Wandering Eyes

New Zealand racing’s hottest property, Well Written, is locked in for the $4m The NZB Kiwi, after connections of the unbeaten filly signed up for the TAB slot, held by Entain New Zealand. The daughter of Written Tycoon has won all three of her career starts in dominant fashion, topped off by her Group 1 1000 Guineas victory at Riccarton last month. The Cambridge-based filly will now be set for the richest 3-year-old race in the Southern Hemisphere on 7 March at Ellerslie, with lead-up runs planned on Boxing Day and in the TAB Karaka Millions 3YO in January, before The NZB Kiwi. Entain Australia and New Zealand CEO Andrew Vouris was thrilled that Well Written’s connections had chosen the TAB slot for her bid to become the winner of the second running of The NZB Kiwi. “Well Written has already stamped herself as a brilliant talent and has gained a following on both sides of the Tasman,” Vouris said. “Through our broadcasting, content and wagering teams, we can’t wait to introduce her to an even bigger audience across Australasia, with an incredibly bright future ahead of her. Well Written’s trainer Stephen Marsh said the Entain team had built a comprehensive plan to elevate the interest around the race, and around Well Written. “Entain really impressed us with the scope of what they can bring to the partnership, and as someone who grew up in the New Zealand racing industry, it feels right to link up with the iconic TAB brand for this massive race,” Marsh said. “Well Written has already taken her band of supporters on an amazing journey, and we’re sure it will go to the next level with Entain’s support.” Major Australian breeding operation Yulong Investments purchased 50% of Well Written prior to her 1000 Guineas win. Other horses to wear the Yulong colours include dual Cox Plate winner Via Sistina and four-time Group 1-winning mare Treasurethe Moment. Yulong Investment’s Racing Manager Troy Stephens said it is incredibly exciting for Yulong to be involved in the 2026 edition of The NZB Kiwi. “It is a race that has captured the attention of the New Zealand industry, so to be involved with a filly of Well Written’s calibre to represent Yulong is a great thrill for us,” Stephens said. “We look forward to working alongside the Entain team and Marsh Racing in the lead-up to the race. New Zealand has such a rich racing history, and we are proud to now be part of that landscape — it is a very exciting time for Yulong.” As the winner of the Group 1 Barneswood Farm 53rd 1000 Guineas, Well Written is eligible for a share of the $1 million Bonus Pool up for grabs for horses that place in the top three in the NZB Kiwi. View the full article

Emerging stayer Mollify looks to have another gilt-edged opportunity to further her record on Friday and progress toward more lucrative middle-distance assignments. The Cambridge Stud-bred and owned daughter of So You Think has thrived in a more rural environment since returning from Australia and promises another bold showing in The Duncan Dental Tauranga Twilight Cup (2100m). Mollify can kick-start a potentially lucrative weekend for the farm and private trainer Lance Noble with Jaarffi, Frostfair and Daring Dame in action at Te Rapa on Saturday. She has won two of her last three starts, with a placing in between times, and impressed most recently at Pukekohe where she successfully debuted over ground. “It looks the perfect race for her, she’s hit her straps and it was a very good win last time, so it fits in nicely for her,” Noble said. “After this, she can either go to the Dunstan Stayers’ (2400m) or we may even consider the Queen Elizabeth (Gr.3, 2400m) on New Year’s Day.” Mollify was previously in Victoria with Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, and from a handful of appearances broke her maiden at Cranbourne and was twice placed. “She came back at the end of her three-year-old career, Peter said she might not measure up to black-type races over there, but he didn’t give her too many starts,” Noble said. “She has come home and developed and with the extra six months she has physically matured, and the farm environment here definitely helps mares. “It’s nice and relaxing for them and haven’t got the stress of a big training centre with a lot going on. I’m not saying I’ve improved the horse but rather benefitted from the extra time she’s been given and Peter hadn’t over-raced her.” Retained jockey Warren Kennedy will partner Mollify and her three stablemates at Te Rapa. Jaarffi will chase a breakthrough victory there in the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) after luckless lead-up placings in the Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m). The gifted Iffraaj mare has won four times up to a mile, and finished runner-up in the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) and will be tested over further in the immediate future. “She’s been the bridesmaid a few times and been all around it, she’s really well and hopefully she won’t get into any traffic problems,” Noble said. “We’re going to roll the dice and then see if she can step up to 2000m in the Zabeel Classic (Gr.1), it’s obviously a race the stud would love to win again (after Snazzytavi).” Written Tycoon mare Frostfair will tackle the Gr.3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) after close-up finishes at Ellerslie and Tauranga. “She had a lot of form last season and looked like she’d get black type, but she’s taken a bit longer to come up and I’ve been happy with her last couple of runs,” Noble said. “While she is at the bottom of the handicap, we’ll have a crack at this one, and if she runs well we would consider going to the Rich Hill Mile (Gr.2, 1600m).” Daring Dame had no luck when unplaced last time out and the Almanzor four-year-old can turn her fortunes around in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers’ Championship Qualifier (2200m). “She was coming up on the inside quite nicely when she got chopped out, I’m not saying she would have won, but she would have put herself right in the mix,” Noble said. “The gap was there before one on the outside closed it and Warren had to check, she had a lot more to give. “We’ve put a line through that and given a clear run on Saturday, we expect her to run very well.” View the full article

The 2025 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale set a new high-water mark for gross, closing Wednesday evening with sales of $10,607,900 for 421 horses sold including the sales topper Treadstone (hip 34) (Tapit) who brought $470,000. The sale, which opened Thursday, December 4, and closed over two sessions on December 9 and 10, is believed to have established a new top gross for an online thoroughbred auction held worldwide, exceeding last year's Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale's gross of $10,258,700. Offerings during this sale included horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, racing/stallion prospects, broodmares, yearlings, weanlings, and stallion seasons. Treadstone, a 2-year-old who broke his maiden on debut at Aqueduct Nov. 23, sold to Greg Compton out of the Gainesway consignment. Out of the winning Empire Maker mare Bayou Tortuga, Treadstone is a half-brother to G3 UAE Oaks winners Down On Da Bayou (Super Saver) and Polar River (Congrats). The sale's second highest price went to Tour Player (hip 42) (American Pharoah) who sold for $350,000 to Legion Bloodstock, as agent for Graham Grace Stables, from the consignment of Bob Baffert, agent for Natalie J. Baffert. The 4-year-old colt was offered as a horse of racing age, is undefeated in three starts this year and entered the sale off three consecutive 90+ Beyer Speed Figures. “We were looking to add a racehorse for his stable,” Legion Bloodstock's Kyle Zorn said of Dr. Adam Ainspan's Graham Grace Stable. “We'd looked at the last couple of sales, picked a few over and for whatever reason, decided not to go after those. But this one really caught his [Dr. Ainspan] eye. [Trainer] Whit [Beckman] was really high on this colt. He's seen his performances and his last race at Churchill [a win facing allowance horses Nov. 30]. Obviously [Tour Player] has an affinity for that track so we thought he could be a fun horse to carry on into 2026.” A Bob Baffert homebred, Tour Player began his career at Santa Anita, making three starts in California before shipping to Kentucky where he broke his maiden at Churchill Downs in Oct. 2024. His three wins this year have all come under the Twin Spires but Zorn said a trip to Florida is in the colt's immediate future. “He's leaving to go down to Payson Park to join Whit's string there,” Zorn said. “We'll look at some of the races at Gulfstream Park around Pegasus weekend. I think [Whit] wants to get some miles under him and just kind of see where he's at. I went and looked at him at Margaux Farm where [bloodstock agent] Donato [Lanni] was showing him and he looked fantastic. He looks like he could run tomorrow. So we'll let Whit make that deciding factor. We just thought he'd be a fun horse for next year, maybe target some of those big races. You can always big-time dream, maybe even those overseas races if he carries on that form.” Other top prices for the sale include Empress Eleanor (hip 368) (Bernardini), sold for $280,000 to Ashview Farm from the consignment of Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services, agent for Merriebelle Stables. Empress Eleanor was offered in foal to Tiz the Law. Her first foal, Channel the Music (Maclean's Music), is a stakes-placed winner as a 2-year-old this year. Wild Bout Hilary (hip 6) (Midnight Lute), sold for $250,000 to Bourbon Boys from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. A 4-year-old racing/broodmare prospect, Wild Bout Hilary counts this year's GIII Bayakoa Stakes among her six wins from two to four. Rock On Layla (hip 645) (More Than Ready), sold for $230,000 to Fiddleleaf Bloodstock from the consignment of Harris Farms. Offered as a broodmare, the 4-year-old is a half-sister to this year's GII Clark Stakes winner Magnitude (Not This Time). Zapple (hip 351) (Ghostzapper), sold for $220,000 to Reverie Farm from the consignment of Kingswood Farm, agent. Zapple is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Nootka Sound (Lonhro {Aus}) and to the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), and was offered carrying her first foal by Girvin. “This is the highest grossing digital sale ever,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “We're thrilled with how it went. We've sold over 1,600 horses this year and grossed over $50,000,000 in digital sales. I never thought we'd be where we are now when we launched the platform nearly four years ago.” Aaron continued: “The growth of Fasig Digital is all thanks to our buyers and sellers from across the globe. We had over 1,500 registered bidders for the December sale alone–so many that it crashed Jesse and Frank's broadcast on Day 1. I'm thrilled with where we're going and we cannot wait for 2026.” Fasig-Tipton, who has offered digital auctions from one-horse flash sales all the way through this record-breaking sale, seems poised to continue that growth. “We're gonna continue to expand,” Aaron said. “Our goal this year was 50 [million] and I think we've hit 50.1 [million], and that's just in four years. Wherever the market allows us to go, we're going to take it. As long as people want to keep giving us horses to sell, we're going to continue to grow.” Overall, 421 horses sold for $10,607,900, believed to be the highest gross ever for an online thoroughbred auction worldwide. Twenty-two offerings sold for $100,000 or more. Horses were sold to buyers from eight different countries and three continents. Next on the calendar is the Fasig-Tipton January Digital Sale which will run Jan. 15-20. The post ‘Highest Grossing Digital Sale Ever’: Treadstone Tops Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A lawsuit filed in a Kentucky court Wednesday over a disputed Standardbred auction figures to be closely watched by the Thoroughbred industry because of allegations that a Lexington Selected Yearling Sales Company (LSYS) auctioneer belatedly realized he had dropped the hammer on a $15,000 sale without respecting a $45,000 reserve price that should have been in effect. According to the civil complaint initiated by the New Jersey-based Val D'Or Farms, which thought it had rightfully purchased the filly, named Philly's Sting, for $15,000 via proxy bid, the auctioneer purportedly tried to cover his alleged mistake by reopening the bidding on the premise that there had actually been a tie bid. The auctioneer then commenced to get the price up to just under the reserve, declaring the yearling sold to a different buyer. “Upon information and belief, there was no other tie bidder, just an illusory bid in an effort to protect the reserve,” stated the lawsuit filed Dec. 10 in Fayette Circuit Court. The lawsuit included a link to a video of the Oct. 1, 2025, auction of Hip 572. It shows Philly's Sting in the sales ring for 90 seconds before her bidding stalls at $15,000. After the auctioneer hammers the podium and declares, “All done! In the back, $15,000!” Philly's Sting is led out of the ring. While the next sales prospect, Hip 573, is being shown and announced, the auctioneer appears to be examining paperwork in front of him. After 15 seconds, he then says, “Hold on a sec. Say what? You thought you were in back there? No. Nope. You weren't. I'm sorry.” Speaking over an unidentified raised voice protesting from the bidding gallery, the auctioneer then says, “All right, we have to open it back up between those bidders.” Over the next 20 seconds, the bidding on Philly's Sting escalated to $27,000. At that point, seemingly in an effort to clarify which yearling was actually being auctioned–the one who had already been led out of the ring or the one being shown in it–the auctioneer says, “This is 572! Just hold this [other] horse over to the side, keep him still.” As the bidding crested $35,000 and one unseen participant appeared to be vacillating, the auctioneer says, “I'll give you all the time you need. That was my mistake.” Another minute later, the hammer fell for good on Philly's Sting at $44,000. According to the lawsuit, “neither the Auctioneer, nor LSYS, nor anyone acting on their behalf or control, including spotters, observed, received, and acknowledged a tie bid during and/or prior to the fall of the Hammer, [and] the Auctioneer had no right to and improperly, negligently, intentionally, and/or recklessly reopen the bidding on Philly's Sting.” The allegations in the Dec. 10 lawsuit represent only one side of this story. TDN learned of the filing of the lawsuit after 6 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, and could not reach anyone at the Kentucky offices of LSYS at that hour. The breeder of Philly's Sting (Hot Lead Stables) and the consignor (Cameo Hills Farm) are also listed as defendants. All of those defendants will have their chance to answer the complaint or to try and dismiss it in subsequent court filings. The lawsuit seeks a judgment against each defendant mandating the acceptance of the $15,000 payment and the delivery of Philly's Sting to the plaintiff. Drew Mollica is one of the attorneys on the legal team for Val D'Or, whose principal, Martin Granoff, co-bred and co-owned the pacer Perfect Sting (the undefeated Dan Patch Award winner at two and Breeders Crown champion at both two and three), who is the sire of Philly's Sting. “Marty Granoff is one of the most prominent, respected owners in the business,” Mollica said. “And he really feels violated, he really does. “The rules are explicit. Once the hammer drops, you own the horse,” Mollica continued. “They missed the reserve. Owning horses is hard enough. Buying horses at auction is hard enough. You shouldn't have to fight the auction company, too. “[Granoff] campaigned the sire. He's an experienced buyer. He knows the rules. It's unequivocal in Mr. Granoff's mind, and he wants this settled not only for him, but for everybody who buys horses at auction,” Mollica said. The post Suit Alleges Standardbred Auctioneer Failed to Notice $45K Reserve, Then Reopened Bidding after Hammer Fell at $15K appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With the North American Thoroughbred foal crop continuing to contract, numerous panelists speaking Dec. 10 at the Global Symposium on Racing pointed to regional, multi-state cooperation to help stabilize breeding in states with faltering numbers.View the full article

A $500 TAB Bonus Bet will be given away as part of Ashburton’s big Harness 5000 meeting next week. Sponsored by Phoebe Stud, the Harness 5000 will feature 12 $60,000 races next Sunday (December 21). Entries for the HRNZ $500 TAB Bonus Bet open tomorrow (Friday, December 12). The winner will be drawn after Race 3 on Phoebe Stud Harness 5000 day. The winner must be on-course to claim the prize. If they are not it will be re-drawn until a winner is found. The prize is a $500 Bonus Bet which will deposited into the winner’s TAB account. It must be used as a single bet of $500 on the day and cannot be split across races. With bonus bets the winner will keep any winnings over the $500 outlay. For instance if you bet the $500 on a $1.50 favourite the winner will take home $250 ($750 – $500 Bonus Bet). Or if you place the $500 at $3 you will keep $1000 ($1500 minus the $500 Bonus Bet). To enter all participants have to do initially is scan the promotion’s QR code. This will be displayed on HRNZ and Ashburton Trotting Club’s websites, social media, on-course at Ashburton, the meeting’s racebook and other publications. Entrants will need to submit the required personal details and in doing so participants are consenting to receiving future promotional communications from HRNZ. Entry is free. To see more about the Terms and Conditions of the HRNZ TAB $500 Bonus bet Giveaway click here To find out more about Phoebe Stud and the stallions they have standing at stud (including Royal Aspirations and Krug) click here View the full article

Nikki Hurdle had the ride of her life with Group One performer Express Yourself, and just six months after her retirement, the Palmerston North horsewoman looks to have her hands on another exciting sprinter. Express Yourself recorded six wins and eight placings from 22 starts, highlighted by her runner-up performance in last year’s Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m), where she was piloted by Hurdle’s jockey son, Ryan Hurdle. Her syndicate of owners offered her on gavelhouse.com earlier this year, where she was purchased by Wairarapa thoroughbred nursery Little Avondale Stud for $102,500. “Express Yourself is now in-foal to Per Incanto. Little Avondale bought her off us and we are very excited, she is going to leave great foals,” Hurdle said. While Wairarapa is Express Yourself’s new home, it was also the home of former stablemate Falcrests Belle’s eye-catching 7-1/2 length maiden win over 1000m on Wednesday. The four-year-old mare had shown Hurdle plenty of promise at home, but she had yet to show that same talent on raceday, finishing last on debut at Tauherenikau in January before resuming this spring with placings at New Plymouth and Tauherenikau. It was at her last-start placing that proved to be the turning point for Falcrests Belle, with senior hoop Kate Hercock partnering her for the first time and coming back to Hurdle post-race with some crucial feedback. “I thought she would win on debut, she really disappointed us, and she went two good races after that but still a bit below what we were expecting,” Hurdle said. “After her last start Kate came in and said, ‘we have to change her gear, she is not breathing properly, she is rolling her tongue back’. “It made sense because that is exactly how she was racing, she was running out of puff.” Hurdle took that feedback onboard and made the advised gear adjustments, and the daughter of Darci Brahma duly romped home to victory at Tauherenikau following a dominant front-running display. “It was huge, we were pretty thrilled with how she went. I always thought she had it in her,” Hurdle said. “Yesterday was probably the turning point for us, I was just thrilled with the way she jumped out and settled and kicked at the turn. When Kate came back she reported that her breathing was perfect and said she hardly blew.” Hurdle is excited to have another promising sprinter on her hands, especially so soon after Express Yourself, and said she owes her association with the mare down to her pedigree and good friend Margaret Cartwright. “I was a bit lucky to get this horse, she is beautifully bred,” Hurdle said. “Centre Crest was a fantastic sprinter, he was a Group One winner and won 16 races. This mare is out of his half-sister (Falcrest) and as soon as I heard that I said to Margaret Cartwright, who had her on her farm, ‘how do I get this horse to train? I would love to have her’. “She was unbroken and she (Cartwright) made it all happen for us. Margaret kept a share, Evan (Foreman), who bred her, kept a share, and then most of the Express Yourself syndicate moved in as well. “I only do one horse at a time, so it has to be something I really like. I just saw this horse and I loved her.” While rapt with Falcrests Belle’s maiden win, Hurdle isn’t getting carried away and said she will take a patient approach with the mare. “I am not going to ask too much of her this time in,” she said. “I want to build her confidence and ringcraft. I think next year she is going to be so much better. She is like Express Yourself, she will hit her straps at five. “I might look at Boxing Day (at Otaki), there is a rating 65 there. Then I might back off her and look at her again in the autumn. “If everything goes like I think it will, we will get a little more adventurous in her next campaign. “The future looks good for her.” View the full article

Summer has arrived, and Shelley Hale is hoping so too will Blue Sky At Night’s form, as she gets set to defend her crown in Saturday’s Gr.3 SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa. Her victory in last year’s running kicked off a lucrative summer, which culminated in victory in the Gr.3 Avondale Cup (2400m), a double Hale is hoping to repeat. “We will be trying hard,” the Cambridge trainer said. While pegged as a wet-tracker earlier in her career, Hale said Blue Sky At Night has shed that tag over the last couple of seasons. “Earlier in her career people could have suggested that she was possibly a wet-tracker, but she had a good summer last year so fingers-crossed it is similar this year,” she said. While the Shamexpress mare has been unplaced in all three of her starts this preparation, Hale said they have been luckless runs, and she is hoping to take luck out of the equation on Saturday after drawing ideally in barrier four. “She is on a similar plan to last season, we are hitting it fourth-up,” Hale said. “She is racing well but has been lacking a bit of luck. We hope it is our turn to have the luck on our side this time. “She won’t have to do any work at all (from barrier four) to take up a nice position hopefully, and she gets a nice, light weight (53kg), she is still in a very good place in the handicaps.” While Blue Sky At Night holds a nomination for next month’s Gr.3 NZ Campus Of Innovation & Sport Wellington Cup (3200m), Hale said she will likely bypass the Trentham feature in favour of focussing on the Avondale Cup a few weeks later. “I don’t think she stayed the two miles in the Auckland Cup (Gr.2, 3200m) when we tried her so we will probably go to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) and then she can have a little freshen before having one run into the Avondale Cup and see if we can hit that one again too.” Meanwhile, Hale will head to Tauranga on Friday with Lofty Manuel, a full-sister to Blue Sky At Night’s Saturday race rival Gigi. The four-year-old daughter of Ghibellines will be first-up after a couple of trials and Hale is looking forward to testing her over a mile for the first time in the Kiwi Bus Builders Maiden 1600. “I am looking forward to stretching her out over a little further,” Hale said. “She has been getting too far off the speed and rattling home well, so hopefully she can jump away a little bit better and get a bit closer to the chocolates. “She goes well, she has just got to put it all together.” View the full article

Seeking to ease its financial burden on the Thoroughbred industry, HISA aims to shift half of its income collection away from assessments and toward outside revenue streams by 2030. By 2035, HISA plans to be budget-neutral.View the full article

Louisiana superstar Touchuponastar will look for his fourth consecutive win in the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic Stakes Dec. 13 at Fair Grounds Racecourse & Slots.View the full article

When racing was canceled on Dec. 2 at Parx after the first two races, horseplayer Mitch Demick said he was relieved. He said that he had bet about $120 combined on the early Pick 4 and the Big 5 Pick 5. Entering the third race of the day, which was not run, he did not have a live ticket with either bet. As someone who often plays the horizontal wagers at Parx, Demick was sure he knew the rules and that he was entitled to a refund. According to both Demick and his attorney, Alan Pincus, the Pennsylvania Racing Commission rules state that when at least three races that make up a Pick 4 or Pick 5 sequence at Parx, or at any other track in the state, are canceled, all wagers must be refunded. Demick said he was aware of the rule because he had, in the past, received refunds on his Pick 4 and Pick 5 bets at Parx when similar situations had occurred. Instead, he waited for the results of those wagers to be posted, which he said, took more than four hours. When the results were finally available, he was stunned to learn that his money had not been refunded. Instead Parx paid those who had the winners on their tickets, no matter which horses they had bet in the remaining races. The Equibase charts list the winning combination for the Pick 4, which began with the second race, as 2-4-All-All, and the payoff was $1.40. The winning Pick 5, which began with the first race, was 2-4-All-All-All, and it paid $8.90. “I decided I had to do something, because they were really screwing me here,” Demick said. “In my opinion, they did something illegal. And I wanted to find out what was happening.” The TDN was not able to confirm the rules covering the Pick 4 when it comes to cancellations. The publication did reach a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Racing Commission, and asked for clarification regarding the rules. By deadline for this story, the TDN had not received an answer. As far as the Pick 5 goes, the answers can be found on the Parx website, where a passage clearly states that the wager must be refunded if three legs or more are canceled. The information made available online reads: “If at least three of the contests in the Philly Big 5 are cancelled or declared a 'no contest,' the pool will be cancelled and all Philly Big 5 wagers for that performance will be refunded.” What happened? Demick said he has called and reached out to several departments and individuals at Parx and has not received what he considers satisfactory answers. “With all of this going on, it seems really weird to me,” he said. “Why not just admit they made a mistake? Maybe they cannot do that at this point. But they haven't made any attempt to pay me back my money or answer any of my questions. Eight days have gone by and they haven't done that.” The TDN placed a call to Parx COO Joe Wilson. The receptionist who answered the phone said he was unavailable. Another call was made to the cell phone of Racing Secretary David Osojnak. The call went right to voicemail and a recording that said his mailbox was full. Two calls were left at the Racing Commission for Tom Chukas, the director of Thoroughbred horse racing, and neither was returned. Demick said he is not contemplating a lawsuit. “I'm not going to sue over $120,” he said. But he wants his money back, as well as some answers. He said he will continue to press the track and the commission until he is satisfied. He believes that a fair resolution would be for them to not only refund the wagers he made but to also add a little extra to his betting account as a show of good faith and a sign that someone has acknowledged that a mistake was made. “I wish I could find someone who would corroborate my position,” he said. “Alan and I are pursuing this further because of their sheer arrogance and disrespect.” According to the Equibase charts, $53,789 was wagered on the Pick 4 and $38,752 was bet on the Pick 5. The takeout on the Pick 4 is 25 percent and the Pick 5 takeout is 15 percent. That means that $13,447 in takeout was retained with the Pick 4 wagers and $5,812 was retained from the Pick 5 pool. Demick said he doesn't think that is a coincidence. “I'm starting to think that there's no way, at this point, that this was an accident,” he said. “In my own conspiratorial mind, I am thinking there's no way around that. I've never made a phone call to a lawyer about gambling. This was different. I think they decided to do something and hoped that no one would pay attention. “When there are issues of mistrust, you start to think that if they want to rig one thing, you can expect that they will try to rig something else. That's the angle I am taking as a duped bettor. What happened is so different from anything I've ever seen. I think they literally changed the rules in midstream just to make some extra money out of greed. I want to get to the bottom of this.” Pincus said, “If they refunded all bets, which they are supposed to do by the rules, there would be no problem. But by doing it the way they did, they kept the takeout. They kept approximately $18,000 and that's money they are not entitled to.” Pincus said that he fails to understand why so many hours elapsed before the payoffs were posted. He believes that the computer programs used to calculate payoffs should cover situations where there are cancellations and that the payoffs should have been posted instantly and based solely on what the computer spit out. “I imagine all these things are programmed into a computer,” Pincus said. “They don't have a guy sitting in a back room with a pencil. Why did this take four hours? That had to mean that someone was thinking about this, deciding about this. When they finally posted the prices, they had done something horribly wrong. Whether it was inadvertent or purposeful, they made a mistake. This was a misappropriation of funds.” Pincus said he has also reached out to Chukas and said that he has not been given satisfactory answers. “I told Mitch that I would call the racing commission because they are the ones that regulate racing in Pennsylvania,” he said. “I talked to Tom Chukas and his attorney and Mr. Chukas promised he would call me back and tell me what was going on. By (Dec. 10), he had not called me back. That is where we are. I thought the commission would do something, but obviously they haven't done anything. And even though this is not a lot of money, it's wrong. If you can't trust the prices that are put up by a racetrack, why would you want to bet there? I expect the commission to regulate horse racing and order them to refund the money. I expect the commission to sanction Parx for doing this.” The post Alleging that Parx Violated Rules Regarding Pick 4 and 5 Refunds, Bettor Wants Answers and a Refund appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

In this series, we will have a look predominantly at American-bred first-time juvenile starters (through the end of 2025) and debuting 3-year-olds in maiden races at Meydan Racecourse, with a specific focus on pedigree and/or performance in a sales ring. The flagship venue for racing in the United Arab Emirates is Meydan Racecourse, which will host racing on Fridays through the end of March, with the exception of Super Saturday on Feb. 28 and Dubai World Cup night Mar. 28, 2026. Here are the horses of note for this Friday's program at Meydan: Friday, December 12, 2025 8th-MEY, AED210,000 ($57k), Allowance, 2yo, 1600m This contest, which has lured the Godolphin's highly impressive maiden winner Devon Island (Practical Joke) and Uruguayan import Don Pelicano (Uru) (Midshipman), has been selected by trainer Bhupat Seemar as the jumping-off point for a pair of American-bred juvenile colts sourced at this year's breeze-up sales. RASHWAN (Gun Runner) was led out unsold on a bid of $425,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale and was hammered down to the RRR Racing braintrust for $400,000 following a :10 4/5 breeze at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale in May. A Mar. 1 foal, the bay is a half-brother to GI F.E. Kilroe Mile Stakes hero Hit The Road (More Than Ready) and is out of a daughter of GII E. P. Taylor Stakes victress Wandering Star (Red Ransom), also the dam of G1SW War Command (War Front) and GSW Naval Officer (Tale of the Cat). Rashwan gets the services of stable number one Tadhg O'Shea. Petit (Independence Hall) is out of a full-sister to GI Man O'War Stakes winner Channel Cat (English Channel) and made appearances at all three U.S.-based auction houses. A $17,000 purchase as a short yearling at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton February Sale, the bay changed hands for $45,000 at Keeneland September about seven months later. When last seen in a sales ring, the Pennsylvania-bred Petit was being hammered down to bloodstock agent Pedro Lanz for $185,000 after working a furlong in :10 flat at OBS April. The post Desert Doings: Seemar Duo Debut In Allowance Company appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The multiple Grade 2-winning chaser Allegorie De Vassy (lot 769) topped Wednesday's final session of the Goffs December National Hunt Sale when bought by Justin and Jackie Owens of Mount Armstrong Stud for €150,000. The eight-year-old daughter of No Risk At All, who was offered in foal to the late Jukebox Jury, was consigned by trainer Willie Mullins' Closutton Stables. Incidentally, Mount Armstrong was also responsible for the most expensive weanling sold earlier in the day when lot 615, a Walk In The Park filly out of the Grade 2-winning chaser Scarlet And Dove, was knocked down to Worthen Hall and Peel Bloodstock for €105,000. Scarlet And Dove herself was a €200,000 purchase at this sale two years ago. “We have a relatively small number of National Hunt mares, but we try to buy very good ones whenever we get the chance,” said Justin Owens after adding Allegorie De Vassy to the Mount Armstrong ranks in County Kildare. “If you have a good mare, a good-looking foal with a nice page, you can make good money. She's all of that. She's a top-class racemare, she's good looking, she's lovely and correct, and she's carrying a good cover. Hopefully, we'll get a nice foal that can come back for next year's sale. All things being equal, she mightn't look too expensive in 12 months' time.” Turnover for the three-day sale reached a record figure of €9,871,050, a 31% increase on last year, while the average grew by 9% to €18,696 and the median rose by 4% to €12,000. The clearance rate increased to 73% (from 65%), despite 52 more lots being offered compared to last year. Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby said, “When catalogues grow there is always a worry that the clearance rate will drop. Not so this week when that statistic has improved in each of the three sessions. “Whilst there is always room for improvement and the market can be tough in places, this is another positive to take away from the week, as is the growth in the number of lots that passed the €25,000, €50,000 and €75,000 marks, with the last of those milestones leaping from five to 19, a number that dwarfs any other sale in the category. “The average and median prices made yet more progress, and the top was as vibrant as ever with four six-figure foals versus one last year and the top-priced National Hunt mares of the year once again.” He added, “In a time of uncertainty, both globally and in the bloodstock world, it is heartening and encouraging to have finished the year on such a positive note, and we count the days before renewing business in 2026. “National Hunt has never been stronger at Goffs, and we are just incredibly proud of its evolution to become the market leader in the sector, so we can't wait to get on the road for our market leading Arkle Sale. “For now, we extend our thanks and appreciation to everyone who has visited our sales this year. Nothing is taken for granted and we look forward to the next visit.” The post Allegorie De Vassy Stars on Final Day of Record-Breaking Goffs December NH Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

By Jordyn Bublitz Margherita lines up today at Palmerston North in the Chief Stipe Bradley Painters Palmerstonian Mobile Pace with trainer Danielle Green hoping the honest mare can continue her upward trajectory after what has been a long, patience-testing road. Based in Morrinsville, Green has worked with Margherita her entire career, and while the mare has always shown ability, her biggest battles have taken place away from the track. Persistent issues with tying up have stalled her progress more than once, forcing Green into a constant cycle of trial and error as she searched for answers. “Getting a win with this mare is massive because she’s just had so many issues. We’ve been struggling with her tying up, I was at my wits end, it’s been a nightmare,” Green says. “We seem to have it figured out now, and it’s been a long time coming to get a win with her.” That win, her third in 20 starts, but her first since November 2023, finally arrived last week at Cambridge Raceway, where Margherita produced a strong performance that not only rewarded Green’s perseverance but also signalled that the mare might finally be ready to string consistent form together. The effort left the trainer both relieved and encouraged. “She didn’t blow much after her run last week and she’s pulled up from it really well,” Green says. “She’s been working well and seems to be getting fitter with every run.” Today, Margherita steps out over 2000m and has drawn barrier 1, a perfect setup for her preferred racing style. “The aim will be to come out and see who comes looking, I’ll really just leave it up to Brooke (Wilkins), she’s the driver,” she explains. Still, with the pole draw, Green expects Margherita to either hold the lead or take a cosy trail — both scenarios giving the mare every chance to be competitive. “It would be awesome to get two in a row with her, she’s my pride and joy, I’ve worked with her her whole life,” she says. “In saying that it’s not always about winning, so long as she tries her best and pulls up sound I’m always happy.” To see the field for Race 6 click here View the full article

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit alleges that Tamara tested positive for the controlled medication methocarbamol after her victory in the Oct. 4 Chilingworth Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park, a finding that jeopardizes that stakes win.View the full article

Ryan Moore returned from rehabbing a broken leg to compete in the Longines Hong Kong International Jockeys' Championship and won it in the final race of the series.View the full article

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's (HIWU) “pending” and “resolved” cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 12/04/2025 Licensee: Michael Catalano, trainer Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Mr Sandman on 10/24/25. Pending ADMC Violations 12/10/2025, Carlos Martin, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from Ascension on 11/2/25. 12/09/2025, Timothy Murphy, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Dexamethasone—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Fedalia on 11/7/25. 12/09/2025, Jorge Abreu, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Omeprazole—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Silver Satin on 11/1/25. 12/09/2025, Richard Mandella, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Tamara on 10/04/25. 12/08/2025, Bill McLean, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from I'mgonnabesomebody on 11/11/25. 12/08/2025, Chris Englehart, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Omeprazole—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Shehanah on 11/07/25. 12/05/2025, Jose Delgado, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from Wise Words on 11/07/25. 12/05/2025, Mario Serey Jr., trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from P J's Song, who finished second at Laurel Park on 11/07/25. 12/05/2025, Stephanie Norris, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Tramadol—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from Moment in the Dark, who finished tenth at Mahoning Valley on 10/25/25. 12/04/2025, Louis Linder Jr., trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Gabapentin—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from So Fully Sue, who finished second at Penn National on 11/5/25. 12/04/2025, Sergio Barrio-Baray, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Bendettijoe on 10/29/25. The post National Rulings, December 4-10 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

As the betting suggested, Kempton's mile novice on Wednesday evening was not supposed to present a serious test to Godolphin's Nation's Hope (Ghaiyyath) and that proved to be the case. Sent off at 1-16 having earned TDN Rising Star status on debut over this course and distance last month, the half-brother to the stable's multiple Grade I-winning Nations Pride (Teofilo) was put on the front end by James Doyle with none of his four peers able to stride on. Stretching clear from two out, the Charlie Appleby trainee put six lengths between him and Killer Whale (Dark Angel) at the line. “The first day we were able to get cover and teach him a little bit more, but today I thought I'd let him go in front and it probably hasn't suited him,” Doyle said. “He was up in the ear a bit with his ears pricked and he felt better last time when getting a lead and running at horses.” “He's a nice mover once you get into top gear and is entitled to be a touch babyish still. It shows he can do it both ways and it'll be interesting to see where he ends up,” he added. “He will go over a bit further in time–his half-brother was a top-class 10-furlong horse and hopefully we're looking at another one.” “He's clearly a very talented horse. We have another who also won impressively here called Talk Of New York and he's in a similar bracket.” A comfortable success for Nation's Hope in the @HEROSCharity Creating Bright Futures EBF Novice Stakes pic.twitter.com/Zp4z5FpqCo — Kempton Park Racecourse (@kemptonparkrace) December 10, 2025 The post Oh So Easy For Godolphin’s Prospect Nation’s Hope appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Tom Rooney, the president and chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), said Wednesday that the focus of his organization's current lobbying efforts in Congress is getting a recently enacted tax law reversed so horse race bettors can go back to deducting 100% of their gambling losses instead of the 90% that was imposed by passage of the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law July 4. The NTRA has estimated that the financial hit to the racing industry because of this tax change could be a loss of over $1 billion in handle. Rooney, speaking during a Dec. 10 presentation at the Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in Tucson, expressed cautious optimism that what amounted to a new tax on horseplayers could be reversed before it goes into effect, even if the change isn't signed into law until early 2026. “We are told it will be retroactive,” Rooney said. But Rooney also drew upon his decade of experience as a United States Representative from Florida between 2009 and 2019 to underscore that even things that seem logical and beneficial to all parties in can be frustratingly difficult to implement in Congress. “Our biggest priority is that WAGER (Winnings and Gains Expense Restoration) Act,” Rooney said, referring to legislation filed by Kentucky Representative Andy Barr that would restore the deduction back to 100%. Rooney said that he believed the intent of the language in the OBBBA was for the federal government to reap about $1 billion in “easy money” by reducing the deduction that horseplayers could claim. “The problem with that is the people that bet on horses, the billion dollars that you think that you're saving, [those bettors] might just go elsewhere, and instead of getting the 90%, you're going to get nothing,” Rooney said. Rooney said that the NTRA has “implored the powers that be” to try and realize the unintended trickle-down consequences of the new law. As he discussed on a TDN Writers' Room podcast earlier this year, Rooney said taking $1 billion out of the handle equation impacts the “whole ecosystem of the racetrack, the people that work at the racetrack, the people that work on the backside, on the farms. Everybody is affected by this. And if you think that you're going to be making up a billion dollars from that tax, you're probably not. You're probably going to lose everything.” Rooney continued: “The good news is, the committees that are dealing with this, the Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, both don't oppose us changing this back to 100%. “It's just a matter of [coming up with] a vehicle that'll get the President's desk, probably in the beginning part of the year, where there's a bunch of fixes to the OBBBA, that will hopefully go through the Ways and Means Committee and the House and the Senate and get to the President's desk. “As you know, watching politics on TV, it sounds easy enough,” Rooney said. “We don't have any opposition. It's bipartisan. One of the reasons I'm no longer in Congress is that I got very frustrated at things like that, that seemed to be very easy to get done, for some reason just never got done. “So I'm patiently, hopefully, waiting for that to happen. But we're going to keep working it,” Rooney said. “We've already been working it through the Senate and through the House, walking the halls of Congress over the last several weeks to make sure those people understand what we mean.” The post NTRA: Cautious Optimism on Getting Gambling Loss Deduction Restored to 100%, Possibly Retroactively for ’25 Tax Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A selection of stallion shares and breeding rights feature among the first 15 lots catalogued for the Arqana December Online Sale, which takes place between the hours of 3pm and 5pm (local time) on Tuesday, December 16. Headline lots include a 1/50th share in the Haras de Bonneval resident Zarak, who has enjoyed notable success with his first four crops and will stand for an unchanged fee of €80,000 next season. The Aga Khan Studs homebred is the sire of last year's Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Metropolitan, along with fellow Group 1 scorers Haya Zark and Zagrey. The final Arqana Online sale of the year will also offer breeding rights to the likes of Mehmas and Palace Pier. The sire of nine individual Group winners, Mehmas's leading performers in 2025 include the top-level scorers Believing and Wise Approach, while Palace Pier is the sire of this year's G2 Lowther Stakes heroine Royal Fixation from his first crop of two-year-olds. Goliath Du Berlais, Latrobe, Space Blues and Victor Ludorum complete the list of stallions to whom breeding rights will be available, with breeders also having the opportunity to acquire shares of varying sizes in Beaumec De Houelle (1/50), City Light (1/120), Goken (1/60), Muhaarar (1/51), Persian King (1/100), Sealiway (1/60), The Grey Gatsby (1/60) and Wooded (1/50). The catalogue is available to view here. The post Share in Zarak Headlines 15 Initial Entries for Arqana December Online Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association will waive most registration fees for Florida-bred and Florida-sired foals of 2026, the organization announced in a release Wednesday. Continued from a policy for foals of 2025, this offer is available exclusively to FTBOA regular members whose names appear as the official breeder of record. “Florida's breeders have stayed the course through every challenge and the FTBOA will do the same,” FTBOA CEO Lonny Powell said. “Extending no-fee foal registrations into 2026–paired with our recently announced export incentives for the same year–is FTBOA investing in the success of Florida-breds, today and tomorrow.” The Florida-bred registration schedule for foals of 2026 is: • Foals: Aug. 31, 2026 ($0 FTBOA Members / $300 Non-Members), or • Extended Foals: Dec. 31, 2026: ($0 FTBOA Members / $500 Non-Members), or • Yearlings: Dec. 31, 2027: ($400 FTBOA Members / $800 Non-Members). Florida-bred foals of 2026 sired by registered Florida stallions assume full eligibility for the Florida Sire Stakes upon successful Florida-bred registration until December 31, 2027. Late registrations (2-year-olds) for the Florida Sire Stakes remain available, as follows: • Two-year-old Standalone: Jan. 15, 2028 ($5,000), or • Two-year-old Last Chance: May 1, 2028 ($10,000), or June 30, 2028 ($15,000). A full schedule, fees details and registration forms are available at FTBOA.com. The post FTBOA Extends No-Fee Registration for Florida-bred Foals of 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

8th-FG, $54k, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, post time: 5:15 p.m. ET AL LATAFAH (Essential Quality) makes her first trip to the races for owner and breeder Shadwell Farm and trainer Brendan Walsh. The Feb. 5 foal is the first produce from her dam Altaf (Medaglia d'Oro), who was only seventh when making her first career appearance on the turf, but she went on to add three wins from as many starts on the main track, including the 2021 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park in what would become her final career appearance. Altaf is herself a granddaughter of Eclipse Award-winning turf female Golden Apples (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), a $3.4-million purchase by Shadwell at the 2003 Keeneland November and the dam of GSW Habaya (Storm Cat) and GSP Hatheer (Storm Cat). TJCIS PPs The post Shadwell Homebred Tries The Grass On Fair Grounds Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

John and Thady Gosden like to unveil one of their nicer Classic prospects at Kempton and Wednesday evening saw the pricey newcomer Asmeralda (Night Of Thunder) follow the trend. Always travelling easily for Oisin Murphy in division one of the seven-furlong fillies' novice on the card, Imad Al Sagar's €640,000 Goffs Orby Book 1 graduate moved to the front approaching two out with only the 5-6 market-leader Pierchic (Palace Pier) to beat. Always comfortably holding that half-sister to the Oaks runner-up Dance Sequence (Dubawi), the 11-10 second favourite held a cosy half-length advantage at the line. The winner is a half-sister to California Chrome's GII Jessamine Stakes winner California Angel, with the Stakes-placed dam related to the Gasparilla Stakes scorer and GIII La Troienne Stakes and GIII Debutante Stakes-placed Cool Spell (Grand Slam). She also has colt foal by Lope De Vega. €640,000 filly strikes on debut Asmeralda (Night Of Thunder) makes a successful start for John & Thady Gosden under @oismurphy in the @kemptonparkrace opener pic.twitter.com/IMUXZ1SB42 — Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 10, 2025 1st-Kempton, £8,000, Novice, 12-10, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT), 1:25.88, st/sl. ASMERALDA (IRE) (f, 2, Night Of Thunder {Ire}–Sea Mona {SP-US}, by Tiz Wonderful) Sales history: €640,000 Ylg '24 GOFORY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $5,745. O-Imad Al Sagar; B-Irish National Stud; T-John & Thady Gosden. The post Night Of Thunder’s Goffs Orby Sensation Asmeralda Scores On Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

In a development that could significantly bolster the long-term success of the graduates of the Thoroughbred industry's groundbreaking addiction recovery program, Stable Recovery, Jarret Prussin, co-founder of the successful social justice firm Ben Crump Law and a Thoroughbred owner and investor, is lending his expertise and a powerful new financial tool to Stable Recovery. Prussin, whose involvement has already yielded massive media exposure for the program, is now integrating his latest venture, DreamFi, to address what is undeniably a top risk for relapse: financial instability. DreamFi, a financial technology company built to serve the financially challenged, will provide every program graduate with a free, funded account designed to build credit, secure savings, and help ensure their second chance at a meaningful career in the Thoroughbred industry is a permanent one. Prussin is the Chief Strategy Officer at Ben Crump, a firm which is dedicated to ensuring justice for marginalized people in American society. They are widely known for their work on behalf of Black Americans shot, killed, or injured by police and or others–including Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery-and large personal injury cases, including the Flint, Michigan water crisis case. Several years ago, he was working at a company he started, the Business Funding Group, which he and his partners had grown into one of the largest small business lenders in the country. Among those to whom he loaned money were lawyers. “Providing loans to lawyers, it just never made sense to me, how you see these commercials on TV for lawyers and there was no real branding,” he said. “I was scratching my head, and when I put my daughter to sleep, I like to walk the backyard and just kind of do my thinking and it hit me.” This was right after Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager walking home through a gated community carrying a bag of candy, was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer. His family was being represented by Ben Crump. Members of the Stable Recovery Program | Stable Recovery “Ben Crump was a regional lawyer based then down in Florida, and Ben and I had a mutual friend. We had never met before, but we had a call one night and I said, `Ben, I have an idea on how I can help you expand your law firm to be a national brand.' I said, I think I could do this, this, this, this and this. And Ben's like, `you know what, Jarret, if you could pull it off, I'm in.' We raised tens of millions with no collateral. Fast forward, and today we have one of the largest social media following of any law firm on the planet.” Prussin is now putting that social media following-and more-to work for Stable Recovery, the program created by Taylor Made's Frank Taylor and Christian Countzler to serve as a pathway from drug and alcohol rehabilitation to meaningful employment and a second chance at life. The program has graduated 110 people, and estimates they have reunited over 1,800 family members who had been estranged due to an individual's addiction. It begins with a 90-day internship in the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship, where the men and women learn how to work with horses, and start to develop habits that can lead to lasting change. Stable Recovery then helps those in the program move on to careers in the industry with one of their 20-plus strategic partners. Growing up, Prussin fell in love with horses through his father, George, a partner with Richard Santulli in Jayeff `B' Stables. “I'm 47, and John Sikura has been one of my best friends since I was 22,” said Prussin. “I've done a lot of horse deals with John. We bought into Thorpedo Anna together with Ben Crump, with LL Cool J, with Marshawn Lynch, and I own a lot of shares at Hill 'n' Dale: Violence, Curlin, Charlatan, Arabian Knight. So I've been pretty heavily involved in the horse business.” Early this year, he read one of the series of articles in the TDN on Stable Recovery program about one of the graduates, and was moved by the story. He called Frank Taylor, and told him he wanted to help. “He read that story, and he called me and said, `man, I was blown away by what y'all are doing,'” recalled Frank Taylor of the call. “He said, I'm going to send you a check, but better than that, I'm going to provide my PR firm to help get Stable some exposure.” They started with a PR strategy 90 days before the Kentucky Derby, and have achieved remarkable success. Frank Taylor | Sue Finley photo Taylor estimates that since Prussin's social media and PR teams took up the cause, there have been over 175 articles written on Stable Recovery, including features on the CBS Evening News, the Breeders' Cup telecast on NBC, and Fox. Amazon has talked about doing a film, and Taylor has been invited to Arizona to speak at the Racetrack Industry Program. Will Walden's TikTok dedicating his race on Kentucky Oaks Day to Stable Recovery was seen by over 12 million people, Prussin said. “Jarret is very good at getting the word out, and it has helped us a ton,” said Taylor. As it turns out, Prussin is just getting started. In addition to his work at Ben Crump Law, Prussin is also the co-founder of DreamFi, a company which allows financially challenged people to build financial stability and generational prosperity through access to financial tools they are typically denied. “There is such a wealth gap in this country,” said Prussin. “The average white person retires with about $120,000 in their bank account. The average Black person retires with just $11,000. The average credit score in a white neighborhood is 700 and change; the average credit score in a Black neighborhood is 500 and change.” Prussin and Crump started DreamFi to address those problems, and now, they're making it available to the men and women in the Stable Recovery program. Prussin said that through talking with Stable Recovery board members, he realized that people in recovery and the financially challenged individuals have a lot in common. “Frank and Elliott Walden and Dan Pride have educated me that the number one reason you have a relapse is because of financial reasons,” said Prussin. “So from now on, anyone going through the program gets a free DreamFi account and they're also going to get $100 from us to fund their account. If we can teach financial literacy and how to grow and protect your wealth, you're going to be able to continue to save families, save lives, and enhance lives.” When users deposit their paychecks directly into DreamFi, not only are they paid interest on their checking accounts, but DreamFi makes sure that their bills are paid on time. “The reason why many people have bad credit is that they're late on their $40 electric bill,” said Prussin. “More than 55% of African-Americans don't own a home; they rent, and renting is the most often largest expense people have. One of the components of DreamFi is that every month, we're going to report your good standings to the credit bureaus that you have made your monthly rent payment on time. That alone is going to increase your credit score by a significant amount. You are going start creating wealth savings, putting money away for college, putting money away for a home. And if you increase your credit score, then you have the ability to get access to capital and access to capital, as Ben likes to say, is the start of all other freedoms. And so we are serving the unbanked and the underbanked with this platform all across America.” Both at Ben Crump Law, and at Stable Recovery, the appeal to Prussin has been giving people a second chance. “What I've learned in life and from running the law firm is when someone is affected with a tragedy or substance abuse, it's not just the person, it's their entire family, friends, relatives, it's their whole ecosystem who is affected,” he said. “They have changed thousands of lives with the success of Stable Recovery,” he said. “And that resonated with me. I believe people deserve a second chance in life. People make mistakes. Life is hard and sometimes you make the wrong decisions, but it doesn't mean you're a bad person. I have a percentage of my employees that we like to call `returning citizens' and now I treat them like family. They're doing the same thing with Stable Recovery. Dan Pride told me a story. They have people in Stable Recovery managing multi-million-dollar horses on a daily basis. I think that's incredible. And I think they're just scratching the surface.” The post Jarret Prussin and his DreamFi Platform Offer Stable Recovery Invaluable Tools appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Opening the batting for the after-dinner speeches at York's 254th annual Gimcrack Dinner was the man of the hour, the winning owner of the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack Stakes, Martin Tedham. If Lord Allen's later address led the odd guest to refill their port glass in need of fortification, Tedham, owner of the Declan Carroll-trained colt Lifeplan (Kodi Bear), had them rolling in the aisles. The Scottish Borders native said that his trainer had been supremely confident of the colt's chances in the Gimcrack but Tedham had not realised that winning would mean he would be obliged to give the time-honoured speech to a room full of racing industry professionals. “While the winner was no surprise, this speech definitely was,” he said. “As I looked down the list of previous speakers – Sir Alex Ferguson, William Haggas, the Right Honourable Harry Herbert and Lord Grimthorpe – I quickly realised I was the only person on this list that I'd never heard of.” Tedham continued, “I grew up in a small town called Muckle Town, better known as Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway. One of six [children]. Expectations were simply you went on to work in the woollen mills. Horse racing felt like a million miles away. We did have our own competitive sport, pigeon racing. My older brother Albert and me were very successful.” Tedham, whose company Wasdell Group sponsors the yard of jump trainers Jonjo and AJ O'Neill, also enjoyed success this season with another juvenile, Spyce (Too Darn Hot), winner of one of the British Stallion Studs EBF high-value maidens who was subsequently fourth in the G3 Zetland Stakes for trainer Alan King. He continued, “Long term, pigeon racing was not for me. By combination of hard work and a lot of luck, I found myself owning businesses in the south. Seemingly, the sport of kings was in my reach.” He tasted success at the Cheltenham Festival with Sky Pirate, though that was bittersweet in that it was 2021, when owners were not allowed to attend owing to the Covid pandemic. Lifeplan, who was bought to help brother Albert through a difficult period when beset by health problems, and Spyce thus combined to give Tedham his most memorable day on the racecourse. “At the start of 2024, Albert was rushed into hospital, and we all feared the worst,” Tedham recalled. “Somehow, he battled through the night, and the next morning I decided I would buy a Flat horse, something to give Albert a purpose, something he had always dreamed of. “The first call I made was to Declan: 'Find me a horse for Albert, take him on the journey, give him something to look forward to.' “Albert would receive calls from Declan on how the young horse was progressing in his work, but as a family, we're very competitive and I did not want Albert to have it all his own way. So I called Alan King, a true Scot, and I asked him to buy me a horse. The sole aim was to beat Albert's horse. That was the plan.” He continued, “Both Declan and Alan gave us positive reports, and it looked like we had two horses with potential. “Lifeplan made his racing debut in a novice at Thirsk, winning at 5/1. Imagine the joy that gave Albert. So both horses found themselves at York on the Friday in August, Lifeplan in the Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack Stakes, Spyce making his debut in the British Stallion Studs EBF maiden later in the card. Thirty-six of us came to York, including Albert, with very high expectations.” A 280,000gns breeze-up purchase, Spyce was the most expensive horse bought by King to date and the trainer had advised Tedham that he would come on for his York debut, while Carroll continued to be positive about Lifeplan's chances. “And the rest, as they say, is history. Lifeplan duly gave my family the greatest day I've ever had. ITV, Racing TV, even Arabic TV wanted to speak to me. “I didn't think the day could get any better but then Spyce made an incredible debut to finish second, just under a length behind the Aidan O'Brien-trained winner [Frescobaldi] at 28/1, splitting horses owned by Magnier, Tabor and Smith, and Wathnan Racing. “Not a bad afternoon for a horse still learning his job. Leaving York, it with very high spirits, and heading back to Cheltenham to throw the party to end all parties. My motto is, win or lose, have some booze.” Tedham announced to the assembled guests that both Lifeplan and Spyce will be back for more in 2026. “With a strike rate of 60 per cent, I am doing better than Coolmore and Godolphin,” he said to a round of applause from his fellow guests. “And the main thing is, Albert is living his dream. In this world of our sport, at least one dream has been realised, and his health is much better. My pigeon racing days are finished for good.” The pigeon loft's loss is very much British horse racing's gain. Just make sure you're around for the after-party next time one of the Tedham brothers' horses obliges. The post ‘I Realised I Was The Only Person On The List I’d Never Heard Of’: Tedham Relives Memorable Gimcrack Day appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article