But let's make a plea for indulgence, should any of the law lecturers at University College, Dublin, happen to find one student uncharacteristically distracted on resuming his course in September. Because whatever broad principles of contract may yet require elucidation, there are extremely good reasons why Freddie Duignan could find his thoughts straying to the value of a signature even then being scrawled on a document, 4,000 miles away in Kentucky.

“My first day back in class is the first day of the September Sale,” Duignan explains. “So I will probably be in a lecture, the day he sells. I suppose I'll just have to follow it online and try to keep quiet when they drop the hammer, whether it's good or bad.”

Obviously he wouldn't have planned things this way, but then nor did he exactly plan the transaction that has brought this impending one to our attention.

That was also at Keeneland, in November 2022. Even though Duignan was then only 16, he already felt thoroughly at home in the sales environment. As the son of Gabriel (“Spider”) and Aisling Duignan, he has long been familiar to their many friends in the Bluegrass community-whether made through their own Springhouse Farm; Spider's collaboration with Pat Costello at Paramount; or Aisling's work at Coolmore. More importantly, young Duignan felt just as comfortable among the horses themselves.

“That was how I was raised, every time we sat round the dinner table the talk always revolved around horseracing. And at breakfast, and lunch, and everything in between. So I always had some interest, from the get-go, and it just grew and grew as I got older.”

In fact, it all came to Duignan so naturally that already as a 14-year-old he was not discouraged from an experimental pinhook. He showed an immediate aptitude, his first punt being a $10,000 Oscar Performance weanling deep in the November Sale of 2020. He was sold in the same ring the following September for $100,000 and, under the name Act a Fool, ran up a sequence of four as a sophomore, culminating in the Hawthorne Derby.

Suitably emboldened, here was Duignan prospecting weanlings to bring back the following September. His mother would take a piece of something, so would one or two others, but it was again going to be the young man's call.

The one he adored was Hip 892, a Not This Time colt in the Warrendale consignment. He was probably too blatant to be missed, but they would follow him through just in case. And in the back of their minds they were also mindful of the fact that the colt's dam, a once-raced daughter of Bernardini named Rockadelic, would be following him onto the rostrum directly afterwards.

“Obviously we really liked the foal, so we looked at her as well,” Duignan explains. “And she was a very nice mare, by probably the best broodmare sire around right now, and out of [dual Grade I winner] Octave (Unbridled's Song). And in foal to McKinzie.”

Sure enough, the foal went way beyond reach at $310,000.

“That was out of our price range,” Duignan recalls. “But then the mare was stalling at $100,000, so we said we'd hit her once. And we got her. It hadn't really been the objective, but we were just going to make sure she didn't slip through the cracks.”

The project started well when Rockadelic's McKinzie colt sold in the equivalent sale, the following November, for $100,000. He made a promising debut at Gulfstream in June, winning a photo only to be disqualified for interference. By that stage, however, the Not This Time colt had already transformed the page.

He had duly advanced his value as a pinhook, sold to Winchell Thoroughbreds for $450,000 at the September Sale. They named him Magnitude-and, after one or two uneven performances as he developed, he proved a revelation when romping by almost 10 lengths in the GII Risen Star Stakes. Suddenly Duignan found himself with the dam of one of the Derby favorites.

“Last year was my first over in Dublin, so I was in Ireland when he won the Risen Star,” Duignan says. “I was just blown away, I didn't expect him to win like that.”

The excitement admittedly proved brief, Magnitude soon being sidelined by an ankle chip, but he proved his Fair Grounds exhibition to be no flash in the pan when resuming earlier this month with another runaway success in the Iowa Derby. As a fresh horse, he will ask a new question of crop leader Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Travers Stakes on Saturday.

Just a couple of weeks after that, a Bolt d'Oro half-brother will be gratefully taking any updates into the September Sale as Hip 888.

Magnitude at Saratoga Sunday morning | Sarah Andrew

“It's great when a young mare has already shown that she can throw a nice product,” Duignan says. “And she seems to have proved it again, because this one seems to have pretty similar qualities to Magnitude. He's a nice, big, pretty horse. He's with us at Springhouse and coming along nicely in his prep, seems to be handling everything well and strengthening up. Hopefully he'll keep progressing. The mare has a very nice weanling by Jack Christopher, and is back in foal to Not This Time.”

No surprise there, obviously, but Duignan is taking nothing for granted. While others of his generation are entering the business via lavish international programs, he has been no less privileged to receive his own education, by sheer osmosis, in a domestic environment that just happens to be suffused with the insight and example of one of the sharpest couples in the game.

So when it is suggested to Duignan that he has shown a Midas touch with both his first pinhook, Act a Fool, and now his first mare, he has an unsurprisingly level-headed response.

“It may look like that,” he says. “But look, both my parents been very helpful and steered me in the correct direction. I hope they're very happy to have a kid interested in what they're doing. I've just tried to absorb as much as I can. Even as a boy I would get to go to the sales with friend, and we'd sit in the back ring looking at horses going through. And I'm so lucky to have been able to follow my dad around, looking at foals, learning why some make his shortlist and others don't. My parents have always tried to point things out: 'See how this horse uses his shoulder when he walks,' or 'See how this one's over at the knee.' And of course they have so many friends in the business, who've all been really helpful as well.”

Even this fairytale mare, after all, has already reiterated the axiomatic unpredictability of the Thoroughbred: Duignan had barely 48 hours to enjoy the possibility of Magnitude wearing a blanket of roses before being abruptly brought back to earth.

“Steve Asmussen is a great trainer who will give him the best chance of getting on the big stage,” Duignan says with a shrug. “It was obviously the right call and Magnitude came back with a 105 Beyer the other day. Hopefully he can have a good second half of the season. It's the nature of the game to have ups and downs, horses will get hurt or have bad luck in a race. Things will happen and you just have to take them in your stride.”

So here's a young man with the right attitude as well as the right grounding, should he wish to persevere with the same vocation as his parents. Like his older sister, who is likewise studying law (in Georgia), he's sensibly giving himself options.

“I love UCD Dublin,” he confirms. “There are loads of racetracks nearby, which I try to get to for the big days at least. While I've been going round the sales for years already, I've loads still to learn. For my first mare to be doing this, obviously it's all downhill from here! It will be tough to top this. But surrounded by the people that I am, I won't be short of good advice.”

The post Duignan, Jr. Building On Rock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Monday, August 18, 2025
Ellis 6, $100k, 2yo, f, 1mT, 3:12 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Stunning Sapphire (Win Win Win), OBSAPR, 230,000, :10
C-Shooting Star Sales LLC; B-Niki Goodwin, agent

Ellis 9, $100k, 2yo, f, 1mT, 4:42 p.m. ET
Justa Rebel (Justify), FTMMAY, 180,000, :10 4/5
C-Wavertree Stable Inc (Ciaran Dunne), agent; B-Robbie Medina, Agent for Stone Bridge Farm

The post Summer Breezes Sponsored By OBS: Monday, August 18, 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Also headed to the gate for the first time is another Keeneland September grad in Riotous (Charlatan). The Wayne Catalano trainee is a half-sister to GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes victor Arklow (Arch). Joining her is $850,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale buy Sneakily (Tapit). Owned by Wathnan and conditioned by Brad Cox, the filly is out of MGSW Sneaking Out (Indian Evening). Last but not least, Ian Wilkes trains Lillesand (More Than Ready)–the half-sister of MGSW Gentle Ruler (Colonel John). TJCIS PPS

The post Monday’s Racing Insights: Well-Bred Into Mischief Filly Trust Account Debuts At Ellis Park Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Set for his unveiling is the Newtown Anner-bred Teleport (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Mike Repole bought the colt 300,000 gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and then the breeder stayed in for a piece. A half-brother to GI Saratoga Derby runner-up Juwelier (Ire) (Wooton Bassett {GB}), the Todd Pletcher trainee's dam is a full-sister to current sire Intello (Ger) (by Galileo {Ire}).

Vegso Florida homebred Woodster (Quality Road) hails from a good family and is the half-brother of GII Wood Memorial longshot hero Lord Miles (Curlin). Under the care of Bill Mott, the colt's extended female family includes champion 2-year-old filly Caledonia Road (Quality Road), MGSW Officiating (Blame) and the dual-winning Royal Ascot invader Crimson Advocate (Nyquist).

Entered for the 'main track only' is Mott trainee Stimulate (Tapit). Bred and owned by Claiborne and Adele Dilschneider, the colt is out of GI Alabama Stakes heroine Elate (Medaglia d'Oro) who is also responsible for Stimulate's stablemate Excite (Speightstown). TJCIS PPS

7th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 3:42 p.m. ET.
Tommy Town bought and raced MGSW Victim of Love (Speightstown) and her first foal Love Divine (Into Mischief) debuts for the outfit and trainer Steve Asmussen. Out of GSW Spacy Tracy (Awesome Again), Victim of Love is full-sister to GSW Benner Island, who produced the recently returned to training GII Fantasy Stakes victress Quietside (Malibu Moon). TJCIS PPS

The post Sunday’s Racing Insights: Don’t Fret Quality Road, Guitarist Set To Open On Saratoga Stage appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Sunday, August 17, 2025
Ellis 6, $100k, 2yo, 1mT, 3:12 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Chester Good (Rogueish), OBSJUN, 7,000, :10 3/5
C-Really and Truly T'breds, agent; B-Darrell Thompson

Your Wildest Dream (Not This Time), FTMMAY, 345,000, G
C-Navas Equine, agent; B-Norm Casse

Ellis 7, $100k, 2yo, f, 5 1/2, 3:42 p.m. ET
Annie's Allie (Tacitus), OBSJUN, 70,000, :10
C-Champions of the Future, agent; B-Eric Foster

Sar 8, Bolton Landing S.-L $150k, 2yo, f, 5.5fT, 5:12 p.m. ET
Cy Fair (Not This Time), OBSAPR, 185,000, :9 4/5
C-Niall Brennan Stables, agent; B-Swinbank Stables, G Weaver

Sacred Goddess (Kantharos), OBSAPR, 200,000, :9 4/5
C-Grassroots Training & Sales, agt; B-Team Penney & Icon Racing

Del Mar 2, $100k, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 5:30 p.m. ET
Explora (Blame), FTMMAY, 350,000, :10 1/5
C-Crane Thoroughbred Services, agent; B-Three Amigos

Revera (Lexitonian), OBSMAR, 85,000, :10 1/5
C-Eddie Woods, agent; B-U Racing Stables

The post Summer Breezes Sponsored By OBS: Sunday, August 17, 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Saturday, August 16, 2025
2nd-CKO, ¥14,250,000 ($97k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT
YUTO THE INNOCENT (c, 2, Yaupon–Keira, by Unusual Heat), a $42,000 Keeneland September yearling, fetched $110,000 at this year's OBS March sale after breezing a furlong in a solid :10 1/5. The Apr. 4 foal looks to become the sixth winner from six runners for his unraced dam, a full-sister to GSW Majestic Heat; MSW & GISP Mensa Heat; MSP Real Heat; and Phi Beta Heat, the dam of SW & GSP Rye (English Channel). O-Ayana Suzuki; B-River Oak Farm & M Auerbach LLC (KY); T-Ken Kozaki

5th-NII, ¥14,250,000 ($97k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT
MITILINI (JPN) (f, 2, Tapit–Midnight Bisou, by Midnight Lute) is the first Japanese-foaled produce and second overall for her Eclipse Award-winning dam, owner of five Grade I victories and the promoted winner of the then-ungraded Saudi Cup in 2020. With a bankroll of nearly $14 million, Midnight Bisou first hammered for $5 million at Fasig-Tipton November in 2020 and topped the 2022 Keeneland November Sale with this filly in utero on Katsumi Yoshida's bid of $5.5 million. Just last month, the mare's colt by Japanese Horse of the Year Equinox (Jpn) fetched ¥580 million ($3,918,919) to top the JRHA Select Foal Sale on the island of Hokkaido. Mitilini was trading as the 6-1 fourth choice as of this writing. O-Sunday Racing Co Ltd; B-Northern Racing; T-Tomokazu Takano

pic.twitter.com/gcaQXIBPPR

— Team Iwata (@JayRAye02) August 14, 2025

Sunday, August 17, 2025
2nd-NII, ¥14,250,000 ($97k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400m
KEEN SENSE (c, 2, Munnings–Canny, by Big Brown), a $200,000 Keeneland September graduate, is the third foal to the races for his stakes-placed dam, a full-sister to Grade III winner Send It In and a half to MSP Powder River (Mineshaft). Stonehaven Steadings consigns the colt's Justify half-brother (hip 1456) to KEESEP next month. A May 2 foal, the chestnut carries the Silk Racing colors and will be ridden by Ryusei Sakai. O-Silk Racing Co Ltd; B-Stonehaven Steadings (KY); T-Mikio Matsunaga

The post First Japanese-Foaled Runner Out Of Midnight Bisou Debuts at Niigata appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Eyeballing that one in the gate is Amended Dreamer (Constitution), a $285,000 KEESEP purchase now in the barn of Jena Antonucci. A daughter of SW Windmill (Street Sense), her dam's half-siblings include Bodebabe (Bodemeister)–herself mother of MGISW Scottish Lassie (McKinzie). This is the immediate female family of GISW Tara's Tango (Unbridled's Song); GISW Visionaire (Grand Slam) and GSW & MGISP Scarlet Strike (Smart Strike).

Continuing down the line toward the rail is Run Wild (Gun Runner), a half-sister to MSW & GSP Drake's Passage (Tonalist) from the immediate female family of champion 3-year-old filly MGISW Surfside (Seattle Slew), and who will carry the colors of owner/breeder Robert Evans for trainer Linda Rice. Taking up the rail slot is Sun Kiss (Girvin), the full-sister to MGSW Damon's Mound–who won the GII Saratoga Special Stakes as a juvenile. The pair is owned by breeders Michele and Cliff Love and trained by Bill Mott.  TJCIS PPs

7th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 4:03p.m. ET
A loaded maiden at the Spa was carded as the seventh and RENEGADE (Into Mischief) leads the way. Bred by Robert and Lawana Low, the colt went to Repole Stable for $975,000 during Keeneland September, then the breeders stayed in for a piece. The upper market players sent the bay to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

Renegade is the first foal for GSW Spice Is Nice (Curlin) who the Lows purchased for $1.05-million at the same Keeneland auction, just in 2018. She is out of GI Humana Distaff Stakes heroine Dame Dorothy (Beranrdini), a $900,000 buy for none other than Mike Repole at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale while she was in foal with a colt by Gun Runner.

Set for his unveiling is Icon Racing's Hero Declared (Maclena's Music). The Whit Beckman trainee was acquired for $575,000 at the past OBS March Sale. Initially sold as a yearling during Fasig-Tipton July for $170,000, the bay's dam is a full-sister to GSW Wild Bout Hilary (Midnight Lute).

A couple entry from Danny Gargan's shedrow makes the races. Talkin (Good Magic) was bought for $600,000 at Keeneland September and the colt is a half-brother to GIII Daily Racing Form Indiana Oaks victress Clicquot (Quality Road). The other half of the entry is Good Illusion (Good Magic), who went for $550,000 during Keeneland's September Yearling Sale.

Finally, Klaravich's Cost Effective (Into Mischief) is out of MGSW Lewis Bay (Bernardini). TJCIS PPs

3rd-DMR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 6:02p.m. ET
Juvenile colts kick off the maiden races on Del Mar's Saturday card as a trio of well-related debuters catch the eye here, lead by Litmus Test (Nyquist) as the 7-5 morning line favorite. The son of Nyquist is out of an unplaced full-sister to MGSW & GISP Sweet August Moon (Malibu Moon), herself dam of GSP Sir Samson (Smart Strike). Litmus Test clearly left an impression when passing through the ring at FTSAUG last year, and changed hands for $875,000 before eventually finding himself in the program of Bob Baffert. His last several works have been in the top three fastest on their respective mornings, and he'll break from post two. To his inside is stablemate Falcon Jet (Justify), who looks to leave the maiden ranks on a 13-day turnaround after running against fellow shed row occupant Buetane (Tiz the Law) Aug. 3, who was named a 'TDN Rising Star' for his effort.

To their outside is Chapter One (Yaupon), a $500,000 EASMAY buy this past spring who goes to post for the Michael McCarthy barn. A son of MGSW Just Jenda (Menifee), therefore a half-brother to SW Jenda's Agenda (Proud Citizen) and SW Miss Alacrity (Munnings), Chapter One hails from the extended female family of GISW Sahara Sky (Pleasant Tap) and champion juvenile MGISW Nyquist (Uncle Mo). The first-mentioned half-sister is herself dam of GIII Schuylerville victress Just Cindy (Justify). TJCIS PPs

The post Saturday Insights: Big Families Unveiled at The Spa while Big Tickets Debut Out West appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Saturday, August 16, 2025
Saratoga 2, $90k, 2yo, f, (S), 6f, 1:10 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Maxpower (Maxfield), FTMMAY, 16,000, G
C-Little Farm Equine, agent; B-Robert Reidy

Ellis 4, $44k, Moc, 2yo, f, (R), 5 1/2f, 2:16 p.m. ET
Faye's Gold (Goldencents), OBSAPR, 40,000, :10
C-Randy Miles, agent; B-Triton Thoroughbreds LLC

Final Shipman (Midshipman), OBSJUN, 16,000, :21
C-Omar Ramirez Bloodstock, agent; B-Jarvis Racing Stable LLC

Miss Rosso (Vino Rosso), OBSJUN, 35,000 PS, :10
C-Omar Ramirez Bloodstock, agent; B-Eric Foster

No Argument (Frosted), OBSAPR, 20,000, :10 3/5
C-Eddie Woods, agent; B-Chad Schumer, agent

Saratoga 6, $100k, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 3:29 p.m. ET
Bodacious Queen (Munnings), OBSAPR, 80,000, :10
C-Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, agent; B-Black Horse B'stock

Headspin (Hard Spun), OBSAPR,  335,000, :20 3/5
C-Ocala Stud, agent; B-Gainesway Farm

Ellis 7, $44k, 2yo, f, (R), 1mT, 3:42 p.m. ET
Frosty for Ever (Frosted), OBSAPR, 25,000, :10 2/5
C-Caliente Thoroughbreds; B-Ryan Ball, Dan Preiss, agent

Saratoga 7, $100k, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 4:03 p.m. ET
Tiger Rocket (Munnings), OBSMAR, 340,000, :10 1/5
C-Wavertree Stables Inc (Ciaran Dunne), agent;B-Donato Lanni, Agent for Frank Fletcher Racing Operation

Sar 9, Skidmore S.-L, $150k, 2yo, 5.5fT, 5:11 p.m. ET
Gypsy Art (Munnings), FTMMAY, 200,000, G
C-Scanlon Training & Sales, agent; B-D Farrington

Del Mar 3, $100k, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 6:00 p.m. ET
Chapter One (Yaupon), FTMMAY, 500,000, :10 1/5
C-S G V Thoroughbreds (S Venosa), agt; B-J Casse for M V Magnier

Trail Blaze (Daredevil), OBSJUN, 7,000, :10 3/5
C-de Meric Sales, agent; B-George Lopez

Del Mar 4, $80k, 2yo, f, 1mT, 6:30 p.m. ET
Improbable U (Improbable), OBSJUN, 65,000, :21 1/5
C-Top Line Sales LLC, agent; B-Mojallali Stable

The post Summer Breezes Sponsored By OBS: Saturday, August 16, 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

In fact, the Ulwellings appeared on the Canadian racing circuit a decade ago, after having spent the previous decade campaigning horses in the U.S.

While their participation in Canada might signify only a slice of their overall racing history, the Ulwellings have arguably had a greater impact in the province of Ontario.

Highlighting that point, the Ulwellings come well armed to Woodbine Saturday in search of their initial King's Plate victory with a pair of live contenders–Mansetti (Collected) and Faber (Improbable). Both colts are trained by Sovereign Award-winning trainer Kevin Attard.

“Both horses have a good shot,” affirmed the younger Ulwelling, Al. “Mansetti probably has a better chance, but I think if Faber gets the right trip, he can be right in the mix of it late.”

Mansetti won last season's Clarendon Stakes in November and added two more stakes this term–the Mar. 27 Woodstock Stakes and most recently in the GIII Marine Stakes in his first try past a mile June 28. He also finished fifth in Woodbine's Queenston Stakes while facing Ontario-bred competition June 8.

“Last year, Kevin thought Mansetti might be a sprint-only horse but he's matured a great deal from two to three,” said Ulwelling. “When he won the Marine, it opened our eyes, especially in the way he won and galloped out. It got us thinking maybe he can get the mile and a quarter.”

Explaining the uncharacteristically poor Queenston showing two starts back, he explained, “The equipment broke in the Queenston and he basically just stood in the gate. It was just over from the gate. Never got into the race and was never really comfortable. We expected him to win that day.”

Hoping for a cleaner trip in Canada's first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, Ulwelling said, “Mansetti is working just as good or better than any other horse in that race. Kevin has him set on go.”

He continued, “Mansetti has tactical speed, but it will just be a question of getting the distance. In the mornings he's shown it, but now we have to see him put it together on race day.”

Faber hit the board in two of four starts this season, including a pair of allowance optional claimers going a mile at Turfway in March and while adding an extra sixteenth at Woodbine May 31. In his most recent start, he finished fourth in an optional claiming test at Woodbine July 13.

“Faber is a whole different animal,” he said. “He has tons of talent, [he is] laid back in the morning, but he finds trouble in every race. He doesn't have a lot of [early] speed and he has to do so much work at the end of the race that it can sometimes put him in a bad spot. That's why we think the mile and a quarter will suit Faber.”

Like Father, Like Son…

Introduced to racing via father Bill, Al Ulwelling has operated a crane and construction company over the past 30 years in his homebase of Minnesota. Ulwelling's interest in the sport has expanded through the years.

“I have been watching racing since I was born,” he confirmed. “My father was a big horse bettor, I started wagering on them when I was a little kid. We started going to Canterbury Park the day they opened their doors [1985]. As the years went on, we talked about getting a horse, which I knew nothing about. It turns out a friend of mine did know a lot about it although he didn't have the money. So we got into a horse with him and that's how we started 20 years ago.”

He continued, “We're leading owners at Canterbury a couple of times there and we won a lot of races, but it wasn't financially lucrative for us. So we decided to go to Louisiana because the purses were good there. We had some success there too, but once Fair Grounds ended, the purse money wasn't as good. So we had all these horses with nowhere to go. At that same time, we're betting Woodbine and following up there and saw the purses they were offering, we decided to take a shot up there. We've been in love with Woodbine ever since.”

Breaking down the decision to expand to beyond Minnesota, he added, “We were leading owners at Canterbury for a couple of years and we had quite a few horses. We weren't really making money but we really enjoyed watching the races at Woodbine. We thought it was one of the leading tracks in North America, in terms of its inner and outer turf courses, they had synthetic and they ran all year. That's what drew us to Canada.”

“Initially, we went to Woodbine because we thought it was a world-class facility, but now we race there because of people like Kevin Attard.”

“We dipped our toes in with five to 10 horses to start, but once we met Kevin, we were sold from there.”

Since joining forces with trainer Kevin Attard a decade ago, Ulwelling explains that the team's equine holdings have steadily increased from about 10 horses to over twice that currently.

“When we were at Canterbury, I saw this younger guy winning some races with claimers,” he said, explaining his connection to Attard. “Somebody connected me to [Hall of Fame trainer] Roger Attfield, and he was training exclusively for [Kinghaven Farm] at the time and I asked for his honest opinion. I was a younger guy in the game at the time, so he suggested Kevin. He told me he was good with the horses and he was honest. Coming from Roger, that spoke volumes.”

Velocitor winning the 2022 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie | Michael Burns Photo

The Ulwellings retain about 12-15 horses in the U.S., splitting their time between Fair Grounds, Canterbury, Delta Downs and more recently, Turfway Park. According to Ulwelling, the Louisiana division of Ulwelling horses is maintained by Gary Scherer, who has kept a string of horses for the Ulwellings since the onset.

“We have also started running at Turfway with Billy Morey,” said Ulwelling of their most recent foray. “We're starting to build up that string because of the purse increases and we can have some of them race there in the winter so that is a good spot for us.”

The partnership also maintains a string of eight mares, which are the source of their own homebred racing stock. Boarded at Bill Snowden's Winchester Equine in Kentucky, the mares are bred in Kentucky before being sent to foal in Canada in order to take advantage of the lucrative Ontario-bred racing programs.

“When we were introduced to the bigger races like the King's Plate and the Woodbine Oaks, we had some mares in Louisiana, so we transferred those mares to Canada to Hill 'n' Dale Farm and Glenn Sikura,” he explained. “We started breeding a few mares and gradually increased our numbers from there.”

“The mares foal in Canada and we raise them in Paris, Kentucky,” he explained. “As soon as the mares can travel, we send them back to Kentucky. We breed them to Kentucky stallions, the babies remains in Kentucky to be raised and the mares return to Canada to foal every season.”

With both their breeding racing programs in full swing, the Ulwellings have enjoyed success the past few years, including a pair of wins in the second jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown in Fort Erie's Prince of Wales Stakes. The first was realized with the Kevin Attard-trained Haddassah (Air Force Blue) in 2021 followed by Velocitor (Mor Spirit) two years later.

“We won the Prince of Wales with homebreds,” he said. “We thought about what a blast we were having, so we decided to put some more money into it to get it rolling. That's how our [Canadian] program grew.”

And now 20 years removed from the first foray into horse ownership, Ulwelling points to one of the fundamentals driving him to a first King's Plate for the Ulwelling team.

“My father is 72 years old and all he really talks about is the horses. I would like to see it for my father,” he admitted. “In this King's Plate, we can go with horses we know that fit. We've run before and finished fourth last year with Pierre. We thought he as a nice horse but he wasn't on the level of these horses we're bringing this year.”

“I think we're putting it all together with our horses in both breeding and buying. It tells us that what we're doing is working.”

The post Mansetti, Faber Offer Ulwellings a 1-2 Punch in Search of King’s Plate Glory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The post Friday’s Racing Insights: Pricey Son of Galilean Debuts at the Spa appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Friday, August 15, 2025
Saratoga 1, $90k, 2yo, (S), 1 1/16mT, 1:10 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Jack's World (Rock Your World), OBSMAR, 150,000, :10 2/5
C-Jose Munoz; B-Steven W Young, agent

Saratoga 6, $90k, 2yo, (S), 6f, 4:06 p.m. ET
Froutien (Galilean), FTMMAY, 700,000, :10 1/5
C-Wavertree Stables Inc (Ciaran Dunne), agt; B-Mahmud Mouni

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The task of keeping a racetrack in good shape is an ongoing daily headache–just ask Michael “Mick” Peterson, professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky and executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory (RSTL).

The RSTL is the centralized hub where track operators transmit back maintenance information required under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) racetrack safety program.

In this edited Q&A, Peterson talks events at Thistledown, the overall state of compliance with HISA's racetracks safety rules, and the worsening impacts from climate change on the sport.

TDN: Let's talk Thistledown, with all sorts of different factors that appear to have weighed into events there.

The former track superintendent Sean Wright blamed a long dry period, and an allegedly recalcitrant crew who ignored his demands over watering. There were pictures on social media showing rocks on the track. Track management were also for a period failing to submit a set of daily cushion and moisture measurements to the RSTL, as required by HISA.

I also remember comments you made just over a year ago, however, about how former Thistledown track superintendent John Banno was doing an amazing job with subpar tools.

“Thistledown is a great example of that. That is a fantastic surface. And Dan, I don't know how to say it, the equipment is inadequate,” you said. “But John Banno, he just works so hard to make it work. I'm not sure anybody else could take over there and make it work like he does.”

What can you tell us about the key track-management related events that led to what we saw at Thistledown? Does the maintenance crew have what they need to do a good job?

MP: We've gone ahead and re-tested and they are now, once again, one of the most consistent tracks tested in North America, if not the most consistent.

They've made some progress with the equipment. What's great from our perspective is they have moved forward with getting an Integrated Racetrack Surface Tester, which will give us better daily data to be able to track anything else that's happening. That daily data is so important. If you see an event, then that's additional information that the veterinarians can use when they're assessing the other veterinary related issues for the horses.

TDN: In terms of just the track-related issues, what have been the important factors?

MP: There are only a few things that change day-to-day. One of them is cushion depth. You have to grade the track properly. If you've had big rain events, you can have segregation of the material, when the fine material goes to the inside rail. You have to know how to water it and you have to make sure you get it sealed properly before a rainstorm or overnight.

It's very region-specific, and what we've once again shown is how difficult the job of a racetrack superintendent is.

But they [Thistledown] also had a reputation among horsemen going all the way back to [former California trainer] Howard Zucker 20 years ago that it was a fantastic surface. But we never properly tested [the track] until HISA came along. What we've shown is that with the proper expertise and the right team, they can overcome some deficiencies in equipment.

TDN: Multifactorial is the much-used phrase around equine fatalities. What are the other factors weighing in on events at Thistledown?

MP: I think it's a challenging horse population, and that's a better question for someone like Dr. [Susan] Stover [chair of the Racetrack Safety Standing Committee]. Dr. Stover has emphasized how, through the number of furlongs worked, basically it's like you wear out the horse. That would be one of the things you would immediately look at.

Then there are 10 other factors that came out of equine injury database you've got to check off to understand what the risk factors are for these horses.

TDN: Is the track now reporting daily what it needs to?

MP: Yes.

TDN: What should be the main lessons learned from this whole set of events?

MP: Well, we've had recently a couple other tracks that have had increases in catastrophic injuries. From my perspective, what we've seen at the other tracks is when we have that complete daily data, we can look at it and say, 'oh, the track was too wet. Too dry. The cushion depth was inconsistent. Or, we're not seeing anything. Maybe we need to look at the other factors?'

So, the real lesson is that having the daily data is hugely helpful for the team on the ground to understand what all the risks are to the horse and rider.

TDN: Stepping back, how would you grade the compliance rate among all HISA-regulated tracks with the things they're supposed to do under the racetrack safety program?

MP: We, HISA, has continued to put pressure on the tracks. What we're seeing is some tracks that are continuing to resist. But I mean, we are in solid B+, A- sort of territory. And that would've been a C last year.

TDN: What are the key areas that are still needing work?

MP: Some of the issues are difficult and are structural. Some of the old race-rail vendors are not around anymore. Some of the parts are hard to come by. Those are the things that you can't really fault the track on. They need help in order to solve some of those problems.

What I'm most excited about is we're now beginning to have the quantity of data to focus efforts on the issues if we see something, like if they begin to see injuries in the gates.

But what we're seeing is vastly improved compliance. And that makes it easier for HISA to push the ones who aren't complying because now they're standing out. If it was 40% of the tracks [not complying], it's one thing. But when it gets down to be 10% of the tracks, then it's much easier to push.

TDN: Who are those 10% holdout tracks?

MP: They're seasonal, and so, what I'm hoping is, as we go into winter this year, we've got another round of tracks opening up, and I think we'll probably see much, much better compliance.

Fair Grounds has complete maintenance data and moisture data going back to 2008. I want to get to the point where everybody's a Fair Grounds or a NYRA or a Churchill.

Sarah Andrew

TDN: It's been a while now since HISA was implemented. I'm sure there'll be a few trainers out there wondering, 'why are the tracks allowed to get away with non-compliance with the rules and not me?' Do you think it's time to really crack down on racetrack safety rules breaches?

MP: Oh, they are. That's really the point I was making there. We're down to the point where the tracks that are not complying are getting follow ups. And I think this next round of accreditation, [ongoing issues] are going to be front and center.

There were such huge disparities in the expectations of the different racing commissions [prior to HISA] that it was really difficult to make this suddenly happen.

Now, with these uniform expectations, people are coming along. I'm thoroughly impressed with what I see at some of the tracks, and it isn't necessarily the tier one tracks. There are the tracks where the money's tight and they have to deal sometimes with the gaming companies to get the [necessary] capital and budgets.

TDN: For another piece I did last year we discussed how climate change was impacting the work of maintaining racetrack surfaces. It was good to see climate change brought up this year at the Jockey Club Round Table, as I don't think this sport broaches this topic nearly enough. How are we doing as an industry in grappling with the impacts from climate change?

   MP: When we talked about this before, the thing that I did not expect was the role of flooding on racetracks. This has been quite a year and a half or two years for racing as far as the risk of that. Belterra and Ellis Park both had turf tracks [flooded]. It's one thing to fix a dirt track. Fixing a turf track is a lot more challenging.

TDN: Is there something we could and should be doing to better prepare ourselves in terms of risk mitigation?

MP: I have, a number of times, referred racetracks to the engineering firm GRW Engineering, here in Lexington, [to help with their] drainage plans.

This is not a cool thing to do with your capital. But drainage plans for facilities are absolutely critical at this point. The poster child for this is what NYRA has done at Belmont. The ability to store water and manage water on that site is going to be second to none.

Obviously, most tracks do not have the resources to build out the way the new Belmont facility is being built out. But having an overall drainage plan in place, and every time you rebuild a barn, every time you regrade a horse path, if you've got a master plan to work from, you can help better manage the water on the facility.

In other locations, we see these longer, deeper droughts. It's going to be more and more difficult to water the track. So, whatever can be done to manage the water, to retain it, reduce evaporation, is going to be critical as well.

It's a long-term challenge that certainly applies to both turf and dirt, and to a lesser extent the synthetic surfaces. Most of the synthetic tracks have a drainage system that's sufficiently oversized that they should be able to handle what's coming.

TDN: You mentioned earlier a couple other tracks with an uptick in fatal injuries. There have been five musculoskeletal training and racing related injuries at Saratoga during what has been a typically rainy summer. You've mentioned in the past how tough it is to maintain a track's consistency after opening it up after rain. Is that a factor this time?

MP: Here's where having the daily data is fantastic. We have a weekly meeting and we look at it all with the daily data, meaning we're going to be able to look at the time stamps and understand what's happening, [including] when these events occur relative to the rain events.

Given that [fatalities are often] multifactorial, as a part of the analysis of the risk to the horse, we're going to be looking at time off, work times, number of fast works, number of races, and how recently it rained.

If human medicine had access to the data that's soon going to be available to HISA, it would be just an amazing thing for public health. We don't have this sort of data for the human population, and we probably never will because of privacy issues.

It's going take a data scientist to get through these postmortem examinations, which is what HISA is doing at this point with some of their work with Palantir and some of their internal modeling, working with epidemiologists. It is very, very exciting both from a protecting the horse standpoint, but also from a basic public health data standpoint.

The post Mick Peterson Q&A: Thistledown, HISA Compliance And Climate Change appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The gone-too-soon, two-time GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic heroine and three-time champion Royal Delta (Empire Maker) left behind only one foal, the winning filly Delta's Royalty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

The future looks bright for the 8-year-old mare's second produce Noble Dynasty (c, 2, Kingman {GB}), who recorded a fantastic runner-up finish for Besilu Stables and Hall of Famer Bill Mott on debut going a mile over the inner turf course at Saratoga Aug. 7.

Off as the 7-2 second choice, Noble Dynasty broke sharply and chased in fourth beneath Junior Alvarado through fractions of :24.03 and :48 over the firm going. He was guided out five wide a quarter of a mile from home and came charging down the stretch with powerful strides in a field-best :23.24 to finish a half-length short of favored Teddy's Rocket (Liam's Map), who enjoyed first run.

Noble Dynasty received a respectable 70 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, just two points less than the winner.

“Bill (Mott) liked the way he was working and we couldn't be more pleased with the way he ran,” said Fabricio Buffolo, a bloodstock advisor for Ben Leon's operation. “Very good experience on his first time out and showed that there will be plenty of room for improvement.”

Teddy's Rocket wins at first asking in the R2 at Saratoga! @jrosariojockey was aboard for trainer @clementstable! pic.twitter.com/X2ORTIt14g

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) August 7, 2025

Leon purchased the Mott-trained Royal Delta for $8.5 million out of the Dispersal of Palides Investments N. V. at the 2011 Keeneland November sale following the first of her two straight wins at the Breeders' Cup. Named champion 3-year-old filly that season, Royal Delta returned to the races in the white-and-burgundy colors of Besilu Stables and was named champion older mare of 2012 and 2013.

A 12-length debut winner at Belmont Park and no-brainer 'TDN Rising Star,' Royal Delta posted a career record of 22-12-5-1, led by six Grade I victories, and earnings of $4,811,126. She passed away at the age of nine in 2017.

Noble Dynasty's third dam Delta Princess (A.P. Indy) was a six-time stakes winner (three graded) on the lawn. This is also the female family of top-level grass winners Delta Prince (Street Cry {Ire}), Crown Queen (Smart Strike), Biondetti (Bernardini) and Indy Five Hundred (A.P. Indy).

Noble Dynasty's sire Kingman is responsible for 14 Grade/Group 1 winners worldwide. The Kingman x Galileo cross has netted G1 Bet365 Fillies Mile winner Commissioning (GB) and G1 Prix de Diane Longines winner Sparkling Plenty (Fr) (o/o a Frankel {GB} mare).

“Hopefully, he will be a nice horse,” Buffolo said. “It would be special and deserving for Mr. Leon to do well with a descendant of Royal Delta.”

   Since launching 'Second Chances' in 2017, 64 maidens have been featured in these pages (through 2024), producing 25% graded stakes winners, 34% stakes winners and 48% stakes horses.

   The series has introduced eight future winners at the top level, led by this year's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief), 2023 Horse of the Year Cody's Wish (Curlin) and fellow two-time Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo).

The post Second Chances: ‘Very Good Experience First Time Out’ for Royally Bred Noble Dynasty appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Thursday, August 14, 2025
Saratoga 6, $100k, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 4:02 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Belgian (Beau Liam), OBSMAR, 185,000, :10
C-SGV Thoroughbreds (S Venosa), agent; B-Hanzly Albina, agent

Gypsy Art (Munnings), FTMMAY, 200,000, G
C-Scanlon Training & Sales, agent; B-D Farrington

Peace Negotiator (War of Will)-MTO, OBSAPR, 80,000, :10 3/5
C-Wavertree Stables Inc (Ciaran Dunne), agent; B-Mossarosa

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The post Thursday Insights: $950,000 Not This Time Colt Debuts At The Spa For Ward appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Benjamin and Hynes, along with their contemporary Michael Norris, happened to sit down with TDN ahead of the auction to share their privileged sense of how their work, by daily increments, nourishes their evolution as horsemen. But all three also stressed how they are encouraged to convert observation to opportunity. The whole Coolmore saga having begun with its founders' flair for stockmanship and trade, staff are always encouraged to participate in the market themselves. Because there is no better way to understand clients' needs than to share their ups and downs—the painful challenge to your tenacity, when things don't work out, as well as the euphoria or simple relief when they do.

“A lot of us have got involved in the game ourselves: pinhooking, breeding, racing,” Norris confirmed. “That way, you're immersed in the industry on a day-to-day basis. Even though I'm now based more in the office, come sales season we're all out there every day: we see every colt, every filly, by any of our stallions. We rate the progeny, make notes on them all, compare what a mare produces from different matings.”

There is a natural confluence, after all, between that exhaustive appraisal and the quest by any regular pinhooker for outlying value. And, working where they do, they will never lack for paragons.

“Because you're lucky enough to see what the good ones look like, you can then go out and try to apply that,” Hynes said. “Going to the sales is the greatest perk of the job. Touch wood, I'm still getting educated, but the grounding you get here is a huge part of any touches we have managed to have at the sales.”

In this particular case, the daughter of an unraced sister to Grade I winner Unbridled Mo (Uncle Mo) was the first weanling Benjamin and Hynes wrote up as they set to work last fall: she had some growing to do, but she was a fluid mover with great genes and so they lined up a couple of partners to follow her through. They barely had time to ask each other what they might have missed about her when the hammer fell. They sent her to Hannah and Aidan Jennings at Killora Stud, Tiz the Law gained momentum, and the rest is history.

But such are the potential destinations, once the individual roads taken by this generation converged at Ashford. Their inception tended to be very different. Norris, for instance, was raised at storied Jockey Hall Stud in Ireland, and his great-grandfather owned Cottage Rake. Benjamin, in contrast, spent his boyhood in Jamaica and, when first urged that he might work with horses, replied: “With what!? Absolutely not.”

Michael Norris | Coolmore

Yet now they find themselves sharing a renewal, at Coolmore, parallel to the way Justify is reopening the kind of transatlantic transfusions that once nourished its rise, through sons of Northern Dancer. For a new cycle is also underway in the responsibilities nowadays entrusted, most obviously to M.V. Magnier, but also to numerous of his contemporaries.

All, naturally, have been well schooled in a familiar corporate ethic of self-effacement. As such, the three 30-somethings giving us their time represent but a snapshot of peers making an increasing impact across the organization. Each happens to be earning his stripes at Ashford. But many of their colleagues in Ireland and Australia would recognize the pattern: coalface experience, around the farm, before embracing fresh opportunities with the sales team.

Norris, as already noted, was bred for the game. Besides Cottage Rake, his “page” includes grandfather Paddy, who trained winners of the Coventry and Irish Grand National–and whose mother-in-law owned Vincent O'Brien's first Classic winner, Chamier (1953 Irish Derby). Norris's father is an equine vet; his mother operated the highly-regarded Jockey Hall consignment; and aunt Ines Malone works for BBA(Ireland).

“Open the gate and you'd be looking straight onto the Curragh plain,” he recalls of home. “My mother consigned all over Europe, yearlings and especially mares. So, yes, I was kind of born into it. And when I said I might want to get into the industry, and where should I go, Mum's only suggestion was Coolmore. 'They're the best,' she said. 'And that's not going to change.'”

But coming here was a chance he had to earn. His prior resume duly included junior experience at Gilltown, a stint in Australia and, in 2015, the Irish National Stud course. When finally arriving in Kentucky, he pictured staying a year. That was over a decade ago.

Having started with barren and maiden mares, Norris moved onto stallions for several years, including shuttles to South America. He has also loved following the Ballydoyle careers of yearlings he helped to break, like Tenebrism (Caravaggio), evidently as tough then as she proved in her races.

The adolescent Benjamin, for his part, had never shown the slightest interest in Jamaica's single racetrack when his parents moved to Florida, fortuitously settling at Ocala.

“Originally they were thinking Tallahassee,” Benjamin recalls. “But when he was driving north, my dad started seeing all these big oak trees. And I remember him calling my mom and saying, 'Found a spot.'”

And, actually, there was a family connection to the Turf: trainer Jose Pinchin is married to Benjamin's aunt. It was Pinchin who suggested that he might find work, pending a crack at college, in one of the many Thoroughbred programs around his new home. We already know what Benjamin thought of that notion. But his dad urged him to give it a try. “You never know,” he said. “What do you have to lose?”

Benjamin Blaise and Golden Pal | courtesy Benjamin Blaise

So he did six months with Bo Hunt. “And I will tell you, the first month I absolutely hated,” Benjamin recalls. “But then one day I caught a loose colt. That was my first proper interaction. Before that, they'd just had me wrapping bandages. But that day the manager said, 'Right, we're putting you in a stall tomorrow.' So I started mucking out, and gradually got to be more hands-on. And I just fell in love with the whole thing.”

Then followed three years with Eddie Woods. “That was an eye-opener,” Benjamin acknowledges. “It was tough work, and Eddie was tough too–but fair. And, again, I loved it. I got to go to all the sales with him, just watching quietly all the way. The way he ran that operation, it's second-to-none.”

In 2009, with the Woods juveniles processed, Benjamin landed a summer posting with Todd Pletcher. Grooming a horse owned by Coolmore partner Michael Tabor secured an introduction to Ashford manager Dermot Ryan, and an invitation to the farm on his way back from Saratoga.

“I'll never forget pulling up to those big gates and thinking, 'What in the world is this place?'” Benjamin recalls. “I drove down the main avenue, called my mom and said, 'Yeah, I don't think I'm coming home.'”

The HR manager thought they could find him something from January. In the event they called a week before Christmas and asked whether he might conceivably come early?

“I was 19, didn't have any real ties to Ocala other than my parents,” Benjamin recalls. “So I said, 'Absolutely.' My mom was like, 'You're going right before Christmas?' I told her, 'Don't worry, I'll be back.' That was 15 years ago.”

They put him straight in with the stallions. Strong as he was, that would knock the edges off anyone.

“But no, it was great,” Benjamin replies. “After working with 2-year-olds, I wasn't sure what to expect. The first horses I groomed were Fusaichi Pegasus and Tale of the Cat. He had a mean streak. You just had to do things his way. Try and fight him, he's going to win every time. FuPeg? He was temperamental. I wouldn't say he was a bad horse, but he could be a bit silly. But I learned so much under Richard Barry. Hard as he had to be, what a man of knowledge. It was like he was put on this earth to take care of stallions.”

As for Hynes, he followed a middle path: though raised in a tradition of stockmanship, in Co. Roscommon, he had no exposure to Thoroughbreds.

“I did have an interest in horses, and studied equine science at university,” Hynes explains. “My father would go to every horse fair in Ireland. He was a carpenter, but we had cattle at home, and gradually he got into dealing in ponies, just as a hobby. I think it's a great grounding, if you're able to look after animals from a young age.”

In 2010, at the University of Limerick, he was lucky to land an internship in Kentucky; luckier yet, to be allocated Ashford.

“I was put under Bob Davis: in my opinion, the best in the business,” Hynes recalls. “From foals and yearlings, to pasture management it: all levels of farm management. I came here green as grass. But if you were at all willing, he'd encourage you. And I picked up early that if you walk into a barn where everything's neat and tidy, and you and the horses are well presented, straightaway that creates a positive impression.”

Hynes was welcomed back straight after completing his degree. Here was a second education: foaling barn, yearling prep, breaking. The first horse he ever lunged was Take Charge Indy. After a spell back in Ireland–another to take the National Stud diploma–in 2012, Hynes returned to Ashford and within a few weeks found himself escorting 11 stallions to Australasia.

Nowadays, besides his work in the sales team, Hynes assists Davis at Brookside with the cream of the broodmare band. And that's what can happen here. No need to formalize modules: if the management like how you take one chance, you'll be offered another. That aggregates to its own kind of flying start.

“That's the great thing about Coolmore, you've so many options,” Hynes says. “Everything's here in one spot. If your attitude is right, you can get to see every part of it. And our core group of grooms is so strong, mostly you're picking up from the people you're working with.”

Charles Hynes | Coolmore

“The Coolmore 'school of education' can rival any program in the world,” agrees Norris. “The one thing I was always told, coming here, was: there are no stupid questions. Ask, and you'll get the answers. You'll be shown the right way to do things. Because the way they do it here is the best way. There are other programs that might have a more formal, more academic emphasis. But here we've all come up through the ranks. Everyone in the office has put in the practical work on the farm.”

Benjamin puts it well: “I never went to college, per se–but I ended up at the Yale of horses.”

But the privileges of that education are all earned.

“Everybody's given the same opportunities,” Benjamin says. “It's about who goes and grabs the bull by the horns. Dermot has been a phenomenal mentor. If he sees you want to learn, he'll give you the chance.”

In fact, Benjamin was just 23 when placed in charge of the breeding shed: an extraordinary responsibility at that age. Pretty much all Ryan said to him was: “Don't let me down.”

Even then, Benjamin too could diversify. In June, he typically moved onto yearlings. (He remembers taking care of a lazy, big-walking colt from American Pharoah's first crop: Four Wheel Drive.) Then, a couple of years ago, he joined the sales team.

“And again, in this organization, that's a broader job,” Norris suggests. “You're helping with ads, and obviously the clientele is so large. It's a great team: Aisling [Duignan], Charlie [O'Connor], Adrian [Wallace], Robyn [Murray], they're the best of mentors, in my opinion the best around at what they do.”

(Not least because this team, despite the gender bias in this sample, also benefits from feminine intuitions! As Ryan acknowledges, “Aisling and Robyn have been absolute standouts when any of these lads has looked for advice in how to handle a difficult situation.”)

While some stalwarts stay half a century, the industry is full of horsemen who learned their trade here before going solo. That, too, forms part of the wider Coolmore legacy. But precisely that willingness to let people take responsibility also means that the whole empire, through an ongoing transition between generations, has achieved sustainability.

“The environment is very calm, and at the same time very professional,” Hynes says. “That comes from the top, and it's encouraged all the way down. Then it's up to all of us to maintain that same standard and atmosphere. If people are good enough to start their own thing, best of luck to them. But they will have that steady grounding behind them. If you're able for it, and have the appetite, you'll get opportunity. And that gives you a responsibility, in turn, to encourage the next people coming in.”

“It's always about what happens next,” Norris adds. “When Galileo was producing the best horses in Europe, they needed outcross options. And look at what Wootton Bassett did then, from standing in France for €4,000. That's the kind of thing that happens with an organization that's at the forefront, but always striving for better.”

“Just look around you,” says Benjamin, shaking his head. “What a testament to everything Mr. Magnier has built up. It's crazy to think about. When they do something, they do it right. And, knock on wood, they've created something that should be around a very long time. Being here, I just count my lucky stars every day.”

The post Next Generation Keeps Coolmore Evolving appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Saratoga 3, $90k, 2yo, f, (S), 1 1/16mT, 2:20 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
She's Country (Combatant), OBSAPR, 80,000, :10 1/5
C-Sweet River TBs, agent; B-West Point TBs, LEB, agent

Saratoga 9, $100k, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 5:44 p.m. ET
Bodacious Queen (Munnings)-AE, OBSAPR, 80,000, :10
C-Hartley/DeRenzo TBs, agent; B-Black Horse Bloodstock

Lexico (Lexitonian), OBSAPR, 60,000, :10 3/5
C-Navas Equine, agent; B-Calumet Farm

The post Summer Breezes Sponsored By OBS: Wednesday, August 13, 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

In 1962, Hirsch Jacobs requested access to Swaps for Searching, a granddaughter of La Troienne, winner of 25 races, meanwhile in the Hall of Fame. After all, she had got to Swaps for her first cover, two years previously, and there was a nice filly duly entering training named Affectionately. But John Galbreath told Jacobs that he was sorry, he just couldn't fit Searching in this time.

Well, too bad. Jacobs didn't have to ask anyone's permission to send Searching back to his own young stallion, Hail to Reason. (She had just delivered their daughter, Admiring, later one of Paul Mellon's greatest matriarchs.) Jacobs named the resulting filly Priceless Gem.

Swaps ended up siring 430 named foals across 16 seasons, an average of 29. Hail to Reason had 319 in 15, which works out at 21. Golden Pal covered 502 mares in his first two seasons. Maybe he's going to be a top stallion. He'd better be…

In September 1965, the same week that Affectionately (“Queen of Queens”) was denied her 14th Aqueduct stakes by a nose, Jacobs saddled Priceless Gem for a showdown with Buckpasser in the Futurity Stakes.

A couple of weeks previously she'd made an impressive return from a layoff with sore shins. On the same day, however, both the male and female crop leaders had all but sealed their titles: Buckpasser with his eighth consecutive success, in the Arlington-Washington Futurity; and Moccasin by winning the Matron Stakes.

Ten days later, Priceless Gem won the fastest juvenile race of the year at Aqueduct (1:09 4/5). And now, just FOUR days on, she took on Buckpasser.

“Sure I'll run her,” Jacobs had said. “I paid $250 to keep her in, so I might as well try to get it back.”

The match-up would showcase the developing La Troienne dynasty. Buckpasser's dam Busanda was by War Admiral out of her daughter by Blue Larkspur, Businesslike. Priceless Gem's dam, Searching, also by War Admiral, was out of her daughter by Black Toney, Big Hurry. (Black Toney, moreover, was Blue Larkspur's grandsire: he had conceived Big Hurry at 25.)

Jacobs had bought Searching in the paddock at Belmont. He was saddling a filly in the next stall and said to Ogden Phipps, “I see you have another daughter of Big Hurry in here.” “Yes,” Phipps replied. “And you can have her after the race for $15,000.”

Jacobs was not put off by failing to get a win out of an earlier daughter of Big Hurry, No Fiddling, after claiming her for $7,500. (No Fiddling's daughter by Stymie, sent to Hail to Reason, would produce the champion juvenile filly of the following year, Regal Gleam, later granddam of Caerleon). Nor by the fact that Searching entered the Jacobs barn off a 20th consecutive defeat. Sure enough, after her new trainer diagnosed and treated tender feet, Searching won 25 of her remaining 69 starts.

Now her daughter saw off Buckpasser in an epic, by half-a-length, the pair 10 clear. But though adding the Frizette, she couldn't keep an appointment with Moccasin at the end of the year and ceded all the laurels. (Ah, Moccasin, with her full siblings Ridan, Lt. Stevens and Thong! Four of just 186 named foals by Nantallah, across 14 seasons…)

In 1970, Priceless Gem was sold for $395,000, a record for an in-foal mare. But she had already delivered her second foal, a filly by Sea-Bird (Fr), purchased as a yearling by Daniel Wildenstein. As Allez France, she won eight Group 1s, including the 1974 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Of five named foals out of Allez France, much the most accomplished was Action Francaise (Nureyev), a Group 3 winner in a light career and dam of four group performers or producers as well as listed scorer Astorg (Lear Fan). Astorg in turn produced Asti (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) to be beaten a neck in the G1 Priz Saint-Alary, albeit she proved only a bit player in graded stakes when tried in the U.S.

Astorg also had a daughter by Peintre Celebre, Azalee (Ire), but that one never made the track and was culled at Tattersalls in 2008 for 22,000gns. She certainly offered an intriguing pedigree. Aside from her distinguished maternal line, she was inbred 2×3 to Nureyev (Peintre Celebre's sire/Astorg's damsire). And while a fairly modest producer overall, Azalee did come up with Azaelia (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire})–whose fourth in the G1 Prix de Diane earned her a transfer over the water.

While she did win an allowance for Joe Allen and Peter Brant, Azaelia couldn't eke any further black-type before going to the paddocks. She was sent for her first cover to Allen's cherished War Front and the resulting colt, having won a turf stakes as a sophomore in 2022, appeared to have reached a plateau when hammered for $260,000 at Fasig-Tipton's HRA Sale the following July.

It is only this year, as a fully mature 6-year-old, that he has really started to thrive, winning three of his last four–including, last Saturday, the GI Arlington Million at Colonial Downs. The demise of the racetrack that gave us the Million remains a torment to many, but Fort Washington's maternal line reminds us that our world will always keep changing. Like it or not.

Noble Lines Also Behind Del Mar Duo

Besides emerging from the usual barn, the juveniles who last weekend laid down their respective markers among the West Coast's leading colts and fillies also shared a genetic imprint. The GIII Sorrento Stakes winner Himika is a daughter of Curlin, and so is the dam of GIII Best Pal winner Desert Gate (Omaha Beach).

On the face of it, Himika brought a pretty bald page to the OBS catalogue in April, quickly reaching her fourth dam. Yet her $900,000 sale was underpinned by some distinction in each of the intervening trio.

She's the first starter out of Motivated Seller (Into Mischief), who flashed plenty of talent across just six starts: won her first two, thwarted by just a neck on her stakes debut, signed off with a 5.5-furlong track record at Saratoga. Motivated Seller was out of a stakes winner by Empire Maker, while the next dam was runner-up in a Group 1 race in Australia. So albeit with little else in the vicinity, there's a thread of talent adequate to the fact that this line eventually tapers to none other than Cosmah.

Desert Gate | Benoit

Desert Gate also traces to aristocratic roots. His first two dams similarly showed plenty. He is out of dual stakes winner/Grade II runner-up Theogony (Curlin), whose own mother Upcoming Story (Tale of the Cat) was twice placed at graded level in a light career. But it's third dam Old Star (Arg) (Southern Halo) who takes us somewhere exotic. Group 1-placed in her native land, she begins a sequence of seven consecutive dams foaled in Argentina, extending all the way back to Parvula (Arg) in 1890. This was the most important daughter of Ante Diem (GB), one of the foundation mares of the South American Turf.

For a time, none of this seemed to be helping Theogony replicate her ability. Given expensive covers, her only starter from her first three foals was an Into Mischief gelding who made $12,000 as a yearling and made that look expensive on the track. Theogony was sold carrying Desert Gate for $70,000 at the 2023 Keeneland January Sale and, while he cleared that investment as a $125,000 weanling in the same ring that November, that did not appear to earn her a reprieve when sold–with as purposeful a cover as Medaglia d'Oro–for $3,000 deep in the next edition of that sale, last November.

Theogony's yearling colt by the same sire is offered as Hip 553 in the September Sale and, assuming all to be well in the meantime, someone out there will be very curious to see how the mare's upgrade plays out in the market.

Laurelin A Golden Tree

In their curation of a family tracing to 1980 Epsom Oaks winner Bireme (GB) (Grundy {Ire})–via a daughter herself since granddam to another Oaks scorer–how marvelous to see the kind of thought that Mark Dixon and Luke Lillingston put into the mating of her great-granddaughter Bari (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) with Zarak (Fr) in 2021.

Zarak, of course, is a son of the great Zarkava (Ire), whose sire Zamindar was full-brother to Bari's damsire Zafonic. Both were by Gone West out of Zaizafon (The Minstrel), acquired in utero when Mofida (GB) (Right Tack {GB}) was recommended by the late James Delahooke as one of Juddmonte's foundation mares.

Laurelin | Sarah Andrew

The mating that replicates this combination also featured, in the same generation, some of the sturdiest staying brands in Europe: Deploy (GB), Kahyasi (Ire), Rainbow Quest. Few would expect to find those names behind an unbeaten stakes winner at two, but “stamina” very often just means “class,” the ability to carry speed.

Regardless, Laurelin duly reached a new high when raised in distance last weekend, going five-for-five in the GII Saratoga Oaks. Congrats to Mount Coote and partners, and their customers who exported Laurelin. There can't be many broodmare prospects in North America with a better profile.

The post Breeding Digest: A Long Road to Washington appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

In Christophe's book, a good horse could perform well across different surfaces and distances, and he always believed Deterministic fit that description. Over the past two years, Deterministic has proven him right, checking both those boxes for the Clement racing stable and serving as a steady presence through a poignant period of change following Christophe's passing in May.

“My dad and I both loved him from the get-go and he has been a joy to train,” said Miguel Clement. “This horse has been great to us because when we needed him most, he provided a well-needed distraction for both the stable and the family. I guess the one great constant thing I've got going on in my life, especially at this moment, is having a horse like Deterministic.”

Campaigned by St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker and Vicarage Stable, Deterministic arrived in the Clement barn when Miguel was in his sixth year of working as an assistant for his father. The colt was a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut, breaking his maiden going seven furlongs on the main track at Saratoga.

While a seven-month layoff forced the Clements to adjust their plans for the promising youngster, Deterministic returned in style in last year's GIII Gotham Stakes. Two unplaced efforts on dirt followed, prompting father and son to make a change they had been considering for the colt from the start.

Christophe and Miguel Clement | Tod Marks

A move to the turf proved to be a turning point. Deterministic hit the board in his next five starts at three, highlighted by wins in the GIII Virginia Derby and GIII Hill Prince Stakes. This spring, he added another graded score in the GII Fort Marcy Stakes, just three weeks before Christophe passed away at the age of 59.

Less than two weeks after Miguel officially took up the reins of the stable, the young trainer earned his first Grade I when Deterministic put in a front-running effort in the Manhattan Stakes.

“The ground was a bit soft, which may not have been ideal for him,” explained Clement. “Nevertheless his class prevailed. He showed tactile speed straight from the gate and he always looked like he was in control of the race.”

Returning to Grade I company for the Fourstardave Stakes, Deterministic revealed a different dimension when he settled just off the pace and took command in the final furlong.

“The fact that he's that versatile, where he can just wait for the rider's command, was quite impressive,” explained Clement. “He was able to sit second, just half a length off the leader, and wait for his cue. Per usual, he showed a great turn of foot and his athleticism carried us.”

The Fourstardave win earned Deterministic an automatic entry into the GI FanDuel Mile at the Breeders' Cup—a stage that has been woven into Miguel's life for as long as he can remember.

Miguel was always destined to follow in his father's footsteps. His mother Valerie said that early on, she and Christophe had hoped their son might pursue a different career, but the pull of racing proved too strong.

“We pushed Miguel away from horse racing, to the point where if people were going to give Miguel a job over the summer, Christophe would call them and tell them not to,” Valerie admitted. “That's how he ended up in a bank in California for one summer, but he disliked it passionately.”

Before joining the Clement stable as an assistant in 2017, Miguel graduated from the Godolphin Flying Start program, working for top trainers around the globe like Chris Waller in Australia and Mike de Kock in South Africa. He later spent two years in Newmarket as an assistant for Hugo Palmer.

By the time he returned full-time to the family stable, the Breeders' Cup was already woven into his earliest memories. Some trips from his early childhood might be a bit hazy—like Flag Down's third in the 1997 Turf or Coretta's runner-up finish in the 1999 Filly and Mare Turf—but others are unforgettable. Christophe had seven runner-up finishes at the Breeders' Cup, a testament to how difficult it can be for even the sport's best to reach the winner's circle there. His lone victory came in 2021, when Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) claimed the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Deterministic scores in the 'Win And You're In' GI Fourstardave | Sarah Andrew

“When Gio Ponti struck the front and got ran down by Zenyatta [in the 2009 Classic], I thought he was going to win that day,” Clement admitted. “Then the very next year he was second to Goldikova [in the Mile]. That was a painful memory too. But the stable highlight was Pizza Bianca for Bobby Flay and with Jose Ortiz. When she had that incredible turn of foot to weave through traffic and get up, that was impressive.”

For everyone at the Clement barn, getting Deterministic to this year's Breeders' Cup will carry special significance. For Valerie, it will be one of the last opportunities for Christophe to have a presence on one of racing's biggest stages.

“Every time I walk in the barn now, it's Christophe's story, but I know one day Miguel will train horses that Christophe has never seen,” she said. “So that will be different as things progress, but at the moment every horse has had a story from the beginning where I know what Christophe was hoping for each one.”

For most of Deterministic's time in the stable, Miguel and Christophe shaped the colt's career together. Now, the talented runner is a living connection to the way they worked and dreamed as a team.

“It would be very rewarding and very fulfilling for many reasons,” Clement said. “We're very lucky in the sense that [the Breeders' Cup] is something we've done many times, but I guess not with Dad by our side. So it will be a bit different, but we will have to make it work.”

Different, yes, but in many ways, Deterministic's path to the Breeders' Cup mirrors Miguel's own—shaped by years of preparation, patient guidance, and Christophe Clement's unwavering belief in them both.

The post Breeders’ Cup Connections: Deterministic Anchors Miguel Clement in New Chapter appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The Oak Tree Racing Association came about as an industry-led non-profit to operate a race-meet during the then barren autumnal months when there was no major racing in Southern California, only to grow into a philanthropic powerhouse and gamechanger for the sport with global ripple effects.

But in chronicling the Oak Tree Racing Association's tenure-spanning both the halcyon summer of California racing and the early fissures of later earthquakes-it's hard not to frame the narrative against the present day, when horse racing's future rests so precariously on the short-term profit-driven whims of corporate track owners and wagering platforms and their broader real-estate and business ambitions that so often run counter to the long-term viability of the sport.

In doing so, the reader is left with the impression of what can be achieved when horse racing takes charge of its own destiny, led by a cohort of smart, thoughtful souls who want for the industry more than it promises to give back.

The story begins in July of 1967, when California governor Ronald Reagan signed into law a bill expanding the racing calendar in the state to include a fallow period from Labor Day through the day after Christmas.

Three individuals were largely responsible for planting Oak Tree's roots, all noted owners and breeders who each had excelled in their chosen professional paths: Clement L. Hirsch (of Kal-Kan pet food fame), Louis R. Rowan (a real estate mogul), and Dr. Jack Robbins (a veterinarian with x-ray like diagnostic skills).

Perhaps not coincidentally, both Rowan and Hirsch were veterans of WWII, having served in the U.S. Army and the Marines respectively.

With its core mission statement of operating “a meet run for horsemen by horsemen,” the Oak Tree group's business model was a revolutionary one (for the time), funneling all non-wagering related revenues towards important equine research projects, backstretch worker welfare and other charitable causes.

In Hovdey's words, Oak Tree hoped to provide an “island of stability in a shifting, uncertain California racing landscape.”

Sounds familiar.

Oak Tree endured something of an extended pregnancy, having first to overcome obstacles laid before it from the likes of the state's powerful Standardbred interests, and then from the workers' union group tied to Hollywood Park's fall harness meet that overlapped Oak Tree.

But launch it eventually did at Santa Anita on Tuesday Oct. 7, 1969, attended by 16,733 souls who wagered nearly $1.5 million over a nine-race card that bore a murderer's row of talent in and out of the saddle. Think Rudy Rosales and Bill Hartack, Charlie Whittingham and Johnny Longden.

Indeed, month by month, decade by decade, the stars both horse and human that made the Oak Tree Meet such a resounding success are detailed with the sort of meticulous fashion that would give Rain Man a run for his money.

If the Oak Tree of the 1970s was all about laying foundation stones (thanks to the exploits of Tizna and Ancient Title and co.), the 1980s were all about building the edifice of the meet up and out (through age-defying exploits from the likes of John Henry, and then as a vital proving ground for the newly inaugurated Breeders' Cup).

The Oak Tree founding board of directors gathers in the Santa Anita Directors' Room–(standing) Louis Rowan, Clement Hirsch, B.J. Ridder, William Pascoe, (seated) Harold Ramser, J.T. Jones, and Dr. Jack Robbins | Courtesy Jay Hovdey

If the 1980s belonged in large to Charlie Whittingham, the 1990s saw the emergence to center stage of more contemporary training touchstones. Headley. Frankel. Baffert. Mandella. Drysdale. The first decade of the new millennium rounded out with the sort of thrilling late flourish epitomized by that era's undisputed headline act, Zenyatta.

And then Oak Tree was over.

In 1998, Austrian entrepreneur Frank Stronach purchased Santa Anita Park under his Magna International (MI) Developments banner. Despite his initial qualms, the new owner signed a long-term lease with Oak Tree, allowing the non-profit to continue operating at the track.

MI Developments, however, would be folded under Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) banner. And in March of 2009, MEC filed for bankruptcy, citing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Santa Anita was up for grabs-or so it appeared.

Hovdey recounts how a group of influential owners maneuvered to purchase the track and operate racing there “as an Oak Tree-style, non-profit entity.” But Stronach would have none of it.

By April of the following year, a Delaware bankruptcy court agreed to a reorganization of MEC that saw Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields remain under Stronach's control. More pointedly for Oak Tree, its lease with Santa Anita-which was to have continued to 2016-was voided.

By 2011, Oak Tree was effectively dead as a racing operator, drowned beneath a swirling confluence of events including California's botched experiment with synthetic surfaces, Hollywood Park's threatened closure and redevelopment, as well as, in Hovdey's words, Stronach's hardened stance “against leasing Santa Anita to an outside group.”

In reading Hovdey's clinical autopsy of Oak Tree's life and death, it's hard not to extrapolate from it a set of lessons built around a different north star, one that which places at its core the sport and its participants' best long-term interests.

To be sure, corporate interests don't hold their fangs to horse racing's throat only. But the sport does appear especially vulnerable right now, its carotid arteries bared for the killer bite.

The success of Oak Tree, however, affords industry stakeholders the reminder of a different way to do business. New York has gotten the memo. Still with much work to be done, Maryland promises to do the same.

“Oak Tree was a brilliant idea,” says Del Mar supremo, Joe Harper, as something of a coda. “It was a bunch of well-heeled, very smart business guys who loved the game. But don't get me wrong. They were very diligent businessmen when it came to operating Oak Tree. They worried about every cent they spent, because everything going to Oak Tree was going to help the game. Most companies are formed to make a profit. This company was formed to do good.”

The post The Oak Tree Review: Paean and Promise of a Different Way to Run Horse Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

On debut 2yo #9 HOT MASH ($5.10) was quick out of the gate and ran away from the field in the stretch to win race 5 @EllisParkRacing. The daughter of Not This Time (@TMStallions) was ridden by @a_concepcion16 and is trained by John Servis. pic.twitter.com/InKtqsKdt8

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) August 11, 2025

The post Not This Time’s Hot Mash Airs in Career Debut at Ellis appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

We disagree.

Mott, who got his first winner when he was still in high school, has never stopped. Through the years, he has had a barn full of high-caliber horses. He talks about some of them; he talks about Sovereignty, who is the best 3-year-old in the country. He talks about training for the late George Steinbrenner. And he remembers a dumb question from a reporter (me). Here is the Saratoga Q&A.

TDN: First question. Why is it so hard to get you to do a Q&A?

Bill Mott: I don't like to talk about myself.

TDN: Stop it. I don't believe that.

BM: Yeah, I don't.

TDN: But these are fun things. We can knock this out in 15 minutes.

BM: We're doing it. I thought that was the first question.

TDN: I have others.

BM: OK. What is the next question?

TDN: Your logo for the barn, on your saddlecloths. Why is it the diamond?

BM:  I went to the work for Bert and Diana Firestone in the fall of 1986. My first year in New York was 1987 and I had a private job with them. That was their logo. They sort of drifted away from the business, and I didn't have the private job anymore, and I asked them if I could just use the logo. I kept some of the equipment, and I asked them if it would be okay, if I could continue on with their logo.

TDN: It's an iconic logo in horse racing.

BM: Iconic meaning sort of everybody recognizes it?

Sarah Andrew photo

TDN: Yes. Absolutely.

BM: It started with the Firestones … Genuine Risk. That was on their silks.

TDN: You have had big horses your whole career. Where does this guy (pointing to the stall of Kentucky Derby/Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty) rank?

BM: Best 3-year-old I've ever had. Without question.

TDN: What's it like when you see people coming out to the barn every day wanting to get a glimpse of him?

BM: It's interesting. I had it with Cigar (1995 & 1996 Horse of the Year). We haven't had it since Cigar to this extent where people would come by just to see him.

TDN: Is there pressure when you have a horse like that?

BM: Sure. There's pressure not to do something foolish. Don't make a dumb mistake. Don't let the media train your horse for you. There are always questions: why'd he do this? Why'd he do that? Why'd he skip the Preakness? We could have had another Triple Crown.' Just do what you do. I think that some of that comes with time, with experience. You are still always on edge, making sure to keep them safe, keep them out of trouble.

TDN: Cigar was a phenomenal racehorse. Is he your all-time best?

BM: It would be very difficult to dispute that. I had some very talented horses, but, as you well know, it's hard to compare generation to generation or race to race. To have them put that many races together (Cigar won 16 races consecutive races) is pretty, pretty amazing. I've had some horses that ran off, whether it would be Ron the Greek who won by open (6 3/4) lengths in the (2013) Jockey Club Gold Cup. They would not come back and run the same race the next time. Flat Out. Taylor's Special. Rapid Gray.

TDN: The list goes on and on.

BM: I haven't counted lately, but the last time I did I think we've had over 150 Grade I wins. I don't know how many we have now.

Mott with Cody's Wish | Sarah Andrew

TDN: Talking about talented racehorses you have had, was Cody's Wish the most special horse you ever had because of the story?

BM: No. He was certainly one of them and a memorable horse. But I've had some very nice horses for some good owners, and I would not want to try to pick them apart and say one was more special than the other. At the time we had them, they were all very meaningful and special. When their careers are over, we've got to try to move on, and you're looking for the next one.

TDN: The first winner you ever had, you were still in high school in South Dakota, correct?

BM: The first horse I ever trained, I was too young to get a trainer's license, so my father was down as the trainer. I got my first trainer's license when I was 16. And I had my first winner.

TDN: Remember the name of the horse?

BM: I had a filly called My Assets. Then I had Kosmic Tour. I owned him myself when I was 15 and he won the South Dakota Futurity for me. Got $3,200 to the winner.

TDN: When you were in high school, you wrestled and played football.

BM: Played football and then wrestled.

TDN: Were you good?

BM: I was very competitive on the circuit we were on.

TDN: Which means…

BM: We were a 'B' school. Mobridge, South Dakota was not an 'A' school. We were not Minneapolis or Oklahoma City.

TDN: I bet you were tough.

BM: I did ok. My best finish (in wrestling) was fourth in the state when I was a senior.

TDN: What position did you play in football?

BM: I was a halfback. We had a very good football team. Mind you, we were a 'B' school, but we did very well. We did very well in wrestling, we did very well in football. The other halfback was very good. He was all-state on offense and defense and got a scholarship to a very good 'B' college which was, I think, North Dakota State in Fargo. There was only one game where I had more yards than him.

TDN: How many?

BM: It was over 120 yards rushing.

TDN: Did you have a nickname in high school?

BM: Ah, no. I don't really think so.

TDN: I ask this question to everyone, and I get some interesting answers. If there's a movie made about your life and you can pick the actor to play you, who are you picking?

BM: (laughs). Who's the guy that played in “The Silence of the Lambs?”

TDN: Anthony Hopkins. Hannibal Lecter. That's not bad. He's a great actor. He could pull off Bill Mott.

BM: I love Jack Nicholson, too. But he's a little crazy. He might be crazier than me.

TDN: You calling yourself crazy now?

BM: (laughs).

TDN: Do you have any interests outside of horse racing? I know you're a Yankee fan.

BM: I am. I worked for the Steinbrenner family, so I do pay attention to that. If there's a Yankee game on, I enjoy watching it. We've been to a bunch of the playoff games.

TDN: You are a sports fan.

BM: Oh, I love sports. I don't have a lot of time to sit and watch it because we're busy on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and that's when a lot of the sporting events go on. I'm too tired to watch a lot of them (smiles).

TDN: Do you still have goals?

BM: My goal in horse racing is I strive to stay in the top 10 every year. I figure if I am in the top 10, I am in the game. If I can stay in the top 10 money won every year, I figure I'm still competitive.

TDN: If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?

BM: John Wayne. My father. And Clint Eastwood.

TDN: Is Saratoga your favorite racetrack?

BM: I would say so. When I was based at Churchill, I loved Churchill and I still love Churchill. Now, I spend more time here and we have had a lot of success here. I love Saratoga. I think it's great. The whole scene is great. It's not just for Wednesday and Thurby (Thursday at Churchill during Derby week), and Oaks Day and Derby and maybe two other days. You get a good month, six weeks of racing here. The people that come up here … the atmosphere … this is the greatest. A lot of people love Del Mar but I would have to say this is the top on my list. And I have a special affection for Churchill Downs as well.

TDN: Is there one race that sticks out that you've won that stands out more than any other?

BM: When Cigar won the (1995) Breeders' Cup (Classic). You ask me that question, that comes to my mind.

Mott with the legendary Cigar in 1996 | Horsephotos

TDN: That's the one with the famous Tom Durkin call: “the unconquerable, invincible, unbeatable Cigar!”

BM: Yes. And it culminated a 10-for-10 season. Champion older horse. Horse of the Year. And he went on after that and had a pretty good year after that.

TDN: In your travels, you must have met some pretty famous people.

BM: Unbelievable. Going to California … John Forsythe, Burt Bacharach … Bo Derek! (laughs). There's been just a multitude of really, really famous people. Not only famous people, but very successful people and very knowledgeable, smart, good people. The more famous people are, of course, actors.

TDN: You met George Steinbrenner. Was he fun?

BM: I enjoyed him. I was fascinated by him because he had a reputation of being tough and he was. But he also had a side of him that was very compassionate, very generous, and he had a side of him that was very tough and very tight. He had a lot of different qualities. I don't know if you would refer to him as a complicated person, but a very diverse person, I suppose.

TDN: Was he a tough guy to train for?

BM: He was demanding. He expected success.

TDN: And if he didn't get it …

BM: He might fire you. He never fired me but there was a time when he didn't funnel some horses to me. He might have skipped a year, but he never fired me.

Majestic Warrior | Horsephotos

TDN: Is Bill Mott happy right now with everything going on in his life?

BM: Sure. I've got no complaints. We've had personal disappointments in our lives, my family has, but I think we've been able to overcome it because of the strength of our family and the closeness of the family. Business wise, we are disappointed 75% of the time when we run horses (laughs). And horses get hurt, they have to go home. They don't turn out as well as we expected or hoped them to. But that is what we do. That is reality.

TDN: Coming to work now, you have a barn–and you have had this for several years–with some real nice racehorses in it.

BM: I have been lucky enough to have that almost every year. There were a couple years–and I can't remember exactly what years–that we went without a Grade I winner. Maybe two or three years. You start thinking about that and that's a little tough to swallow. You are still working as hard as you ever had but you don't get the right horse and you don't win the right races.

TDN: And you are a competitive guy.

BM: That's why horse racing suits me. Because I love horses. I enjoy horses. I enjoy the challenge of working with them. Sometimes it can be a difficult or challenging horse, and you can see how well you can do with them. I'm also competitive. I like to win. I don't like getting beat. But I accept defeat. I get beat every day. This is the one business, the one sport, where you lose more than you win. Most sports, people are able to say we win more than we lose.

TDN: I have asked other trainers about this. This is the only sport I know where 10 seconds after the event–or race in this case–is over, you have microphones and tape recorders in your face. There is no cooling off period. How do you deal with that? After a tough beat, it has to be difficult.

BM: You just try to keep your cool and not be too emotional about it. And you go back to the drawing board and try to evaluate what happened. What can I do better? You are probably speaking about the better races, the better horses. There are a lot of horses we run that were not born with the ability that others have. If you get a slow horse, you just get a slow horse. If you have a good horse that gets beat–and I think that's what you're talking about–you just try to analyze and figure it out and see if we can do better. You just try to figure out what happened. We don't try to change everything around.

TDN: Do you think you're a funny guy?

BM: No. Not really. Not very often. I think of myself as having very little personality.

TDN: I think you have a dry sense of humor.

BM: Well, I do. I think I do have a dry sense of humor, but I have to be careful because some people don't understand it.

TDN: When you are in the right mood, I think you are very funny.

BM: (laughs). Not at all. Growing up, going through high school, there were times when I wanted to be funny because I knew some people who were funny and I wanted to emulate their character, maybe. They could make people laugh and I wanted to make people laugh, but sometimes I pissed people off. I made some people mad so I had to make adjustments. I had to be careful with who I was trying to be funny with.

TDN: Over the years, I have heard some people in my profession say they're intimidated by you. Ever hear that?

BM: I have had some people say that. Maybe because I don't have much to say.

TDN: You have always been accommodating to me. I may have asked some dumb questions in my time. And you may have called me out on that.

BM: Just once.

TDN: What was the dumb question I asked you?

BM: There was a horse that I think was a favorite in a big race and ran poorly and I can't even remember what horse it was. It was one of those times when you walk off the track and you are like “#$%^$#.” I stopped and you all were asking me questions and you said, 'how does that make you feel?' And I looked at you and said, 'how the (blank) do you think that made me feel?'  It was one of those situations where I felt like (crap).

TDN: If you were not a horse trainer, what do you think you would be doing?

BM: I would probably be in South Dakota maybe having a cattle ranch.

TDN: You would have something to do with animals.

BM: Yes. Absolutely. I loved animals. My father was a veterinarian. He loved horses and he is the one that got me in horse racing. He is the one that made the connection for me with the Asmussens. My first job was with the family of Keith Asmussen and so that is what got me started when I was 14 years old.

TDN: Would you call yourself a cowboy?

BM: I'm not a cowboy now. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cowboy. I can't say I ever developed into a very good cowboy. I can ride. A cowboy is somebody who actually manages cattle and that sort of thing.

TDN: Did you watch Roy Rogers growing up as a kid?

BM: Oh, I did.

TDN: Who was your favorite cowboy growing up?

BM: Television cowboy? I suppose a guy like John Wayne. He was a cowboy in some of his movies.

TDN: Your pony's name is Rocky.

BM: I renamed him. His name was Looking at Bikinis. I wanted something a little tougher than Looking at Bikinis.

TDN: He ran in the Travers.

BM: Yes, he did (in 2019, finished 11th).

Bill Mott aboard Rocky, Neil Poznansky aboard Sovereignty | Sarah Andrew

TDN: Everything is good at the Bill Mott ranch right now.

BM: I would say so. I really have nothing to be bitter about. When you get a lot of miles on the speedometer, I think it's easy to get a little sour or a little bitter, but I don't want to do that. Rather than be bitter about something, try to do something about it, I suppose. I am not here to change the game. That is above my paygrade. I do what I do. I love coming out here and dealing with these guys and dealing with the horses and I really enjoy seeing my owners. I get along well with most of them. I train with some interesting people. People I would never be able to be around if I didn't train horses. That has been the case all my life whether it was Bert and Diana Firestone, Alan Paulson, George Steinbrenner…there have been a multitude of people I have been associated with and have at least a working relationship with many of them.

TDN: Last question. I have been chasing you around for a month, trying to get you to sit down for this and I am paraphrasing here, you said you were like a rabbit, and you can't catch me. I finally caught you.

BM: Yes. You did. (laughs).

The post Saratoga Q & A: Bill Mott appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

“It was an outstanding opening session of the New York-bred yearling sale,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “The positive momentum from the Saratoga [select] sale last week clearly continued tonight. It's really a result of having an improved quality of horses on the sales grounds, both in terms of pedigrees and physical conformation. The quality of the New York-breds that we are exposed to in our inspection process continues to improve each and every year. And that is indicated by the results tonight. The sale started off very, very strong and it ended very, very strong. It was a very good night.”

A pair of fillies selling within minutes of each other provided the highlights of the evening, with a filly by Early Voting selling for $525,000 to the bid of Megan Jones, as agent for Sabby and Gargan Racing, just two hips after Jacob West, bidding on behalf of Repole Stable, went to $500,000 for a daughter of Practical Joke.

The yearling market got off to a strong start with the Fasig-Tipton July Sale last month and has only gotten hotter in Saratoga over the last week. West sited a confluence of factors–from a smaller foal crop, to tax incentives and the lucrative New York-bred program–for the strength of the market.

“Supply and demand,” West said of the demand for quality yearlings. “And I think the new tax bill, with the accelerated depreciation, is encouraging for a lot of people. And running for open company money with these New York-breds–it's a smaller pool that you are playing in, but you see what they are doing [at the racetrack] across the street, it's great.”

With just a third of its catalogue offered during Sunday's session, there is still plenty of action expected Monday at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion.

“We aren't even at half time,” Browning said. “In hockey terms, we are through the first period. We have two more periods to go. It was a very, very encouraging start. It gives continued confidence in the marketplace. It's not just the very elite level that we saw last week. There were very encouraging results today. Our July yearling sale had encouraging results. I think it should provide confidence in the marketplace as we continue throughout the yearling process, which should hopefully translate into the mixed sales in October and November. It's kind of fun selling horses right now.”

Monday's session of the New York-bred sale begins at noon.

Early Voting Filly Draws a Crowd

Bloodstock agent Megan Jones, bidding alongside Hal Mintz of Sabby Racing and trainer Danny Gargan, went to a session-topping $525,000 to secure a filly from the first crop of GI Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting (Gun Runner) (hip 331) Sunday night in Saratoga. Consigned by Jonathan Thorne's Thorndale Farm, the bay is out of Owl Moon (Ghostzapper) and is a half-sister to stakes-placed Blue Strike (Smart Strike).

“She's beautiful,” said Mintz. “We thought she was the best one in the whole sale. We didn't really want to get into a bidding contest with Mr. [Tom] McCrocklin, but that's what happens now. The market is really hot. And when people see a really nice filly, it can get a little out of control, even at the New York-bred sale. We are happy to have her. I think there will be a couple of partners that Danny will bring to the table. Hopefully, we will be excited come next summertime.”

Jones added, “We thought she was the best filly in the sale. Amazing body and walk, a great physical. She had a lot of Gun Runner in her. We just loved her.”

Thorne purchased the filly for $150,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton New York Mixed Sale.

“She was just a beautifully made filly,” Thorne said when asked what had attracted him to the filly last fall. “She just got bigger. She stayed all the same proportions. She never had a bad day. She was just a really classy, beautiful horse. The people who bought her got a great horse.”

Of the filly's final price, Thorne added, “I wasn't sure. I knew a lot of people on the sales grounds loved her, so it was basically who was going to step up and really want her. That was fantastic. I thought the sale was going to be strong for the good ones and she was one of the really good ones.”

Practical Joke to Repole

A New York-bred filly by Practical Joke (hip 329) will be joining Mike Repole's Repole Stable after bloodstock agent Jacob West signed the ticket at $500,000 Sunday night in Saratoga. The dark bay filly, consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, is out of Our Hope Diamond (Gemologist), who is a half-sister to graded winner Inside Straight (Super Saver).

“Quite frankly, she was just a horse that looked fast and precocious,” West, who was sitting alongside Repole's bloodstock advisor Eddie Rosen during the bidding, said of the yearling. “The added bonus is that she's a New York-bred with the added incentive that they are going to be running for open level purses. It was a lot of money to give for her, but she was worth it.”

The filly was purchased by Hunter Valley's pinhooking partnership for $62,500 at last year's Fasig-Tipton New York Mixed Sale.

“We were blown away,” Hunter Valley's Fergus Galvin said of Sunday's result. “She was a special filly who showed like a champion up here for three days. Never turned a hair. Her last show was as good as her first show. But not in our wildest dreams did we think she would get to those numbers. She had a ton of vet action. A ton of people were on her, but it's not like the last [select] sale. You have to keep your expectations in tow a little bit.”

Galvin agreed the strength of last week's select sale seemed to have carried into the New York-bred sale Sunday.

“I think there was definitely a knock on from it,” he said. “I am sure there were a lot of orders left unfilled from the last sale. It's been a vibrant [yearling] market. It started off at Fasig July and on to the select sale here and we are already seeing the first hour starting here is very strong. This has been a whirlwind of an hour really.”

'One of the Greatest Pinhooks of All Time': Tiz the Law Filly Rewards Benjamin, Hynes

Blaise Benjamin and Charles Hynes were up in Saratoga last fall for the Fasig-Tipton New York Mixed Sale as part of their official jobs with Ashford Stud when they found a weanling filly by the farm's young stallion Tiz the Law. They put together some partners on the filly and were shocked to get her for just $1,000. They were shocked again when the filly sold for $170,000 when led back through the ring Sunday night.

“It was one of those things that was right time, right place,” Benjamin said. “We were up here for the sale last year, just looking at all the Ashford stallions. We like to get an eye on all our new stallions. She was actually the first horse that we looked at, it was myself and Charles Hynes. She wasn't the biggest, but she wasn't small by any means. Put it this way, we were prepared to give a little bit more than $1,000 for her.”

Recalling last year's auction, Benjamin said, “When she was going to the ring, I had seen another shrewd pinhooker walking into the ring. And I wondered if he was on her, so I followed him in just to be sure we weren't bidding against each other. He went the other way and my phone started ringing and it was Charles outside and he said, 'Don't bid. That's me at $1,000.' And I said, 'Are we sure we are on the right horse? Or did we miss something on the vet report?'”

The filly is out of Queen of Diamonds (Uncle Mo), an unraced full-sister to Grade I winner Unbridled Mo and a half to graded winner Unbridled Essence (Essence of Dubai).

“She went to Killora Stud to Hannah and Aidan Jennings and they had her looking like $1 million,” Benjamin said. “Tiz the Law hit at the right time for us. We are big believers in Tiz the Law.

“I'm not going to say I was expecting $170,000. She was an excellent mover, the pedigree was there. The stars aligned. But did I expect that? No.”

The filly was consigned by Hunter Valley Farm.

“That's incredible,” Hunter Valley's Fergus Galvin said. “We are all up here, all of us so-called judges, and we all missed her. There was nothing wrong her [last year]. Tiz the Law has turned into an exceptional stallion. And she did very well physically. She was quite babyish last year. But that has to go down as one of the greatest pinhooks of all time.”

Benjamin said the partners aim to pinhook a small number of horses each year.

“We try to do five or six and we have a couple of mares as well,” he said. “It's a tough game. You just have to take the good with the bad because unfortunately there are a lot of lows, but when you have a high like this, it makes up for a lot of it. There is no buzz in the world like it.”

The post ‘Fun Selling Horses Right Now’: Fasig-Tipton NY-Bred Sale Off to Flying Start appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The charismatic 4-year-old, ridden by Luis Rivera Jr., stepped onto the Oklahoma Training Track just after 7:30 a.m. and did her thing. Working with stablemate Midnight Concerto (Mendelssohn) and Danny Ramsey, Thorpedo Anna went five furlongs in 1:01.80 (3/11).

However, the work had a wrench tossed into it when Midnight Concerto far in front of Thorpedo Anna, which was not by design.

“The workmate was supposed to be four or five lengths in front and Danny [Ramsey] got a little extended,” McPeek said back at his barn. “But they engaged at the three-furlong pole, and it actually worked out ok. She needed a workmate, and she got it and she got it to the wire. But no, it wasn't exactly as we planned.”

Midnight Concerto was clocked in 1:03.10.

McPeek is targeting Thorpedo Anna to the GI, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23, Travers Day.

If all goes well there, Thorpedo Anna, owned by Brookdale Racing Inc., Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks, and Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), will then be pointed to the GI, $650,000 Spinster Stakes on Oct. 5 at Keeneland.

And then back to the Breeders' Cup.

A year ago, Thorpedo Anna won the GI Distaff to complete a season with six wins in seven starts, the only loss coming against the boys (Fierceness (City of Light) in the GI Travers Stakes.

What race she goes in this year depends on how she does in the next two.

The choices would be a return to the Distaff or a try against the boys in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“It's too early,” McPeek said about a Breeders' Cup decision. “We'll think about it (Classic). She would really have to romp in these next two. But I don't expect it to be easy. There will be good fillies in the Personal Ensign.”

McPeek also said that he was encouraged with Mystic Dan's (Goldencents) fourth-place finish in Saturday's GI Arlington Million Stakes at Colonial.

“He ran respectable, if you like being fourth,” he said. “We wanted to run a little bit better than that, but he has been a real good horse. He has overachieved all his life and I think it was worth the try. At the head of the lane, it looked like he was going to win.”

McPeek said that Mystik Dan, owned by Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing LLC, Daniel Hamby III and Valley View Farm LLC, may ship back to Kentucky from Colonial. A final decision on where he goes will come when McPeek decides where his next start will be.

Sandman and Jose Ortiz Sunday morning | Sarah Andrew

Sandman Takes to Grass, Will Head to Kentucky Downs

That didn't take long.

After watching his 3-year-old Sandman (Tapit) work on the grass–for the first time–Sunday, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is sending the colt into the deep end of the pool.

After wrestling with the idea of running Sandman in the $1 million GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx next month, Casse nixed that idea. Instead, Sandman will head southwest to Kentucky Downs and be pointed to the GIII, $3.5 million Nashville Derby at 1 5/16 miles on Aug. 30.

“The only way we weren't doing it was if I wasn't happy today,” Casse said at his barn on the Saratoga main track. “I was very happy with him. More importantly, he was very happy. He was like a kid in a candy store.”

Sandman, with jockey Jose Ortiz on board, worked four furlongs in :49.70 (21/76) on the turf course at the Oklahoma Training Track.

In his last start, Sandman was a non-threatening fifth in the five-horse GII Jim Dandy Stakes by Sovereignty (Into Mischief). In six starts this year, he has one win (GI Arkansas Derby) and was also seventh in the GI Kentucky Derby and third in the GI Preakness Stakes.

Casse said that he and Ortiz–who has ridden Sandman in five of his 11 career starts–had an idea the horse would take to the grass. They went into the work with the plan that he would not be doing a lot, just enough.

“He did everything the right way,” Ortiz said. “We wanted to go an easy half.  It seemed like he was having fun.”

Casse was hopeful that he would see good things from Sandman, owned by D J Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and J Stables on the grass. He is out of the Distorted Humor mare Distorted Music and is a half-brother to She Can't Sing (Bernardini), who won three stakes races on grass.

“We had a pretty good idea,” said Casse, who added that Sandman would likely work on the grass next week. “We've been doing this for a little while. Let's put it this way: I would have been shocked and disappointed if he didn't get over it because every indication, he has ever given me was that he would like grass.”

Scottish Lassie with Joel Rosario Sunday morning | Sarah Andrew

Scottish Lassie Waiting for Cotillion

There was no surprise Sunday morning when trainer Jorge Abreu said that Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) was definitely going to skip Saturday's GI, $600,000 Alabama Stakes and wait for the GI, $1 million Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 20.

“I just have to give her the time,” Abreu said at his Saratoga barn Sunday morning after Scottish Lassie worked four furlongs in 50.99 on the Oklahoma with Hall of Fame jockey Josel Rosario up. “The work was good. I told Rosario to go in 50 and she went in 50 4/5. Nice and smooth.”

Sunday's work was her first since romping to a 15 ½-length win in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 19. Abreu was not going to go to the Alabama with just one work.

“Even though she won the last race by 15 lengths, I think it took a little bit out of her,” Abreu said. “I wasn't seeing her doing the same things that I saw her doing before the Coaching Club. This breeze will put her back to where I want her to be.”

Abreu said he never thought about the Alabama after the Coaching Club American Oaks romp.

Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds, who owns Scottish Lassie along with Sportsmen Stable, Photos Finish LLC, Corms Racing Stable and Abreu, said the original plan was to point to the Alabama, not the Coaching Club American Oaks.

“We were going to wait for the Alabama, but we felt there would be a small field in the Coaching Club (there was, four) and Jorge thought she was ready,” Weston said. “Once we went to that plan, even though the Alabama was our original goal, we decided to skip it and go to the Cotillion.”

Scottish Lassie has one win in three starts this year. She has given Abreu, a former assistant to Chad Brown, both of his career Grade I wins. She also won the GI Frizette last year.

The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA: Thorpedo Anna Getting Ready for Personal Ensign appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

There are, of course, three stewards. But the Gaming Commission steward is the only one who can hand down suspensions or fines. Baeza is allowed to seek the opinion of the other two stewards, but the final decision is left up to him and him only.

Common sense rarely seems to enter into the equation. Things happen, people make mistakes and when that happens you don't need to always throw the book at them. For instance, Contessa was fined $4,000 in 2024 after he claimed a horse at Saratoga and ran it back at Delaware Park 45 days later. He did not know that the rule, which had been that you had to wait 30 days to run a claimed horse outside of New York, had just been changed. He even checked the NYRA website, which had not been updated and still listed the old rule. Maybe some sort of punishment was appropriate, like a fine of $500, but certainly not $4,000. Contessa said that Baeza told him “We give fines that count now.” Baeza rules with a heavy hand.

So what happens when the stewards make a mistake?

It happened again Saturday at Saratoga when the last race on the card was run at the wrong distance. The race was carded at a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf but was accidently run at a mile-and-sixteenth. This wasn't the first time it had happened. A similar issue occurred at Saratoga in 2018, when the fifth race on the Aug. 8 card that year was run at a mile-and-an-eighth instead of a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

On Sunday, NYRA issued a statement on the race run at the wrong distance. It read: “Saturday's final race at Saratoga Race Course [Race 12], which was scheduled and carded at 1 1/8-miles on the Mellon Turf Course, was instead contested at 1 1/16-miles due to an incorrect gate placement that was confirmed after the race was made official.

“On Saturday, the temporary rail was set at 18 feet on the Mellon Turf Course which dictates an alternate starting location to accommodate for the change in distance around the circumference of the inner rail of the track. However, the gate was incorrectly placed at the starting location for a 1 1/16-mile race.

“Following this incident, staff from The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) met with the Stewards and determined that human error caused the gate to be placed in the incorrect position. NYRA has implemented measures to ensure that racing officials and Stewards proactively acknowledge and verify the correct gate placement prior to the start of every race.

“The Stewards are responsible for overseeing the integrity of every race here on the NYRA circuit,” said NYRA Steward Victor Escobar. “We would like to apologize to the betting public, fans and racing participants for failing to meet those standards on Saturday.”

It's not just running races at the wrong distance.

This year's GII Hall of Fame S. at Saratoga may go down as the most controversial race of the meet. Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) was first past the wire, but was disqualified for allegedly bothering two horses on the first turn. Just about everyone, except for the three stewards, agreed that the horse never should have come down.

Then there was the infamous 2023 Great White Way S. fiasco in which the stewards apparently disqualified the wrong horse. Brick Ambush (Laoban), crossed the wire second in a division of the $500,000 stakes for New York-breds, but was disqualified and placed last. It was a roughly run race, but Brick Ambush, racing wide, clearly wasn't involved in the bumping.

To its credit, NYRA has taken steps to be more transparent. A “Stewards' Review” segment airs once a week on the NYRA feed. When it came to Zulu Kingdom, Escobar and Jockey Club steward Cody Watkins gave in-depth answers to Andy Serling's questions about the Hall of Fame S. and showed drone shots of the race. Serling asked all the right questions and expressed his opinion that it was a bad call. Baeza was conspicuously absent from the broadcast.

Acacia Clement also interviewed Escobar about the Zulu Kingdom DQ on the “Saratoga Live” broadcast on Fox.

But the question remains: Who's policing the policemen? Clearly, the answer is no one. Baeza should answer to the New York Gaming Commission, but no there has ever shown any concern about mistakes made by the stewards or even acknowledged that mistakes have been made. You wonder if the Gaming Commission is paying any attention. Baeza can't fine himself, though maybe he should.

It is, or should be, the responsibility of the stewards to make sure a race is run at the correct distance. With millions bet on races at Saratoga, this mistake was far more egregious than Contessa running a horse out of town before it was out of jail.

Enough already. Executives from the NYRA, the Jockey Club and, particularly the Gaming Commission, need to sit down with the stewards, told that they are concerned about the number of mistakes they have made and Baeza's draconian punishments. They need to do a better job and, if not, changes need to be made in the stewards' booth.

Best of Luck to Tyler Conner

Jockey Tyler Conner, who was seriously injured in a July 24 race at Colonial Downs, took to social media to announce that he is mending but will not ride again. He explained that he broke his C1 vertebra, has a compression fracture of his T5 vertebra, and is recovering from central cord syndrome due to bruising his spinal cord.

“I was fully paralyzed for a small amount of time,” said the 31-year-old Conner on X. “Everything's kind of slowly coming back… everything feels like it's asleep, especially my hands. My left hand is basically useless at the moment.”

He should be commended for making a difficult and brave decision. He could have been killed in the spill and it is not yet clear whether or not he will fully recover. There are few things in life more dangerous than being a jockey and he decided he was done risking his life. It's amazing that more jockeys, after being seriously injured, don't make the same decision.

The post Who Holds the Stewards Accountable? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Queen Azteca was accompanied to the training track by her exercise rider Carlos Toro Montecinos and a pony, calmly taking in her surroundings before jogging a half-mile and galloping once around the dirt oval.

“She settled in very good. She's a very good traveler. This was her first time out on track, and she loved it. She's as big as the pony, and the pony is big,” said Montecinos, with a laugh. “She has a nice temperament too. She's never seen a pony at home.”

Queen Azteca, who was based in Norway with Petersen, made her two most recent outings at Jagersro in Sweden, winning at 11 furlongs in June and finishing a 1 3/4-length second in 12-furlong Jockeyklubben Svenskt Derby on July 13.

“That's what she needs – long distance,” Montecinos said of the Alabama 10-furlong distance. “She flies really good at the end – she has a really good finish.”

Out of Princessa Helena (Palace Malice), the $22,000 KEESEP purchase will stay in the U.S. following the Alabama and will be trained by Rodolphe Brisset.

The post Queen Azteca Arrives in Saratoga, Prepares for Stateside Debut in Alabama appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Also set for his unveiling is $500,000 Fasig-Tipton November Sale buy Direct Strike (Into Mischief). The Brad Cox trainee is a half-sister to GI Madison Stakes heroine Finley'sluckycharm (Twirling Candy), who was taken home by Katsumi Yoshida for $1.5-million during the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale, and has since produced Japanese MGSW Sixpence (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}). TJCIS PPS

The post Monday Insights: First To the Races For Dream Pauline Raids Pea Patch Post Before Sundown appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Monday, August 11, 2025
Ellis 4, $100k, 2yo, 7fT, 2:16 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Highly Connected (Connect), OBSAPR, 170,000,  :10 2/5
C-Hernandez Stables, agent for Nova Stables; B-Galyn Bennett

September Silver (Liam's Map), OBSAPR, 130,000, :10 1/5
C-Top Line Sales LLC, agent; B-David Berman

Your Wildest Dream (Not This Time), FTMMAY, 345,000, G
C-Navas Equine; B-Norm Casse

Ellis 5, $100k, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 2:44 p.m. ET
Final Shipman (Midshipman), OBSJUN, 15,000, :21
C-Omar Ramirez Bloodstock, agent; B-Jarvis Racing Stable

Vanish (Vekoma), OBSAPR, 120,000, :10 1/5
C-Golden TBs Training & Sales; B-Eclipse TB Partners/D J Stable

Windy Houston (Munnings), OBSMAR, 350,000, :20 4/5
C-Tom McCrocklin, agent; B-Sara & Brandon Bray

The post Summer Breezes Sponsored By OBS: Monday, August 11, 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

He's drawn just inside of Fun to Tap (Tapit) who makes his first start since Nov. 2024 for Whisper Hill Farm who brought him home from FTSAUG for $1,200,000 two years ago. He was last spotted finishing second to future Jerome Stakes winner Cyclone State (McKinzie) in a one-mile spot at Aqueduct. TJCIS PPS

5th-SAR, 100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 3:28 p.m.
Everytimeithinkofu (Curlin) is a Jay Em Ess homebred out of their MGISW By The Moon who earned over $1.5m on the track and has already produced GSW Full Moon Madness (Into Mischief).

Resolute Racing and trainer Chad Brown debut Memorized (Tapit), a $900,000 KEESEP grad bred by Brereton Jones who is a half to not only Panama's Horse of the Year Sol Principe Gris (Summer Front) but also to GISW and young Spendthrift stallion Zandon (Upstart). First dam Memories Prevail is also a half to MGSW/MGISP Cairo Memories (Cairo Prince). TJCIS PPS

1st-DMR, 100K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 5:00 p.m.
First-time starter Noble Testament (Constitution) is a half to GI Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy) out of Cashmere who RNA'd for $1.1m at FTKNOV in 2022. The mare has also produced GSW Alexander Helios (Cairo Prince) and and SP Cono (Lucky Pulpit).

He faces two Bob Baffert stablemates making their second starts in Balboa (Not This Time), who ran third behind 'TDN Rising Star' Brant (Gun Runner), and Huber (Omaha Beach) who debuted on the turf and now tries the dirt. TJCIS PPS

The post Sunday Insights: Seven-Figure Uncle Mo Colt Unveiled At Saratoga appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Sunday, August 10, 2025
Ellis 3, $100k, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:48 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Janey's Flyin (Knicks Go)-AE, OBSAPR, 60,000 PS, :10 2/5
C-Thorostock LLC; B-Chad Schumer, agent

Ellis 4, Debutante S.-L, $200k, 2yo, f, 7f, 2:16 p.m. ET
Kingsolver (Omaha Beach), OBSMAR, 95,000, :10
C-J V C Training & Sales, agent; B-RB Bldstk, agt. Storyteller Rcg.

Saratoga 4, $100k, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 2:53 p.m. ET
Spherical (City of Light), OBSMAR, 130,000, :21 3/5
C-Tom McCrocklin, agent; B-Robin Smullen, agt for Eric Dattner

Ellis 6, ELP Juvenile S.-L, $200k, 2yo, 7f, 3:12 p.m. ET
Papa Ken (Yaupon), OBSAPR, 160,000, :21
C-Ocala Stud; B-Ken Reimer

Street Player (Street Boss), OBSMAR, 35,000, :10 1/5
C-Six K's Training & Sales, agent; B-Nolan Ramsey, agent

Saratoga 5, $100k, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 3:28 p.m. ET
Karey (Beau Liam), OBSMAR, 95,000, :10 1/5
C-Britton Peak, agent; B-High Point Bloodstock, agent

Lovely Christina (Vekoma), OBSMAR, 425,000, :10 1/5
C-Wavertree Stables Inc (C Dunne), agt; B-Leland Ackerley

Del Mar 1, $100k, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 5:00 p.m. ET
Parker's Candy (Twirling Candy), OBSMAR, 300,000, :9 4/5
C-Kings Equine, agent; B-Steven W Young, agent

Dmr 3, Sorrento S.-GIII, $150k, 2yo, f, 6f, 6:00 p.m. ET
Himika (Curlin), OBSAPR, 900,000, :9 4/5
C-de Meric Sales, agent; B-Donato Lanni, Agent For Baoma Corp

Thank You India (Practical Joke), OBSAPR, 140,000, :10
C-Niall Brennan Stables, agent; B-California Here We Come

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