The Racing Hub

Man o' War - Classic Video Footage

2008-07-15T13:04:00Z

A rare look at the great Man o' War. Enjoy this special look back at one of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all-time. ...(read more)

Fighting "Spirit" - A Champion for the Ages

2008-07-10T00:45:00Z

With the Grade I Princess Rooney Stakes to be run this weekend at Calder Race Course, we are taking a look back at one of the race's most beloved winners. ...(read more)

British Racing goes NASCAR, and that's not a bad thing

2008-07-02T18:38:00Z

The Racing Post reported today that plans were underway by Racing UK in connection with their consultants, to implant a ten-race championship series call the Sovereign Series. Beginning in 2010, the races which will culminate in a £2 million prize payoff to be split between the top three point finishers at the end of the year. The organizers are looking for an overall sponsor, much like Sprint does for the NASCAR championship....(read more)

Sweet Music

2008-07-02T13:33:00Z

With the mid-week lull upon us and all the disqualification controversy following Proud Spell's demotion from second in the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes on Saturday, I can't help but think about the overshadowed winner. She seems to have gotten lost with the rough riding that took place behind her, but Music Note, by A.P. Indy, looks like she could be special. She is a winner of her last three starts and three of four overall....(read more)

Controversy or Boredom?

2008-06-30T17:33:00Z

In days gone by, the Breeders' Cup Classic would be so laden with talented horses that I would anticipate the running over and over in my mind, days or even weeks before the gates ever opened. Looking at what we might see this year, I may find myself watching the Alabama-Tennessee game instead. Forgettable....(read more)

Grade 1 Audi Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh Saturday: Not a "Peep"

2008-06-27T23:45:00Z

Disappointing news this week when Aidan O'Brien announced that last year's spectacular winner of this race and the Irish Oaks, Magnier/Smith/Tabor owned Peeping Fawn, was not ready for her first race of the year. ...(read more)

Curragh, Take Me Away

2008-06-27T16:16:00Z

Courtesy of Becky Johnston

In order to remove myself from the problems that are confronting American racing right now, for one weekend, I am intent on going across the pond for my action.

I dutifully download a copy of The Racing Post dated June 26 to begin my fantasy trip. Flipping through the pages until something catches my eye. "Government isn't blameless among racing's big problems." It doesn't take me long to realize that my theory, British paper - British problems, wasn't going to hold water. I began to read and suddenly I start to recognize the problems, the names.... Arrrrghh, they are the ones I'm trying to get away from.

In case you have been living under a rock for the last two months, our American version of this sport has become a nightmare. It began with the sad breakdown of Eight Belles following the Kentucky Derby and the maelstrom that ensued. That event was followed by last week's congressional hearings where Jack Van Berg likened our racing to "chemical warfare". Then, on cue, the embarrassing news sprang forth. Splashed across newspapers in this country and others came word that the Kentucky Derby winning trainer, Richard Dutrow, had been fingered with a drug positive for a runner on the Oaks Day card. Then Steve Asmussen, the trainer of the reigning horse of the year, received his gotcha with the same sorry news from his home state of Texas.

Dutrow faces a first-time offender type penalty for his multiple offender resume, two weeks vacation. Meanwhile deep in the heart of Texas, Steve Asmussen is facing a six to twelve month ban for his violation, which seems more reasonable for a multiple offender. If he is proven guilty, of course.

Dutrow's Derby winning client, IEAH Stables and Michael Iavarone, are looking a little foolish with the announcement earlier this week that all of their horses will be drug free except for the approved medication Lasix. Although the horse in mention does not belong to the IEAH group, it still rankled the owners of Big Brown that this news about their main trainer would break right after their statement.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Asmussen's client, Jess Jackson, is one of those on Capitol Hill pleading for help. What do they say about glass houses and throwing heavy objects?

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm ready to leave the drug violations, ADW disputes, inbreeding and men wielding sticks they can't control behind and travel to a greener pasture, a land that author Bill Barich calls A Fine Place to Daydream. County Kildare and the plains of Curragh, to be more specific. The Irish racing festival is beckoning. They will run the annual fixture, the Irish Derby, on Sunday. The race's history reaches back to 1866.

The Curragh will kick off their weekend of racing with a Friday night card that begins at 6PM (12PM ET) to be followed by barbecues and music. Saturday will be highlighted by the 10 furlong Grade 1 Audi Pretty Polly Stakes featuring the Jim Bolger trained four-year-old Finsceal Beo who was a champion at two.

Sunday the fans will see if their fellow countryman, Bolger, can win their Derby for the first time since 1992 with the overwhelming favorite, New Approach. His last win came with St. Jovite for American Sportswoman, Virginia Kraft Payson.

The three-year-old colts will take to the horseshoe shaped course for 12 furlongs, a nine furlong jog that will turn into a three furlong uphill sprint to the finish.

UPDATE - Friday, 2:15 pm EDT: Irish Derby favorite, New Approach, is showing discomfort in his stall and trainer Jim Bolger is reporting that the colt may have a bruised foot. An evaluation will be done Saturday as to his participation in the 12 furlong Group 1 classic.

The Chalk

This year's renewal will feature the six time winner, New Approach. Bookmakers are placing the colt's odds near 1-2 at post.

The colt's owner is Her Royal Highness, Princess Haya of Jodan. The colt is said to have been a gift from her husband, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and a longtime thoroughbred race horse owner.

Princess Haya is herself an accomplished horsewoman and a 2000 Olympic Equestrian representing Jordan at the Sydney games. She will bring her three-year-old son of Galileo (IRE) back to the land of his birth after a breathtaking win in the Grade 1 Epsom Derby three weeks ago. I say breathtaking but I may mean breath holding because he is known for some antics and can be difficult to load into the starting gate. His run at Epsom was a tug of war with jockey Kevin Manning early in the race, but when the colt was finally given his head, he bobbed and weaved his way to victory.

Consistency

This will be New Approach's fifth run over the historic Curragh Racecourse. He won his first race here in July of 2007 going seven furlongs over a heavy course. He ventured to Leopardstown for the Group 3 Tyros Stakes where he won again at seven furlongs this time over a yielding course.

His return to the Curragh saw him win back to back seven furlong races in the Group 2 Galileo EBF Futurity and the Group 1 Bank of Scotland National Stakes. The first over a soft course and the second over a good to firm course. He made his last appearance of 2007 at Newmarket, again going seven furlongs in the Grade 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes over good to soft ground.

The colt earned the two-year-old Cartier Championship in Europe for 2007.

His first two starts of 2008 were both at a mile, the first at Newmarket in the Group 1 English Classic 2000 Guineas where he ran second to Coolmore's outstanding miler Henrythenavigator over a good course.

Next up was the Irish Group 1 Classic 2000 Guineas where he once again found himself second to the Coolmore colt over firm ground.

His next stop was at Epsom Racecourse for the 12-furlong classic over good ground. The colt had been on or near the lead in all his prior efforts. The connections tried a "new approach" with him and Mr. Manning wrangled the colt well back in the field only to see a furious finish that looked like a bowling bowl mowing down pins for his first Derby victory.

Blue Blood

New Approach's broodmare, Park Express (IRE), won the Grade 1 Irish Champion Stakes at The Curragh in 1986 for trainer Jim Bolger. Her sire Ahonoora (GB) traces back to Calumet's Bull Lea (USA) through his Kentucky Derby winning son Hill Gail (USA).

The Derby favorite is sired by Galileo (IRE), himself an Epson and Irish Derby winner in 2001. Galileo's sire is the champion sire, Sadler's Wells, and his dam is the blue hen English and French broodmare of the year, Urban Sea. Her race record is also sound with her greatest victory coming in the 1993 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, France's most prestigious race.

The Competition

As it stands now, he will face a field of 11.

Aidan O'Brien sends out an army with Alessandro Volta (sixth in the Epsom Derby) ridden by Johnny Murtagh, Washington Irving (fifth in the Epsom Derby) Colm O'Donoghue pilots, Frozen Fire (eleventh in the Epsom Derby) with Seamus Heffernan, Bashkirov (fifteenth in the Epsom Derby) will partner with Seanie Leavy, and Hindu Kush (won last out at The Curragh) gets David McCabe.

The real competition looks to come from the Epsom Derby second and third place finishers. Sir Michael Stoute's trainee, Tartan Bearer, a son of Spectrum (IRE) out of the Generous (IRE) mare Highland Gift (IRE) owned by Ballymacoll Stud, was second with Ryan Moore up only a half length behind the winner. The colt has two wins and two seconds from his four starts.

The Moyglare owned and Dermot Weld trained Casual Conquest with Patrick Smullen aboard was third, five lengths back. The lightly raced colt is a son of Hernando (FR) and the Kris (GB) mare Lady Luck (IRE). He will be making his fourth lifetime start on Sunday. He has two wins and a third thus far in his career.

Luca Camani's Curtain Call (tenth in the Epsom Derby) will get a change of jockey as Jamie Spencer is replaced with leading Irish jockey Fran Berry. A soggy course could move him up.

There will be an American-owned colt in the field when Bertram Firestone's homebred, Winchester, takes to the course for Dermot Weld. The son of Theatrical comes out of a disappointing eighth placed effort in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes behind Godolphin's Campanologist going 12 furlongs on the firm ground at Royal Ascot.

Winchester's sire, Theatrical (IRE), was a champion older horse in Ireland and the United States in 1987.

John Gosden will run two, the first is Centennial who hasn't run since mid-May where he finished fourth to Tartan Bearer in the Group 2 Totesports Dante Stakes at 10 furlongs. Centennial's broodmare sire is the two-time Breeders' Cup Mile winner Lure, who was retired early from stud duty due to fertility issues.

Gosden's second runner is Upton Grey. He is also owned by Princess Haya. This one looks to be a pacesetter for his owner's more accomplished runner, New Approach.

Ground Update: After rains yesterday and this morning the course is now good to yielding. More rain expected over the weekend.

Next: A look at the trainers of this year's entrants and a look at Saturday's Grade 1 Pretty Polly Stakes

Injured Mare Brings Controversial Topic to a Head

2008-06-25T12:36:00Z

Courtesy of Becky Johnston

Have you ever tried explaining to a friend who is attending the races for the very first time, why these majestic animals that are bred to run, must be whipped? You feel that familiar flush of embarrassment, knowing what you are about to say is something you don’t believe yourself.

You can come up with excuses such as, “they need the whip to give their best effort” or “to keep them straight” or, the most ridiculous of all “to keep their rhythm”. Horses are built with their rhythmic stride whether they are in the wild or running on a Monday afternoon at Delaware Park. Humans only kid themselves thinking they are coaxing beauty out of an animal that cornered the market on splendor hundreds of years ago.

June 23, 2008 should be a date that will live in infamy for horse racing. The day Jeremy Rose changed the Sport of Kings in America. Mr. Rose, seemingly, took his whip for reasons known only to him, and sliced Appeal to the City across her face and left eye causing an abrupt head toss. The five-year-old mare then swerved into traffic, endangering other horses and riders. Then she was given another whack for good measure. The filly was transported to the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania for treatment of the injured eye.

We will note here that Jeremy Rose may have had a perfectly good reason to hit the mare across the face, but he isn’t talking, and my mind cannot wrap itself around any reasonable excuse.

In reviewing Appeal to the City’s prior races, it looks to this fan’s eye that the mare resents the whip. She actually stops progressing after she is struck. If she did this out of fear, it is now justified.

The Delaware Racing Authority took immediate action on the morning of June 24. They suspended Mr. Rose until Christmas Eve this year and ordered him to attend anger management counseling of their approval.

Astoundingly, the jock tried to get a stay of the punishment until his appeal is heard in July. The racing commission did him a favor and flatly denied that request. Can you imagine what coming back to the races might be like for Jeremy Rose this week? Think about the attention Mr. Gabriel Saez got after Eight Belles’ demise following the Run for the Roses and all the sharks that brought out. Then throw in the racing fans that clearly see the blood in the water now and it might be best for him to just stay out of the public eye for a while and mount a defense for his actions.

This should be a rallying point for all of those people who love horse racing and can no longer stomach turning a blind eye to the abuse of the whip. The fan base is getting smaller and smaller and this is a generation that has far too many options in front of them than to gamble on a sport that is painful to watch.

It all reminds me of a scene in Gone With The Wind when Scarlett O’Hara, not known for her charitable nature, relentlessly beats the horse that brought her through a burning Atlanta all the way back to Tara and then drops dead just short of the destination. That’s fiction, but some might argue that it looks like an afternoon at the races.

It is a fallacy that horses won’t run without the use of the whip. Horses run straight out of the gate without encouragement on almost every occasion. Often, the real work is slowing them down.

Whipping is a major cause of interference in racing, with horses bearing in or out due to the whip. Each time our first question is “did the jockey have the whip in the correct hand?” While this is sometimes accurate, it is also true that a horse is just as likely to lean into what is causing them pain as they are to try and get away from it.

Why wouldn’t it be a fair playing field if everyone were in the same boat and whipless?

Some may say that I want to have my cake and eat it too, because the general thought is that we don’t consider the jockey to be persevering if he doesn’t whip the horse. In my case, I will challenge that. The only reason that I have had quarrel with a jockey for not persevering had nothing to do with the whip. It is when they stand up in the saddle well before the wire, having enough time to take out a cell phone and make dinner reservations, knocking me out of a trifecta.

Delaware’s whip rules are vague, but the stewards stepped up to the plate. California and Kentucky have much more stringent whip rules, yet they are infrequently enforced and then, for the most part, dealt with monetarily only without suspension.

The Jockey Club of England, on the other hand, has definitive rules with regard to the whip’s use and we can look to these architects of horse racing to be the leaders in banning whip use in the near future.

Where the Europeans differ from us is that they have more specific rules and they are enforced. Rapid whipping without giving the horse time to respond is not allowed. Some American racing jurisdictions’ regulations say this, but the Brits make it more black and white, instructing the jockeys that they must not hit a horse more than once per stride. I can think of a few “nice-guy” North American jockeys with vicious left hands where this would apply.

Whipping must be in the backhand position, not lifted high overhead and furiously brought in contact with the horse’s hide. If the horse is whipped down the shoulder, both hands must remain on the reins. This rule may have helped Appeal to the City keep her eyesight, had it been in place and enforced.

Another thing that doesn’t seem to come in to play as much in Europe is who you are and who you know. Our enforcement seems to have a heavier hand with the “little guy”. Getting away from a suspension because of your reputation and connections are unheard of for the big named European jocks. Just ask Frankie Dettori, who will miss the Irish Derby for his second year in a row for a whip abuse ban.

It all boils down to this. If we don’t force changes to the sport we love, the outside interests will force it upon us.

Royal Ascot Summary

2008-06-24T01:40:00Z

Courtesy of Becky Johnston

The Human Connection

Trainer is following closely in giant footsteps.

Vincent O’Brien and Aidan O’Brien are of no relation, but you couldn’t tell it from their results. The younger O’Brien won four Group 1 stakes last week at Royal Ascot, saving his greatest feat for Thursday when Yeats won his third consecutive Gold Cup for the Coolmore connection.

Murtagh benefits from Fallon’s mistakes

Kieren Fallon sits on the sidelines with an 18-month suspension for a cocaine drug positive while Johnny Murtagh has become the contract jockey for Mr. O’Brien’s Ballydole charges this season. The partnership took home six Royal Ascot wins, including four Group 1’s (Haradasun, Henrythenavigator, Duke of Marmalade and Yeats), the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes (MacArthur) and they ended the meet with a win in the Queen Alexandria Stakes (Honolulu).

Ryan Moore, after losing with more than 60 Royal Ascot mounts, broke out of his slump aboard Colony for Sir Michael Stoute in the King George V Handicap on Thursday. Mr. Moore followed that up with wins in the Group 3 Queen’s Vase on Friday with Patkai and Saturday on Sugar Ray in the Duke of Edinburgh stakes.

One hot ‘cool’ operation

The Coolmore connections were on fire, yet again, with four group 1 wins (six victories overall). The five-year-old horse Haradasun will enter stud in Australia after his quarantine, but the others should be in action following this meet.

One can only hope there will be a Melbourne Cup win in Yeats’ future. A decision on his racing career will be made at the end of this year. No horse has ever won four consecutive Group 1 Gold Cups, but Yeats will be eight next season and that may deter the connections from continuing to race the staying son of Sadler’s Wells.

The Group 1 St. James Palace winning three-year-old colt Henrythenavigator could stretch out to 10 furlongs while Group 1 Prince of Wales winner, Duke of Marmalade, may try a mile and a half. At least that is what Aidan O’Brien’s thoughts were after the two colt’s wins. An appointment with older rivals will be on the agenda very soon for Henry.

The four-year-old Duke of Marmalade, who suffered a fracture as a two year old, has come back from successful surgery and having been given the time needed to heal, has rewarded his connections handsomely. Santa Anita and the Breeder’s Cup could be the destination for these two Coolmore colts.

The Bolger group also enjoyed the week, especially Friday when they took the opening Albany Stakes, a Group 3 event with the favorite Cuis Ghaire and the Group 1 Coronation Stakes with Lush Lashes. Both fillies are by Galileo. They also had a nice third place effort from their 2006 two-year-old filly champion, Finsceal Beo, in the opening race of the week, the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes. Her return to form will be rewarded with a victory before long.

The sprint division seemed to get some new blood when three year olds took both the five furlong Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes with the French bred Equiano (Acclamation) and the six furlong Group 1 Golden Jubilee by Irish-bred Kingsgate Native (Mujadil). It has been since 2002 and 1996 respectively since a three-year-old has taken either of the sprints.

The Americans

The U.S. contingent was led by Robert and Janice McNair’s Michita. The three-year-old filly won for Stonerside Stables in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes on Thursday. She is a daughter of Dynaformer.

Kentucky breds ran one-two in the Group 1 Prince of Wales Stakes with Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo) in first and Stonerside’s Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) finishing the exacta.

Forest Camp’s son South Central won the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes and Camponologist won the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes. He is also a son of Kingmambo.

Mr. Aviator (Lear Fan) took the Royal Hunt Cup, Fifteen Love (Point Given) won the Britania Stakes.

Some of the prominent American-bred broodmare sires with wins at the meet were Mr. Prospector (Sugar Ray and Sabana Perdida) and his son Kingmambo (Regal Parade and Duke of Marmalade) each with two victories. Forty Niner (South Central), Gone West (MacArthur), Known Fact (Fifteen Love), and Machiavellian (Langs Lash) each had a victory. Although Saddler’s Wells stood his career in Europe he was bred stateside and was the dam’s sire of a remarkable three winners, three seconds and one third.

A new American sire that offered a promising third-place finish in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes was Lord Shanakill by Speightstown. The champion sprinter is a son of Gone West.

Best Moment at Royal Ascot

This is a toss-up between Yeats’ win in his third Gold Cup and Queen Elizabeth II’s win with a promising colt, Free Agent, in the Chesham Stakes. Her Majesty, The Queen has not won at the Royal meeting since 1999. Her mile-wide smile, gentle pat on the colt’s nose and the warm reception from the crowd was a treat on closing day.

Next up:

Racing at The Curragh including the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Group 1) featuring Princess Haya of Jordan’s quirky Epsom Derby winner New Approach.

Royal Ascot Day 4

2008-06-20T18:14:00Z

Courtesy of Becky Johnston

The next to last day of the 2008 Royal Meet at Ascot Race Course came up windy and cloudy with the ground much harder than most European runners desire. Rain would not fall until the fifth contest of the day.

Bookmakers empty their pockets

The first race was the Group 3 Albany Stakes for two year old fillies going six furlongs. A win for the favorite Cuis Ghaire (IRE) would be a big blow to the bookmakers who might not recover on a day with no precarious odds-on favorite on the horizon. The daughter of Galileo was coming off two easy wins at Naas, the last a Group 3 stakes.

The favorite settled back in the field and when asked, she gave an uncomfortable looking effort that was certainly enough for the win against an overmatched field. This filly will appreciate the increase in distance as she progresses throughout the season and probably will prefer softer footing.

Trained by Jim Bolger and owned by Mrs. Bolger, the filly was ridden by Kevin Manning. Penny’s Gift filled out the exacta and Danidh Dubai was third.

Note: Cuis Ghaire - Newmarket 1000 Guineas Odds 2009 (9-1Fav)

American Bred ‘King’ wins at Royal Meet

The second race of the day was the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at 12 furlongs.

The three-year-old colt Campanologist (USA) by Kingmambo out of the Sadler’s Wells mare, Ring of Music, would bring Godolphin’s connections to the winner’s circle and break the 0 for 33 losing skid that Frankie Dettori seemed destined to stay in.

Campanologist now has a record of five wins from eight starts for trainer Saeed Bin Suroor. His dam, Ring of Music was produced from the Canadian and American champion Glorious Song, making her a sibling to Rahy and Singspiel.

Kingmambo was represented earlier this week when the three-year-old, Henrythenavigator, took the St. James Palace Stakes stamping himself as the best miler in the world while setting the course record in 1:38.7.

Campanologist was bred on the same cross as Henry, who is also out of the Saddler’s Wells mare, Sequoyah.

Conduit finished a closing second and Top Lock was third.

Bats her eyes at the competition

The featured third race was the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for three year old fillies at a distance of one mile. The question was the same as it had been all week, who would take to the firm going. Cheveley Park Stud’s Spacious was the favorite, but it was the Bolgers who once again found their way to the winner’s circle with another offspring of Galileo, Lush Lashes (GB).

The filly disappointed in the 12-furlong Oaks as the favorite earlier this month. Turning back 1/2 mile did not look like a recipe for a win, but she sat off the leaders in the straight went to the lead and fought off a great challenge from Infallible who seemed to get in front of the Bolger charge for a couple of jumps. Lush Lashes drew away to a convincing win and Infallible finished second.

Carribean Sunset was third and the favorite, Spacious, who seemed to come on too late with too little, managed only fourth.

Saturday’s Lineup

Listed Chesham Stakes at seven furlongs for two year olds will feature a runner for HM Queen Elizabeth II, Free Agent, who was a winner in his only start at Leicester.

Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at 12 furlongs for four year olds and up. Runners from Juddmonte, Godolphin, Sheikh Hamden, George Strawbridge, Magnier/Smith/Tabor and the Niarchos family will compete in this field of 11.

Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at six furlongs will feature the Australian wonder Takeover Target.

Royal Ascot Coverage

2008-06-20T13:21:00Z

Courtesy of Becky Johnston

South Central opens double for America

The Group 2 Norfolk Stakes was the first race on the card of day three at Royal Ascot. The son of Forest Camp out of the Forty Niner mare, Brittan Lee, won his first start at Carlisle by a double-digit margin. Today, he squeaked out a win over the Irish-bred Spin Cycle while English bred Prolific and Flashmans Papers were third and fourth. It sounds foolish to say that the next three looked better than the winner, but that could prove to be the case when the distances become more taxing than the five furlongs traveled today. However, on this day the proud connections, Transcend Bloodstock, trainer Howard Johnson and jockey Robert Winston have the all important royal win while the others will wait for another day.

Early odds for the 2000 Guineas 2009

South Central 30-1
Spin Cycle 30-1
Prolific 25-1
Flashmans Papers 55-1

All-American Gal takes Group 2 Ribblesdale

American owned Michita made good for her Texas based owners Bob and Janice McNair and their Stonerside Farm. The regally bred daughter of Dynaformer out of the Storm Cat mare, Thunder Kitten, loved the firm going, the 12 furlongs and the competition in a below par group for this edition. Take nothing away from Michita as she dispensed with this group in fine fettle.

The winner is the granddaughter of the multiple U.S. grade 1 winner Nastique.

The race had more blueblood, including Changing Skies, the full sister to the recent $10.5 million broodmare purchase Playful Act (Sadler's Wells-Magnificent Style by Silver Hawk). She finished a well-beaten sixth in the nine-horse field.

Andrew Rosen's familiar pink and green silks were carried by tough luck Icon Project (Empire Maker-La Gueriere by Lord at War) who checked in fourth after repeated trouble. The silks are familiar to American racing fans as they were carried by the 1984 two-year old champion Chief's Crown for Andrew's father, Carl Rosen.

Michita was ridden by Johnny Fortune and trained by John Gosden. Gosden spent the late 70's and early 80's in the United States, where he trained champions Bates Motel and Royal Heroine.

Arthur's Girl was second and Hobby was third in the Ribblesdale.

Yeats repeat is a kick!

The champion stayer Yeats won his third consecutive Group 1 Gold Cup today. The seven-year old horse certainly had some detractors which made his supporters happy with a better payoff. Many thought Juddmonte's undefeated, four-year old French import Coastal Path might dethrone the elder Yeats. As the two hooked up on the turn for home in front of the Ladies' Day Crowd, it looked like a toss-up. Then, last year's runner-up, the gray Geordieland (Fr), who was drafting behind the top pair swung out and made the battle a three wide fray with Yeats in the middle.

When it looked as though both of Yeats' challengers might get the better of him, the near black champion pinned his ears and bore down for jockey Johnny Murtagh and drew away to a thunderous ovation. Geordieland was second while Coastal Path checked in third.

All three runners are descendents of the newly retired bloodstock phenom Sadler's Wells. Yeats is a direct descendent, Geordieland through his grandsire and Coastal Path through his broodmare sire.

The real ‘kicker' was on the cool down gallop. Godolphin's Regal Flush made the mistake of coming up the rail inside of an obviously enthusiastic winner. Yeats picked up both hind limbs and broadsided the four-year-old son of Sakhee, making jockey Frankie Dettori shift in the saddle.

The rivalry between arguably the two most powerful racing operations in the world Coolmore and Godolphin is well known. The fact that Godolphin has not had the kind of success that the Irish group has enjoyed over the last couple of years at Ascot was highlighted when Yeats attempted to put his stamp on the Dubai owned colt. No word if the Godolphin color bearer suffered any injury from the sucker punch.

Yeats is owned by Mrs. John Magnier and Mrs. David Nagle which made for a perfect Ladies' Day Celebration. Aidan O'Brien conditions the son of the Top Ville mare Lyndonville.

Day Four (Friday)

Group one Coronation Stakes (Three year old fillies 1m)
Group three Albany Stakes (Two year olds 6f)
Group three King Edward VII Stakes (Three year olds 12f)
Group three Queen's Vase (Three year olds 2m)

Big Brown is No Curlin

2008-06-16T13:44:00Z

By John Clay, Lexington Herald Leader

Unlike last Saturday, this time the superstar delivered.

Big time.

There is only one true superstar on the Thoroughbred racing planet right now, and it isn't that worn-out 3-year-old who dissolved into a Big Brown meltdown in the Long Island heat during last Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

Curlin is king of the Sport of Kings, as the reigning Horse of the Year proved again Saturday, carrying 128 pounds in comfortable fashion, assuming control at the head of the stretch and cruising to a 4¼-length win in the Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Remember that pre-Belmont chatter of a possible matchup, if not match race, between Big Brown and Curlin somewhere down the line?

Continue reading...

The Great Days Are Now

2008-06-04T14:31:00Z

By Alfred G. Vanderbilt, courtesy of NYTimes.com

These are the delicious days, the days of debate and doubt as we wait for the Belmont Stakes, the toughest race to win in the United States and the last leg of the Triple Crown. There is no better time to be a horse racing fan.

Now the questions begin. How many horses will have enough sand to face Big Brown’s power and the Belmont’s grueling distance? Optimists are what stuff the gate in the Derby. The Preakness is for those still clinging to hope. The beautiful racetrack on Long Island is a place for cynics and realists. Cynics assume Big Brown can’t be as good as he looks. Realists believe they’ve got a shot at taking second-, third- or fourth-place money.

The Belmont is a mile and a half in front of everybody who matters, and as the horses come through the tunnel and step onto the track, the roar of the crowd can knock off your glasses, cap and shoes. It’s not the sound of tourists from the Midwest calling out the names of their favorites. It’s the Animal, the Apple, whose voice is like the lion.

Read more...

To the Swift - Red Smith on Alydar

2008-06-03T13:13:00Z

By The New York Times

The following column, “He Was Named for Aly, Darling,” by Red Smith, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, appeared in The New York Times on March 24, 1978, and is from “To the Swift: Classic Triple Crown Horses and Their Race for Glory” (St. Martin’s Press), edited by Joe Drape.

HIALEAH, Fla. — The tack boxes spaced along the shedrow at Barn AA are painted red and blue, the devil’s red and deep blue of Calumet Farm’s racing silks. These are the colors Whirlaway and Citation carried when they swept the Triple Crown races of 1941 and 1948. They are the colors flown by Pensive and Ponder and Hill Gail and Iron Liege and Tim Tam when those good ones dashed home first in the Kentucky Derby.

The red and blue silks have never disappeared from the winner’s circle, but after a disqualification made by Forward Pass the farm’s eighth Derby winner, they were seen there less and less frequently until last year. In 1977, Calumet’s Our Mims was the best 3-year-old filly in the country and her young stablemate, Alydar, just missed out as the champion 2-year-old. Beaten out by Affirmed in that election, the colt came back this year to win Hialeah’s Flamingo Stakes like breaking sticks, and—with Affirmed spending the winter in California—consolidated his position as the Eastern favorite for the Derby. He will hold that rank until April 1, at least, that being the date of the Florida Derby at Gulfstream, his next assignment.

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Racing Imitates Wall Street

2008-06-01T11:38:00Z

Courtesy of HorseRaceInsider.com

Barron’s, last week, asked this question: “This economy keeps dispensing with decades of statistical precedent. We have a 23-year-high inventory of unsold homes, a 49-year-low in per-capita home sales, a 28-year-low in consumer confidence, and an all-time high in inflation-adjusted oil prices. With it all, is it impressive of inexplicable that the Standard & Poor’s 500 is merely at a one-month low, and just 12% below an all-time high?”

Impressively or inexplicably, racing mirrors the financial markets. Quite fittingly, Michael Iavarone and others from IEAH Stable and the New York Racing Association were on hand last Wednesday to ring the bell that signals the opening of trading on the New York Stock exchange, a place, it turns out, with which the suddenly high-profile ex boiler-room penny stock dealer was altogether unfamiliar. By then, Bloomberg News and others had exposed Iaverone's claim to have come from the hedge fund world as ... well, a lie -- and hardly a little white one.

Scoffing as decades of statistical precedent embraced by those who made cases against his Kentucky Derby prospects based upon long-cured, Big Brown remains undefeated less than a week before he will attempt to sweep the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes. Like those holding short positions in the S&P 500, who await the return of cold reality on Wall Street, they observe the current events in and around Barn 2 at Belmont Park and attempt to weigh their potential to thwart Big Brown.

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