace style, and a $335,000 auction price that was third-highest at Keeneland's Apr. 26 Horses of Racing Age (HORA) sale conducted after the final race of the spring meet. That's an eye-catching HORA tag for a gelding who hammered for $23,000 at KEESEP and didn't debut until Apr. 19 of his 3-year-old year. The chestnut with the big white blaze got no true betting support in that first career start at Keeneland 2 1/2 months ago, going off at 12-1 for trainer Wayne Mackey and the estate of Brereton C. Jones, who died last September. The gelding had an awkward start in that six-furlong maiden allowance, was last by 15 lengths for a good portion of the trip, and still could see 'em all at the quarter pole. But all the while Save the Trees was building serious momentum, and despite being widest off the turn and seven lengths in arrears at the eighth pole, Keeneland announcer Kurt Becker began to pick up on the wave as it crested into a winning move. “Save the Trees is making an incredible rally!” Becker enthused, punctuating his usually reserved race call with emphatic astonishment. “Save the Trees broke absolutely last! Passed everyone down the stretch to win for [jockey] Luan Machado!” Machado was hand-riding Save the Trees at the end of that three-quarter length victory (74 Beyer Speed Figure). The race has since yielded three other next-out winners. One week after that score, Airdrie Stud consigned Save the Trees to the HORA sale on behalf of the Jones estate. Harvey Diamond, a retired Louisville physician who is the founder and racing manager for the Skychai Racing syndicate, had trainer Mike Maker submit the spare-no-expense winning bid. “He's a beautiful horse, and he ran just an unbelievable race to break his maiden first time out at Keeneland,” Diamond told TDN Thursday. “That was kind of a 'Wow!' race, and we were impressed. One of my partners just loved him so much, was going to be willing to go to whatever [price] to get him. I think he has a lot of class, and he likes to win, obviously.” Now racing for a partnership that includes Skychai, Paradise Farms, David Staudacher, and Hot Pink Stable, Save the Trees was the 1.43-1 favorite in start number two, a $50,000 starter-allowance at Churchill Downs June 9. Going six furlongs under Jose Ortiz, Save the Trees rated near the back and rallied into an early-speed setup with a relentless, five-wide drive. Again not fully extended under the wire, the gelding won by 2 3/4 lengths (79 Beyer). “He stumbled out of the gate that very first race,” Diamond said. “That ended up being a key race. In his second race, he broke better out of the gate. He stayed with the field and moved when he needed to. I understand it was a field of $50,000 starters, but it was a pretty good field. The purses are pretty good there, so we get tough horses at Churchill.” Earlier this week, Maker entered Save the Trees in the 1 1/16-miles $250,000 Iowa Derby, which is also on Saturday. But Diamond said drawing the second-outermost post in that 11-horse field made committing to the Dwyer a viable Plan B. The Iowa Derby would have been the two-turn debut for Save the Trees. The Dwyer's purse is $50,000 less, but it offers graded-stakes status and is a one-turn mile that might mesh better with the gelding's progression arc considering he's stretching out from two sprints. “It was a case of how far you've got to travel, number one,” Diamond said. “Number two, we drew the 10 hole out at Prairie Meadows, and that was not the best spot to be out there. I think the Dwyer, even though it's a very tough field, it's only four horses, [and] favorable to be on the outside there, I guess.” Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the mount. The rest of the Dwyer field, in morning-line order, is the 6-5 Domestic Product (Practical Joke), who was 13th when losing a shoe and grabbing a quarter in the GI Kentucky Derby and subsequently second in the $150,000 Pegasus S.; the 8-5 Billal (Street Sense), a two-time winner who is 0-for-4 in stakes but owns the highest Beyer in the field (93); plus the 7-2 Hades (Awesome Slew), who upset the GIII Holy Bull S. back in February and was most recently third in the Pegasus. The post Save the Trees Aims Higher in Dwyer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

1st-Belmont The Big A, $87,300, Msw, 7-4, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:05.08, ft, 5 1/4 lengths. ITALIAN SOIREE (f, 2, Uncle Mo–Social Call, by Smart Strike), a well-bred debutante who was hammered to agent Seth Morris for $600,000 at the OBS March 2yo In Training Sale after working an eighth in :10, overcame a tardy start before producing a strong finish to record a resounding win. After veering in sharply at the start bothering her rivals Home Wrecker (Quality Road) and As Catch Can (Mo Town), Italian Soiree, sent off as the 5-2 second choice in a field of five, recovered to quickly to chase the 3-4 favorite and eventual second place finisher Yellow (Bernardini)'s pace set in :23.21 and :46.66. Under Flavien Prat, she responded well to two taps from his left-handed crop in mid-stretch to readily kick clear. Italian Soiree is full-sister to the SW colt Be Better ($333,300), winner of the 2023 Deputed Testamony S. at Laurel Park. Bred to City of Light for this season, Social Call was purchased by Mike Repole for $325,000 in foal to Uncle Mo at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. Sales History: $290,000 Ylg '23 FTKJUL; $600,000 2yo '24 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $49,500. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV . O-Hit The Bid Racing Stable, Morplay Racing LLC and Randall Hartley; B-Repole Stable, Inc. (KY); T-John P. Terranova, II. ITALIAN SOIREE, the 2YO daughter of @coolmoreamerica stallion Uncle Mo, breaks her maiden in the opener under Flavien Prat for trainer John Terranova. pic.twitter.com/vJz02DoX4d — NYRA () (@TheNYRA) July 4, 2024 The post Uncle Mo’s Italian Soiree Post Easy Win at Big A appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

For the third consecutive year, Arqana's Summer Sale broke the €10-million barrier by gross, with 326 lots (67%) marked as sold from 488 offered in Deauville. Buyers, more selective than in 2023 when the sale boasted an 83% clearance rate, paid €10,711,000 across the three day stand. However, the 2024 catalogue was bolstered by an additional 113 horses compared to the 2023 version. The average closely tracked last year's edition as well at €32,856 (-3%), while the median dropped 19% to €16,000. Thursday's session, which featured breeding stock, added €1,142,500 to the overall aggregate, with 61 lots marked as sold from 89 through the ring (68%). A pair of fillies from the Wertheimer et Frere consignment showed the way on the final day, with lot 618, the unraced Little Dreamer (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), knocked down to Langlais Bloodstock and Christophe Bridault for €100,000 to top the third day's trade. A half-sister to the G3 Prix de Flore heroine and G1 Prix Vermeille third Ligne d'Or (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the 3-year-old filly is a granddaughter of fellow Flore victress Louve (Irish River {Fr}). “She's really magnificent and moves very well,” said Victor Langlais after signing for the relation to multiple group winner, G1 Prix Ganay second and sire Loup Breton (Ire). “She comes from a great family, she's a daughter of Siyouni and her dam is by Galileo (Ire), a cross that works very well. She has been bought for a partnership between Philippe Thirionet and Christophe Bridault. We have always had great success with our purchases from the Wertheimers. She will be covered early next year, with the aim of selling her offspring afterwards.” Odette Fau, bidding on behalf of Jean-Marc Angles, snapped up the second dearest lot, Eurasienne (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 609), for €85,000. A three-time starter, she is out of G1 Prix Marcel Boussac victress Indonesienne (Ire) (Muhtathir {GB}), and is a half-sister to two black-type horses led by G3 Prix d'Aumale third Bahasa (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}). Outside of the Wertheimer draft, Haras de la Beauvoisiniere's Garden Of The Gods (GB) (Kingman {GB}) (lot 638) caught the eye of Witold Miedzianowski for €80,000. The unraced filly is carrying her first foal by Ten Sovereigns (Ire), who sired his fourth stakes winner Usdi Atohi (Ire) in the Listed Tipperary Stakes on Wednesday. Her dam, Phaenomena (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is responsible for two-time Japanese Group 2 winner King Of Koji (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and G3 Prix Cleopatre heroine Harajuku (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Phaenomena made €720,000 through the Goffs ring last year when selling in foal to No Nay Never to Prospect Partnership during the November Sale. Arqana chairman Olivier Delloye and managing director Freddy Powell said, “Overall sales were close to €11 million, which is a very respectable result. The market did not keep pace with the increase in supply, but good profiles sold well in all categories. We saw some good prices, such as Mambonumberfive (Fr) (Born To Sea {Ire}) (€450,000), Charlus (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) (€315,000), the 2-year-old by Too Darn Hot (GB) out of Formidable Kitt (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€210,000) and the 2-year-old store by Zarak (Fr) out of Missy Tata (Fr) (Astarabad) (€155,000), to name but a few.” The post 10-Million Mark Reached For Third Year In A Row At Arqana’s Summer Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Tim Grande, the California Horse Racing Board's (CHRB) chief official veterinarian, remembers sitting among the first panel of experts charged with screening horses for elevated risk of injury even before they could be entered to race. “If an entry came across the racing office's desk, we had to give it approval before it could be accepted,” said Grande, of the then new addition to the regulatory furniture mandated by the California Governor's office in the wake of the 2019 Santa Anita welfare crisis. “It wasn't particularly practical with just the labor involved and it dragged out the entry processes.” Since then, this panel's focus has switched to screening horse for risk after they've been entered (more on this in a bit). While this panel has been just one of a suite of tightened welfare and safety protocols implemented since 2019, it's a key element experts point to when explaining just how the state has managed to significantly shrink its equine fatality numbers over the past five years. Indeed, California's post-entry screening model is one researchers from McKinsey identified during last week's Jockey Club Welfare and Safety summit as something of a blueprint for how best to sift through the entries to single-out those at elevated risk of harm. Tracks that use a similar approach–what the researchers coined the “AAA” tier tracks–have a 30% to 40% lower fatality rate than tracks with lesser post-screening protocols. But AAA tracks constitute only about 10% to 15% of all racetracks in North America. The “AA” tracks are those where the regulatory vets might pull only a few risk factors when assessing horses, and might have access to an incomplete suite of health and performance histories. These amount to 25% to 30% of all tracks in the nation. Then there are the “A” tracks where the regulatory vets might look only at PPs when assessing risk of injury pre-race, and where post-entry examinations might not take place at all. These account for between 55% to 70% of all tracks. The idea of identifying risk in horses is nothing new. For years, researchers have understood how factors like age, sex, exercise and veterinary history can all play a part in a horse's increased likelihood of getting injured. McKinsey's researchers determined how horses with lay-up periods of between 31-60 days are 29% more likely to suffer a fatal injury. Horses previously on the vets' list are at a 34% higher risk of fatal injury. Horses four and older making their first start are 48% more likely to suffer a fatal injury than an average horse. The trick for regulators, however, has been just what do with this knowledge… California Five years on in California, Grande now uses four main sources of information as he assesses each entered horse. Its past performances. Its full regulatory exam record, including any out-of-competition exams. Its vets' list history and its full medical records. Grande screens them for dozens of primarily “short-term” risk factors. A class-drop, for example. A missed workout. First start back from being on the vets' list. Coming of a lay-off, or coming back off a quick turn-around. In other words, “horses that ran last week that's right back in,” he said. After combing through these reports, Grande writes summaries for nearly every horse entered. “A first-time starter that's never raised a flag, never had a joint injection or anything of that nature might not appear on the list, but the bulk of the horses do,” he said, likening the process to a punter handicapping a card. Grande will then deliver these summaries to the full entry panel for their final review. In addition to Grande, this panel typically comprises a steward, another regulatory veterinarian, quite frequently the CHRB's equine medical director and, when possible, an association vet. Though every card is different, Grande estimates that on average, roughly a quarter of the horses entered will be flagged by the panel for some kind of additional scrutiny prior to the pre-race exam. In an ideal world, said Grande, every horse would be checked three or four days out, and then again the morning of the race. But with staffing problems, “that's not very practical at the moment,” he said. Occasionally, a horse's profile leaps off the page, prompting an immediate scratch from the panel. But such events are happening less and less in California, said Grande. “You would expect over time for those kinds of instances to subside,” he explained. “The trainers, the veterinarians, everyone's aware now of how the panel works.” To do this work, Grande sometimes burns the candle at both ends. Indeed, CHRB equine medical director Jeff Blea describes how Grande's summaries might arrive in the panel's inboxes at all kinds of moonlit hours. “It depends on the field size. It depends on how quickly the overnight is generated. It depends on whether I have to do a second track,” said Grande, when asked how long the process takes. “Even with 65 to 70 horses, you're spending a bit of time on each horse's record. But we've been doing it for so long, we have got a good database on each horse now,” he added. “I can't imagine if I had to go cold-turkey every time, as though I didn't know anything about each horse.” The residual value from this work can't be overestimated, Grande said. “It keeps the regulatory examining vets familiar with the horse population. It helps in a lot of ways,” he added. “Even in the investigation of an injury or a catastrophic injury, all that information is important.” Nationwide At last week's summit, Sarah Hinchliffe, a regulatory veterinarian with the New York Racing Association (NYRA), identified several areas of improvement in their evolving approach to scrutinizing runners, including the extra regulatory eyes on the track of a morning. “Watching morning training has been a huge help to us in identifying horses that are of concern and preventing those injuries during training, particularly turning horses back that aren't sound,” said Hinchliffe, adding how a decrease in equine injuries has correlated to a decrease in human injuries as well. Hinchliffe also singled out for mention the ability for regulators to see a horse's medical records–an option that has been broadly expanded under HISA, thanks to a new online portal that in many jurisdictions has replaced a system built around printed hard-copies. Previously, even in those jurisdictions where regulatory vets received treatment records there were often gaps, such as on horses shipping in from other states. In some jurisdictions, regulatory veterinarians had no access to treatment records. “Now, when you have a horse that you're concerned about, you can go back and you can delve a little deeper,” said Shari Silverman, a former regulatory veterinarian for the Pennsylvania Racing Commission and now a veterinary liaison for HISA. And what are the most valuable insights these medical records proffer? “Horses getting multiple joint injections into a single joint on a limb–not a set of joints, but a single joint over time,” she said. “When I first started full-time at Parx, I was given an assignment by my predecessor of going through the medical records and pulling out all the intra-articular injections. I had developed a spreadsheet for this use all the way back in 2014. So, it's a decade now we've been using that in our risk assessment. It's just one piece of the picture, but it's huge,” she said. “When you're looking at a horse and the horse is jogging sound, but you're flexing a limb and it's uncomfortable on that joint, now you know if this joint has been injected, when the joint was injected,” Silverman said. “You're seeing a reaction on that pathology. It certainly carries a lot more weight in your mind.” Another red flag? “A horse that had an orthopaedic surgical intervention in the past, even a chip,” said Silverman. “Everyone talks about a chip, 'oh, it's no big deal.' But a chip happens for a reason, be it a conformation flaw or wear and tear. Once that happens, in my mind that puts the horse at a higher risk that it's going to happen again.” The advent of HISA's racetrack safety requirements has inevitably come with teething troubles, however, especially in lesser-resourced jurisdictions not equipped with the sorts of rich and ready data that officials in places like California have easy access to. On top of that, up and down the country, commissions face a dearth of qualified veterinarians willing to join their teams. “The resources available in some jurisdictions are significantly different than others,” said Will Farmer, Churchill Downs equine medical director, last week. “To be able to take regulations and rules and be able to implement them meaningfully across a wide spectrum of racetracks so that it's impactful for all of our horses is a big challenge.” Washington Ron Friedman, the Washington State Racing Commission's (WSRC) equine medical director, alone screens horses entered to race at Emerald Downs. He uses a variety of risk factors. If he determines a horse needs extra veterinary scrutiny before the race-day exam, they'll undergo a separate examination and diagnostics, if necessary. All told, the commission employs two state vets. There are no association vets at Emerald Downs. Friedman has a small pool of three reliable veterinarians he can call on if required. He's lucky. “It's very difficult to find additional staff,” Friedman explained. “The biggest reason is that the commission does not have the funds to match the increasing cost of veterinarians. I think the average relief vet compensation right now is approximately $1,100 a day. Our commission could not afford that.” The way Friedman describes the advent of HISA is as something of a mixed bag. On the plus side is an overall reduction in equine fatalities at HISA-governed jurisdictions. Last year, the equine fatality rate in Washington State was 1.05 fatalities per 1000 starts–noticeably lower than the national average of 1.32. The only year the state has maintained a better fatality rate was in 2020, when it had zero race-day fatalities. While HISA holds the potential to streamline the way regulators approach post-entry screening protocols, however, right now the new federal program “has actually made it more difficult to do,” said Friedman. One of the key problems, he added, lies with individual horse medical records. Prior to HISA going into effect, Friedman received these records directly, tailored for Friedman's main areas of interest, he said. This included local blocks during lameness exams, previous vet listings, X-rays and ultrasound exams, and intra-articular corticosteroid injections, especially repeated injections into the same joint within a short timeframe. (Here, Friedman noted how his concerns about intra-articular injections are mitigated by the new much stricter joint injections rules, set to go into effect July 8). Now, these medical records must be accessed through the online HISA portal, and the process of wading through this digital database to zero in on the most pertinent information is time-consuming and laborious, said Friedman. What would majorly streamline the process, said Friedman, would be if HISA generated individual reports for each horse entered to race that includes a variety of information like vet's list histories and drops in class. HISA and [The Jockey Club's software] InCompass have this information, said Friedman, “but they are not able to generate that report currently.” Friedman also described other time-consuming hurdles with the current system, which eat into his day. He pointed to the cumbersome bureaucratic processes for adding and removing horses from vets' lists, especially if they cross certain state lines. His remarks about the additional paperwork mirror comments made at last week's summit. “I don't think people understand or appreciate the volume [of paperwork] that a racetrack practitioner goes through every day,” said Chip Johnson, a private veterinarian in Central Kentucky. “The amount of paperwork really has been substantial,” Friedman agreed. “The data entry has been marked. And that's in addition to the other information I maintain here.” At the same time, Friedman is encouraged by an application HISA is currently working on to track high speed furlongs. This builds from the work of UC Davis' Sue Stover. Over the years, Stover has identified an association between a horse's exercise history and an increased likelihood of catastrophic injury, along with the effect of chronic mechanical loading–also known as cyclic loading–and sports injury. “I think what would be really useful would be to have it combined with the 'in-today' list,” he said, describing high-speed furlong data as “among the major risk factors we can act upon.” Help on Its Way? HISA is currently trialling a Palintir Technologies-built AI model that uses 44-risk factors to assess a horse's potential increased risk. A daily report is generated on every horse entered to race. This report assigns a number between 0 and 44 depending on the number of individual risk factors flagged by the system. Though still in its beta-testing phase, the technology already shows promise as a useful regulatory aid, said Silverman. “When you've got a track that has staffing challenges, this is going to be another staff member who is going to raise red flags. Then the regulatory vet can go back and look at this red flag and say, 'is this real? Is this something I need to look at?'” Silverman said. “The machine isn't going to take over for the boots on the ground veterinarians,” Silverman added. “They know their horses. They know their trainers.” California is one of the places the system is being trialled. Grande is using it to see how it correlates with his own assessments. For the system to make a significant dent in the regulatory process, said Grande, it would be programmed to assess the 44 risk factors in combination, evaluating each one according to its relative importance to an individual runner before affording that horse a weighted risk assessment. “How do the risk factors work together? Obviously, if a horse hasn't raced in 60 days, I won't be shocked to see he has a gap in his workouts. So, there are those kinds of links,” explained Grande. “But there are other ones, too, that fit with a profile of concern. A horse hasn't run in 60 days. His previous race he ran second for a $50,000 tag, and now they have him entered for $12,500. And he's missed workouts. And he's gotten joint injections. Instead of being just a one-plus-one- plus-one- plus-one for risk factors, that to me is an exponential increase of risk,” said Grande. “It's going to be a long-term process,” said Grande, describing the likely evolution of this AI system. “And you'll still need that human analysis part of it.” Indeed, the human factor is an inescapable throughline in an issue with ample room for subjectivity. When does a horse's unusual way of going become subtle lameness? When does a necessary scratch become regulatory excess? Regulators from across the country describe the marked culture shift of horsemanship over the past few years, from an environment where the “one more run” mentality has been pervasive to a place where trainers are now more loathe to roll the dice. The process has been difficult, however. Ego, fear and resentment can prove a volatile cocktail. And regulatory veterinarians have often found themselves in the crosshairs of a lot of the frustrations that trainers voice as they adapt to a new regulatory world. Blea pointed to “low hanging fruits” that he called “elusive.” One would be better coordination between attending and regulatory vets. “That would make things so much better,” he said. “And then secondly, we're all doing the same thing,” said Blea. “We just need to wrap our arms around that and we all need to help each other out instead of shooting each other in the foot.” The post Post-Entry Screening: Like Handicapping a Race Card appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Colonial Downs invites horsemen across the country to discover if their Thoroughbred, bred outside of Virginia, qualifies as Virginia-certified, making it eligible to enter the many Virginia-restricted races. View the full article

Though Sweet Azteca will likely be favored off her defeat of Adare Manor in the Beholder Mile Stakes (G1), Chismosa is one of only two to have ever finished ahead of her.View the full article

The 2-year-old colt Lovely Regalo won a maiden special weight race July 4 at Belterra Park to give freshman stallion Higher Power his first winner.View the full article

There was a buzz around Newbury for The King and The Queen's newcomer Handcuffed (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}–Make Fast {GB}, by Makfi {GB}) and the filly did not disappoint with a debut win full of promise. Sent off the well-backed 13-8 favourite for the six-furlong fillies' novice, the homebred half-sister to the G2 July Stakes winner Tactical (GB) (Toronado {Ire}) travelled easily in the pack until asked to close by Oisin Murphy passing halfway. Finding the front under hands and heels with half a furlong remaining, the Andrew Balding trainee asserted to beat the Sangster-owned fellow debutante Angelica Bay (Ire) (No Nay Never) by 1 1/2 lengths. The post Dark Angel Newcomer Shines for The King and The Queen appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Grade I winner Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has moved to the yard of Richard Hannon, according to Al Shaqab Racing's Ali Begley. The news was reported on the Nick Luck Daily podcast on Thursday morning. The 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf victor was formerly with Aidan O'Brien at Ballydoyle. He raced for Al Shaqab, Coolmore and Westerberg until the start of the month, and now is soley raced by Al Shaqab. “After Ascot, Sheikh Joaan has bought 100% of the horse and he has moved over to Richard Hannon's,” Begley said on the podcast. “Obviously, Aidan has done brilliantly with him, but now that the Coolmore team haven't got a percentage of him, we've moved him over to Richard who is really one of our principal trainers. We've had a lot of success with him and he [Unquestionable] moved over there at the beginning of this week. Richard was excited to have him and he's just settling in there now. “He's in every big race there is at the moment from seven furlongs to a mile and a quarter. He's got entries in all of those races. The Qatar Goodwood Festival is very important to Sheikh Joaan, so it might be that he runs in something like the [G2] Lennox [Stakes on July 30], but we'll let him settle in at Richard's first and sit down with the team and Richard and make a plan going forward.” At two, the son of Strawberry Lace (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was placed at listed level at first asking before breaking his maiden second up near the end of May. He then ran second, and fourth, respectively, to Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G2 Railway Stakes and G1 Phoenix Stakes in July and August. Sent to France, he was only a length second to subsequent Classic scorer Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 1, before regaining the winning thread at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita last November. In two starts at three, Unquestionable has been fourth twice–both to Rosallion who is also trained by Hannon–in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, and the G1 St James's Palace Stakes in May and June. Hannon holds a strong hand in the 3-year-old miling division, as, besides Unquestionable and Rosallion, he also trains Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}), who was runner up to Rosallion in the Irish Guineas, before taking the G3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot. The post Breeders’ Cup Star Unquestionable Joins Hannon Yard appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

During its nine-week 2024 meet, Colonial Downs will offer more than $2.4 million in non-stakes purses to horses who are Virginia Certified and the track's first condition book features 46 Virginia-restricted races. Any horse that maintained residency in Virginia for at least a six-month consecutive period prior to Dec. 31 of its 2-year-old year qualifies. “We often hear from owners and trainers who did not know their horse qualifies for our Virginia Restricted races,” said Gary Palmisano, Executive Director of Racing for Churchill Downs. “The rules are unique to what you find in other states in that the groundwork to become eligible is done early in a horse's career, so horses claimed or bought at auction may in fact be eligible unbeknownst to the current connections. I would just encourage trainers and owners to double check their eligibility so that they can take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.” To check on a horse's eligibility, click here. The list is sorted by trainer and can be searched by horse's name, dam's name and date of birth. Created in 2016 by the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, the Virginia Certified program incentivizes horsemen to raise and train their Thoroughbreds in the Commonwealth. In a recently conducted economic study, it was found that the program has generated $86.2 million in economic benefits for the state. “What this has done is save our industry's infrastructure in Virginia,” said Debbie Easter, executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association. “Our farms were going away. Our training centers and our farms that raise young horses were going away. We were losing veterinarians, blacksmiths, everyone you need for the horse industry. We designed this certified program with hopes of bringing 400 horses to Virginia each foal crop. It is bringing more like 800 to 900. It's been a huge savior to our farms.” The Virginia Certified program has awarded $14.6 million to owners since 2016. The Virginia Owner's Purse Bonus awards owners of Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired horses a 50% purse bonus for horses finishing first through fourth in all open races. When a Virginia-Restricted horse wins an open company race, the Virginia Developer's Purse Bonus offers up to a 25% purse bonus to that horse's developer (the owner of the horse when it makes its first lifetime start). “Our farms are hiring people, they're making capital improvements, they're able to raise their rates,” Easter said. “Virginia used to be one of the largest breeding states in the nation, but when we began this program, we were down to about 100 foals a year. In these seven years that we've been registering certified horses, we've gotten over 5,000 horses in our program. We've put the same amount of certified horses on farms in Virginia as the breeding program has over the last 20 years. These are the beautiful things about what we're doing.” Those 5,000 and counting Virginia Certified horses are eligible to enter in the Virginia Restricted races at Colonial Downs, and the purses are run for 15% more than the open company races. Opening day at Colonial Downs is July 11. The post $2.4 Million on Offer at Colonial Downs for VA-Certified Runners appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ellis Park announced the morning of July 4 that the opening-day card there would be run without patrons due to an unscheduled grandstand maintenance issue involving a water tank after thunderstorms the previous day.View the full article

Gabaldon, a stakes-winning juvenile who earned a global spotlight with an eye-catching runner-up effort at Royal Ascot, has been added to the inaugural Inglis Digital USA July Sale.View the full article

Trainer Nevada Litfin has been suspended for five years and fined $2,500 by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for engaging in "paper training" while serving an earlier suspension issued by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit.View the full article

The $250,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes (G3T) drew a field worthy of a grade 1 for its 27th running at Delaware Park, including star turf mare War Like Goddess.View the full article

Ellis Park's opening-day card was conducted without fans Thursday after the track was closed to the general public due to an unscheduled grandstand maintenance issue. “This was a really difficult decision we had to make this morning, but due to an unscheduled maintenance issue we will have to conduct today's race card without patrons,” General Manager Matt Pressley said Thursday. “We are still going to run all nine races as scheduled. We will update everyone as soon as we can when the facility will be back open to fans.” The post Maintenance Issue Closes Ellis to General Public appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Gabaldon (Gone Astray), most recently runner-up in the listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot, has been added to the catalogue for the inaugural Inglis Digital USA July Sale. Trained by Jose D'Angelo on behalf of Soldi Stable, the juvenile earned a trip to Royal Ascot with a win in the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes at Gulfstream Park in his racetrack debut May 11. “Gabaldon is everything you look for in a racehorse,” D'Angelo said. “He is fast, classy, and loves his job. His precocity and mindset make him one of the best 2-year-olds I have ever had in training. We are excited to see what the future holds for Gabaldon.” Entries for the Inglis Digital USA July Sale remain open through July 8. Bidding will open July 12 at 2 p.m. ET and will close July 17 at 2 p.m. ET at www.inglisdigitalusa.com. The post Stakes Winner Gabaldon Added to Inglis Digital USA July Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

At the time, one doesn't know if a minor skirmish will turn out to have been the opening salvo in a protracted war or merely a here-today-gone-tomorrow storm in a tea-cup. Regarding British racing's latest contretemps, we can only guess what will follow; but it is likely that the unexpected decision by Flutter (the parent company of several major bookmaking firms including Paddy Power and Sky Bet) not to take bets on Wednesday's meeting at Bath is merely the start of a major shake-up of the sport's finances. Flutter's decision ended up being reversed before racing started following contact from lawyers representing Bath's owner Arena Racing Company (ARC) so that the betting firms eventually accepted bets on the races at SP, albeit without offering their own prices. Formerly, the main source of funding for British racing came from a levy paid by bookmakers via the Levy Board, calculated initially as a percentage of turnover and more recently as a percentage of profits. This levy remains but nowadays is dwarfed by the media rights payments which betting firms (and others) pay for showing the films of the races, the copyright of which is (contentiously) held by the racecourses rather than by those whose horses appear in the films. There are two intermediaries who fill gap the between the racecourses and the betting firms. These arrange the deals with the bookmakers and collect the money, which they hand over to the racecourses minus whatever commission they pay for themselves. The figures are closely guarded but estimates of how much is paid per race go up as high as £35,000, although obviously the sum received by the racecourses is lower than the total paid by the betting industry. In recent years, two major gripes have developed. One is held by those who provide the runners in the races, ie owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff, who justifiably feel that too small a percentage of what the racecourses receive is allocated to prize-money. The other is held by the bookmakers, who feel that the deals which they have agreed are being constantly undermined by the dilution of the product for which they are paying. In other words, the pressure (which largely comes from racecourses) for ever more race-meetings and races, allied to a continued under-investment in prize-money, has led to an ongoing situation of more races containing smaller fields, which in turn means that the pictures which they are buying are becoming less and less useful to them. In short, the product is being diluted but the price paid for it remains the same. On Tuesday, Flutter decided that its firms were likely to do so little business on the Bath races that it couldn't justify paying the fixed price for the pictures of the races, so it would not buy them and would not take bets on the races. ARC's lawyers intervened to point out that Flutter was contractually obligated to buy the pictures so the decision ended up being reversed, but that does not change the overall situation. The contract will in time come up for renegotiation and renewal, and Flutter's dissatisfaction remains. What does this mean for the sport in the future? The obvious answer might be that it is bad news because it is likely to lead to reduced media rights payments which might in turn translate to reduced prize-money. However, that might not necessarily be the case. Earlier this year, irritated by repeated calls from racing professionals for some transparency over the racecourses' use of their income from media rights payments, ARC boss Martin Cruddace, seemingly frustrated at what he saw as outsiders sticking their noses into his business and telling him how to run it, vented his frustration by saying that “the fixation on media rights is economically illiterate”. That comment has not aged well because it is now apparent that media rights payments are a major concern not only among racing professionals but also among those who pay the money, ie Flutter and the other betting organisations. It is said that he who pays the piper calls the tunes, so Cruddace will not be able to keep brushing queries aside and media rights' details will not be able to be kept out of sight and out of mind indefinitely. On Wednesday, a spokesman for Flutter stated, in answer to questions from the Racing Post, that “we (Flutter) will continue to seek innovative ways to understand how our significant investment can have the greatest impact on growing UK racing over the longer term. “The industry needs to have a conversation about media rights given total payments from operators stand at more than double the horserace betting levy – and there is little transparency over how much of that funding flows back into this great sport.” 'Horsemen' have been concerned for a long time that too many racecourses appear to have been favouring short-term profit over investment in the sport (via prize-money as well as other ways of promoting racing's long-term health) to ensure that the 'racing product' remains appealing.So far, racecourses have been able to shrug any queries aside. Now that a major payer of media rights money has come out and echoed these concerns, the matter can no longer remain unaddressed indefinitely. That may turn out to be good news for racing. Only time will tell. The post Op/Ed: Time Will Tell If Flutter Veto Is Actually A Good Thing For Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The G1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, November 24 has been identified as a potential end-of-season target for Auguste Rodin (Ire) after he got his four-year-old campaign back on track with victory in the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. A four-time winner at the top level as a three-year-old when landing the Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders' Cup Turf, Auguste Rodin was unable to add to those victories in two starts earlier this year, first trailing home last in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in March and then proving no match for White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) when filling the runner-up spot in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh. However, any concerns that Auguste Rodin's talents might be on the wane were erased at Ascot where he gained the sixth Group/Grade 1 success of his career in comfortable fashion, always doing enough to beat French raider Zarakem (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) by three quarters of a length. Connections are now looking forward to the rest of the season with the son of Deep Impact (Jpn)–the late stallion who memorably won the Japan Cup back in 2006. Considering future targets for Auguste Rodin and star three-year-old City Of Troy (Justify), trainer Aidan O'Brien said, “They both have different options for the second half of the season and Auguste Rodin could be a Japan Cup horse. “He has won at the Breeders' Cup already and maybe the lads might do that and maybe City Of Troy could be a horse for the Classic. They like to play all their cards differently to suit their horses and at the same time they love watching racing and going racing, so they try to spread them out.” Auguste Rodin was a notable absentee from the confirmations for Saturday's G1 Coral-Eclipse, as expected leaving the path clear for stable-mate City Of Troy as he tries to become the first Derby winner since Golden Horn (GB) in 2015 to follow up at Sandown. Instead, Auguste Rodin is likely to make his next appearance in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, July 27, despite having disappointed in the same race in 2023. “I suppose the Eclipse did come under consideration, but the lads make the plans about what they would like to do with them,” O'Brien said of the decision to miss Sandown with the four-year-old. “Auguste Rodin won over a mile and a half last year and is an older horse. He's had three runs now and two runs before Ascot. Ascot was his first big-race target of the year we felt and there was always the possibility that if it did go well we would go back to Ascot for the King George.” Del Mar Could be City Of Troy's First Taste of Dirt O'Brien also nominated the likeliest targets for City Of Troy during the second half of the season, with prestigious middle-distance races at York and Leopardstown among the options on the table for his next race should everything go to plan at Sandown. “I suppose the leap after this race would have to be either the Juddmonte International [at York on Wednesday, August 21] or the Irish Champion Stakes [at Leopardstown on Saturday, September 14],” said O'Brien. “I would imagine the lads would be looking at those races, without knowing or discussing what they are thinking. “I would hope we keep him racing in this part of the world for as long as we can and I just feel he is going to be a very important horse to European pedigrees if we can keep him to this part of the world.” On the prospect of City Of Troy lining up in the GI Breeders' Classic at Del Mar on Saturday, November 2, O'Brien added, “We've had horses just beaten in the Classic before, Declaration Of War and Giant's Causeway, and they never went over for a dirt race before that. We took them to Southwell for a gallop and I know the surface has changed there now, it's Tapeta and a bit different to Polytrack. “I would hope if the Eclipse went well, it would be another race and if we decide to go to America then maybe we give him a day out at Southwell or something. None of that is written in stone what the lads are thinking, but that's what is going on in our heads at the minute.” The post Japan Cup Among Auguste Rodin Options, Leaving Classic Test to City Of Troy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Former champion jockey celebrates a brace at city circuit’s penultimate meeting this season with consistent duoView the full article

Godolphin's hitherto unraced Shadow Of Light (Ire) (Lope De Vega (Ire}–Winters Moon {Ire}, by New Approach {Ire}), a homebred three-parts brother to dual Group 1-winning sire Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal), shed maiden status at the first attempt with a one-length victory in Thursday's Weatherbys EBF Maiden Stakes at Great Yarmouth. The 5-6 favourite broke on the front end and accepted a lead in fourth after the initial strides. Shaken up to launch his bid soon after passing the quarter-mile marker, he quickened to gain an edge passing the furlong pole and was ridden out to assert by a length from Ultrasoul (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). Shadow Of Light is the fifth of seven foals and third scorer produced by G1 Fillies' Mile third Winters Moon (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), herself a half-sister to three stakes performers headed by G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Wavering (Ire) (Refuse To Bend {Ire}) and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victor Mandaean (GB) (Manduro {Ger}). Winters Moon is a daughter of G3 Prix des Reservoirs victrix and G1 Prix Saint-Alary third Summertime Legacy (GB) (Darshaan {GB}). The February-foaled homebred chestnut is full to a weanling colt. He is also kin to G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park Stakes-winning sire Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal) and a yearling colt by Too Darn Hot (GB). The post Sibling of Earthlight Makes Winning Debut at Great Yarmouth appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article