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Updated: 13 hours 54 min ago

Steve Kornacki Named Keynote Speaker For Jockey Club’s Annual Round Table Conference

Thu, 2025-07-10 11:56

NBC News's Steve Kornacki, a national political correspondent who covers horse racing, including this year's Triple Crown, will provide the keynote address for the first half of the two-part Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, which will be held at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Thursday, July 31, at 10 a.m. ET.

Everett Dobson, chair-elect of The Jockey Club, will be the second-half keynote speaker, and will discuss his plans for the organization and The Jockey Club's ongoing plans to help grow the sport.

Other speakers and events for the Round Table Conference will include:

  • Shawn Smeallie, founder of ACG Advocacy, who will discuss the state of horse racing in Washington, D.C.
  • A presentation examining scheduling data will be given by John Stewart, CEO, and Chris Groer, CPO, Fastbreak AI. Fastbreak AI helps optimize the business of sports through AI-driven scheduling, operations, and sponsorship solutions.
  • Griffin Johnson, a social media influencer with more than 14 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and X, will discuss his journey and the role influencers can play in promoting horse racing with Shannon Kelly, director, Industry Relations, The Jockey Club.
  • A panel featuring Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, environmental science advisor, New York Yankees, and Glen Kozak, executive vice president, Operations and Capital Projects, New York Racing Association Inc., will examine how sports and racing adapt to changes in weather. The panel will be moderated by James L. Gagliano, president and COO, The Jockey Club.

The post Steve Kornacki Named Keynote Speaker For Jockey Club’s Annual Round Table Conference appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Make Haste Looks For The Crown In Coronation

Thu, 2025-07-10 10:54

Gainesway Stable and LNJ Foxwoods' rail-drawn Make Haste (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), a gate to wire winner in her last race (an allowance at Gulfstream), will look to take this field in similar fashion for trainer Miguel Clement in the GIII Coronation Cup at Saratoga Friday. A debut winner and stakes-placed in Ireland, this filly has never gone further than five furlongs and will have to pick up the extra half-furlong Friday but showed no signs of stopping at Gulfstream for the late Christophe Clement, hitting the wire going away by nearly five lengths.

Lugamo Racing Stable's Cloe (Tiz the Law) already has a stakes win to her credit, taking the Melody of Colors (also at Gulfstream in gate to wire fashion) in late March. This well-traveled filly went from Florida to Santa Anita when third in the GIII Senorita Stakes Apr. 27 to Saratoga when most recently second in a rained-off edition of the Soaring Softly Stakes June 8. She'll look to challenge the front for trainer Jose D'Angelo.

Cutting back in distance is Spirited Boss (Street Boss) who came from off the pace to win the 7 1/2 furlong Sanibel Island Stakes Mar. 29 before running second in the one-mile Honey Ryder Stakes and third (behind Cloe) in the Soaring Softly.

Already a winner over course and distance is Abientot (Not This Time), a Mark Casse runner who also took the GIII Matron Stakes in her juvenile season but struggled last out in the GIII Mamzelle Stakes finishing ninth. She did kick off this season with a third beaten just a length in the 5 1/2 furlongs Limestone Stakes at Keeneland in April.

Brittany Russell brings in Gata Brazil (Into Mischief) who has ruled the turf at Laurel Park but now steps up markedly in class. She last took the Stormy Blue Stakes going this same 5 1/2-furlong distance June 15.

The post Make Haste Looks For The Crown In Coronation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Eight ‘Win And You’re In’ Races Lead Record Stakes Schedule For Keeneland Fall Meet

Thu, 2025-07-10 10:23

22 stakes awarding a record $10.85 million are scheduled for the most lucrative stakes schedule for a racing season in Keeneland track history for the 17-day Fall Meet from Oct. 3-25. The Fall Meet also marks the 40th anniversary of the turf course at Keeneland, which in October 1985 became the first track in Kentucky to offer turf racing.

Additionally, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund is contributing $2.55 million to Keeneland's Fall Meet stakes purses, pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation.

“Competition from Thoroughbred racing's leading horses and top jockeys, trainers and owners will put the focus of fans, handicappers and the industry on Keeneland's Fall Meet,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “We are excited to be able to add $100,000 to the purse of the GII Sycamore, which was upgraded for 2025, and to increase the value of another 18 stakes by $50,000 each. Our Grade I races now are worth $650,000 to $1.25 million, while the purses of all Grade II races are $400,000, all Grade III races are worth $350,000 and the listed race is valued at $300,000.”

Fall Stars Weekend kicks off the meet with $6.3 million in total purses spread over 11 stakes. Eight stakes are part of the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In,” which will award the winners automatic starting positions and free entry into the 42nd Breeders' Cup at Del Mar Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Those include:

  • GI Darley Alcibiades
  • GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix
  • GII Jessamine.
  • GI Coolmore Turf Mile
  • GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity
  • GII Thoroughbred Club of America.
  • GI Juddmonte Spinster
  • GII Castle & Key Bourbon.

Public ticket sales for the Fall Meet will begin Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 9 a.m.

The post Eight ‘Win And You’re In’ Races Lead Record Stakes Schedule For Keeneland Fall Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Ready To Fire: Saratoga Is The Launching Pad For Maidens

Thu, 2025-07-10 09:55

SARATOGA SPRING, NY – Since racing began here in the 1860s, Saratoga has been a career launching pad for 2-year-old maidens. It should not be a surprise that the tradition continued last summer.

Dozens and dozens of young horses destined for greatness picked up their first victories at the Spa. A very short list of those standouts includes:

  • The filly Ruthless, winner of the inaugural running of the GI Belmont Stakes
  • Aristides, who won the first GI Kentucky Derby
  • Maskette
  • Zev
  • Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox
  • Tom Fool
  • Sword Dancer
  • Winning Colors
  • Easy Goer.

Some, like Godolphin's Derby and Belmont winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief), lost in maiden races at Saratoga and developed into stars. Sovereignty was fourth behind 'TDN Rising Star' Tip Top Thomas (Volatile) on Aug. 24 and has four wins and two seconds since. Tip Top Thomas won the GIII Indiana Derby on Saturday. Amerman Racing's Test Score (Lookin at Lucky), second in his maiden try at Saratoga, won the GI Belmont Derby Invitational on Saturday at Saratoga.

While it's far too early to tell whether the class of 2024 will produce an all-timer, we can see that some of them have already laid the foundations of promising careers.

From the winners of the 36 Maiden Special Weight races with purses of $100,000 and with no restrictions–regarded as the most challenging of the many maiden contests of the Saratoga season–winners include:

Through the decades, the competition has proved to be pretty stout in some of Saratoga's maiden contests.

“I don't think anything's changed historically there,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “You come to Saratoga with a 2-year-old, you better have them well prepared, and they better have some talent. You know you can run an awfully good one that might not win first time out.”

The top-level maiden races in 2024 were made up of sprints and routes:

    • Twenty were run on dirt–two at 5 1/2 furlongs–nine at 6 furlongs–two at 6 1/2 furlongs

      –four at 7 furlongs

      –three at one mile

    • 16 were contested on the grass

    –five at 5 1/2 furlongs

    –11 at 1 1/16 mile

So far, the maiden winners have secured:

  • a total of nine Grade I victories, six as 2-year-olds and three this year
  • Immersive, trained by Brad Cox, was voted the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old filly champ after following her debut victory at Saratoga with wins in the GI Spinaway, the GI Alcibiades and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
  • D. J. Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables' Sandman earned his berth in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished seventh, with a score in the GI Arkansas Derby.
  • Tracy Farmer's La Cara picked up her two Grade I wins this year in the Ashland and the Acorn.
  • Flanagan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) moved from his maiden win to take the GI Hopeful and the GI Champagne.
  • A month after notching her first career win at Saratoga, Live Oak Plantation's And One More Time (Omaha Beach) won the GI Natalma at Woodbine.

Chancer McPatrick | Sarah Andrew

Seven of leading trainer Chad Brown's 45 victories were earned in the open $100,000 maiden races.

  • His top performer thus far from that group is Chancer McPatrick with $623,625 in earnings.

Tip Top Thomas was one of Pletcher's four winners.

Mark Casse enjoyed a solid summer with his 2-year-olds, picking up five wins.

“We had a great bunch of young horses,” Casse said. “We have another great bunch of young horses again this year.”

Casse's winners were:

She's Got Will, who Casse said is coming back from injury, was the only one who debuted at Saratoga. The other four, all now graded stakes winners, had lost in races at other tracks before competing at Saratoga.

“That's a typical Mark Casse,” Casse said. “My friend, Aron Yagoda, who introduced me when I got inducted into the Hall of Fame, he tells everybody, 'Mark doesn't train for a race. He trains for a career.' When you look at Sandman and you look at La Cara, you can see that's a little bit of what I do.”

Sandman ran third in the GI Preakness Stakes and is expected to make his next start in the GII Jim Dandy to prep for the GI Travers. La Cara is headed to the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and could face Casse stablemate Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Alabama.

Casse said he likes to spread out his maidens and give them a test before Saratoga.

“If you see me run a first-time starter here, he's really good or he's a New York-bred, because, if not, I've gotten them started somewhere else,” Casse said. “That was the case with Sandman and La Cara. I always say, 'this is New York. You have to earn your way there.”

The post Ready To Fire: Saratoga Is The Launching Pad For Maidens appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Stewart To Sell Share Of ‘TDN Rising Star’ Verifire On Inglis Digital USA

Wed, 2025-07-09 18:30

John Stewart of Resolute Racing plans to offer 25% ownership rights in 'TDN Rising Star' Verifire (Authentic) on the platform Inglis Digital USA, according to a tweet on Wednesday.

The Resolute head asked in his post, “Have you ever dreamed of having a horse run in your silks in a Grade I at Saratoga?”

Stewart went on to say that the winning bidder would be able to have their colors carried by the colt in his next race, which could be the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 23.

Inglis Digital USA replied to the post on X that more information concerning the sale of the share would be forthcoming.

The 3-year-old, who was bred by Gainesway and is trained by Brad Cox, earned his 'Rising Star' badge on debut at Colonial Downs Mar. 15. The chestnut then cleared an optional claimer at Pimlico May 16 before taking home the Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs June 29.

Resolute Bloodstock purchased Verifire for a cool million at the OBS March Sale in 2024.

Have you ever dreamed of having a horse run in your silks in a Geade 1 @Saratogaraces1?

Now is your chance. @resracingky is proud to offer a 25% ownership opportunity in VERFIRE on the @inglisdigitalus platform.

The winning bidder will be able to have their silks worn in his… pic.twitter.com/reIo4vBG4S

— Jstewartrr (@jstewartrr) July 9, 2025

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Investigators Return From Euro Exchange Fully Charged

Wed, 2025-07-09 17:35

A group of U.S.-based racing investigators recently returned from a two-week intensive exchange program where they swapped ideas and soaked up perspectives from their counterparts at organizations like France Gallop and the British Horseracing Authority.

Members of the Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) who work at tracks and for regulators across the U.S. were given the chance to see how integrity is measured in Europe and what practices work best in France and England.

“The second annual trip was a great success, which we could not have done without our sponsors,” said Jason Klouser, who helped plan and lead the expedition. “Coming back to our own positions in racing, the experience was invigorating and what we learned will serve us well when it comes to implementation.”

Klouser said that each participant plans to present what they uncovered to their respective organizations and to the sponsors of the two-week exchange.

“The larger contingent this year meant a wider spread of roles and regulators were represented,” said John Burgess, who is the Head of Integrity for the British Horseracing Authority and also happens to be a member of ORI. “Connections were made after tailored presentations, and I am sure that will not be the last time those involved will speak, share ideas and work together to resolve common problems on either side of the Atlantic.”

The post Investigators Return From Euro Exchange Fully Charged appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Saratoga Notebook, Presented By NYRA Bets: DeVaux Has Special Bond With 2-Year-Old Colt Dr. Agne

Wed, 2025-07-09 16:07

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – From her office at Barn 83 on the Oklahoma Training Track, all trainer Cherie DeVaux has to do to get a glimpse of the horse is look out the window. And she sees him, across the way, standing in his stall.

“He has this big, white face looking at you,” DeVaux said, and she smiles.

Gets her every time.

'He' is a 2-year-old colt who goes by the name of Dr. Agne (Into Mischief). He has never run but will on Friday when he starts his career in a one mile, $100,000 maiden turf race. DeVaux will be rooting hard for the young horse because, sure, she wants to win.

But the back story is one that resonates because of the history DeVaux has with Dr. Agne's dam. That is Lady Eli (Divine Park), who defied the odds and became a champion in 2017 when she was running for trainer Chad Brown.

DeVaux was an assistant to Brown back then and Lady Eli started her career with six straight wins, the last of which was the GI Belmont Oaks on the Fourth of July in 2015.

Things changed right after that when, on her way back to the barn following the Oaks, Lady Eli stepped on a nail. She then developed laminitis, which can prove fatal.

In stepped DeVaux, who was with Lady Eli every step of the way through her long journey to becoming an elite racehorse again.

“I was on a bucket with her the whole time,” DeVaux said. “I was there for her whole recovery.”

Lady Eli | Sarah Andrew

She, along with Dr. Robert Agne of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Saratoga and Dr. Bryan Fraley of Fraley Equine Podiatry in Kentucky, did everything they could to give Lady Eli a chance to make it back.

And make it back she did. After over a year away from the races, Lady Eli returned and would run eight more times, winning four and finishing second three times.

While the story is heartwarming, there was nothing fuzzy about Lady Eli. She was never one to be confused with a barn pet.

“She was vicious, vicious,” DeVaux said. “Most horses, kids can go up to, but she was not a kid's horse. But she was really nice to me. I couldn't go up and kiss her or anything. She was tolerant, I would say, of me. We were a huge part of each other's stories at that time.”

Then, a second gut punch.

On Labor Day of 2015, Dr. Robert Agne, 54, was killed when he was hit by a car while cycling in Vermont. Dr. Agne would drive from Saratoga to Belmont whenever he was needed to help Lady Eli.

DeVaux, shattered when she heard the news of Dr. Agne's death, remembered thinking they would have to name a horse for the fallen doctor.

“I didn't think I would really have one that would be [Lady Eli's] or I would be a trainer for that matter,” said DeVaux, who went out on her own in 2018.

Dr. Agne the horse will be Lady Eli's first foal to race in the United States. He came to DeVaux's barn after he was purchased by a group of Lady Eli's former owners, particularly Sol Kumin, who raced under the name Sheep Pond Partners.

Dr. Agne is owned by Kumin's Madaket Stables LLC, Twin Brook Stables and Belladonna Racing LLC.

Dr. Agne, who DeVaux said is “much nicer” than her cranky mother, will be ridden by Jose Ortiz in his debut, which is the sixth race Friday. She said that Dr. Robert Agne's widow, Carrie, is expected to be at Saratoga to see the debut.

“It will be hugely emotional,” DeVaux said.

 

Chad Brown Aiming For 5th Consecutive Spa Training Title

Trainer Chad Brown has had a stranglehold on the Saratoga training title in recent years and he is hopeful that continues for the fifth straight summer.

Brown, who is from nearby Mechanicville, has been the leading trainer at Saratoga for the four summers (he shared the title with Linda Rice in 2023). Overall, the five-time Eclipse Award winner for outstanding trainer, has won the Saratoga title seven times, the first one coming in 2016.

Last summer, Brown rolled to the title with 45 wins ($5,848,233 in earnings) to easily outdistance Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and Mike Maker, who both finished with 22 visits to the winner's circle. The 45 wins was one shy of the record 46, which Brown set in 2018.

“It's important to have a good meet up here,” Brown said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. “We focus a lot of our annual business around summer racing, and we target this meet every year.”

Brown, 46, is coming off his ninth Belmont spring/summer meet championship, which was held at Aqueduct while Belmont Park continues its massive reconstruction.

Dynamic Pricing takes the Just a Game Stakes at the Spa | Sarah Andrew

Opening weekend at Saratoga will see Brown take aim at the $500,000 GI Dunkin' Diana Stakes, a race he has won eight of the last nine years and nine times overall. He will saddle Dynamic Pricing (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) and Excellent Truth (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), the one-two finishers in the GI Just a Game Stakes at Saratoga last month.

Also in Brown's barn is Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), last year's champion 3-year-old.

“I have a lot of high-quality horses,” Brown said. “I have a high-quality training business. It just fits to be focused on this meet. It's not only this meet, but it's sort of the centerpiece of our season.”

Brown said that he does about 80 percent of his racing and earns about 80 percent of the barn's price money from April through Thanksgiving. Right smack dab in the middle of that time is the 40-day Saratoga meet.

You bet he is going to be geared up for it.

“Some of the very best racing in the world is summer at Saratoga,” Brown said. “I am from up here, my friends and family are from here, a lot of my clients enjoy racing here. A lot of the most prestigious races in our country are right here at Saratoga.”

 

And Irad Looking For 4th Straight Spa Riding Title

Lately, Irad Ortiz Jr. winning the Saratoga riding title has been as constant as August thunderstorms and Hattie's fried chicken in the Spa City.

The 32-year-old Ortiz Jr. has dominated the Saratoga jockey colony like no other in recent years. He has claimed the riding championship the last three summers and has won it six times in the last 10 years (he also won in 2015, 2018 and 2020).

Irad Ortiz with trainer Chad Brown | Sarah Andrew

His brother, Jose, has three titles of his own in the last decade. The only non-Ortiz to win it was Luis Saez, the 2021 champ.

“It always means a lot,” Irad Ortiz Jr. said after morning workouts on the Oklahoma Training Track. “I just have to keep grinding and working hard. I love this place. They have some of the best horses, a lot of the best trainers in the summertime.”

He will take nothing for granted and knows he'll have to grind and work even harder than ever this summer. The competition in the jockey's room–as it always is–is stiff.

Last year, Ortiz won 52 races to edge Flavien Prat, who finished with 45 wins. Prat, the reigning Eclipse Award winner for outstanding jockey, is coming off his first New York Racing Association title. He was the winner of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet with 43 wins.

“It's crazy how many good riders we have right now,” Ortiz Jr. said, rattling off the names of Prat, his brother, Saez, Dylan Davis, Junior Alvarado, Manny Franco, John Velazquez, Javier Castellano, just to name a few. “Those guys are really good. Riding against them and having the opportunity to ride live horses and win a meet here is just a blessing.”

The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented By NYRA Bets: DeVaux Has Special Bond With 2-Year-Old Colt Dr. Agne appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Keenan Named NYRA SVP, Chief Experience Officer

Wed, 2025-07-09 15:16

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has appointed Katie Keenan as the new Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer (CXO), the track said in a Wednesday release.

Keenan is a global live event and venue operations executive with two decades of sports industry experience. Prior to joining NYRA, she was Vice President for Live Events & Operations at the National Football League (NFL), where she led the planning and delivery of the NFL's marquee events including the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, and NFL International Series Games.

As CXO, Keenan will develop and implement strategies focused on providing a premier on-track experience for fans, racing participants and stakeholders. Accordingly, she will oversee NYRA's hospitality offerings and guest-facing operations.

The post Keenan Named NYRA SVP, Chief Experience Officer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Acacia Clement Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented By Keeneland

Wed, 2025-07-09 14:21

Like so many others, Acacia Clement's favorite meet is Saratoga. As part of the Saratoga broadcast team and the wife of trainer Miguel Clement, she has to work long hours and juggle a hectic schedule. Preparation is something she takes seriously. But Saratoga also means great racing in a beautiful and historic location, a lively nightlife and so much more. There's a lot to like about this place. Appearing on the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland as the Gainesway Guest of the Week, Clement said what she loves most about Saratoga is that everyone there is immersed in racing.

“What I really like is the energy and the synergy between the town and the racetrack,” she said. “I remember we were coming back to our apartment building and one of our neighbors was having a nightcap out on their balcony and they yelled out, 'Hey Miguel, nice win in the last race.' That's just really cool. I don't think you get that a lot of other places. People are downtown having dinner, but they're also paying attention to what's happening at the races. It's a small town feel, but there's also such a great connection between racing and everything else that's going on in the area.”

While there are so many heavenly aspects to being in Saratoga for the summer, this is not the easiest of times around the Clement barn. Acacia's father-in-law, Christophe, passed away May 25 at age 59 from a rare form of eye cancer. Among other things, that meant that Miguel Clement would be taking over the barn. Less than two months later, he has proven that he was ready for the job. As of July 9, he is 10-for-63 and has won three stakes, including the GI Manhattan.

“It's been incredibly tough, Acacia admitted. “Christophe handled his journey with cancer with the utmost class and bravery and grace, which I think comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody. And it's very hard to say goodbye to him. As a family that I married into, I really hit the jackpot because I am so fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with my in-laws and Christophe is one of those people that, I would come over to the house and he'd sit me down and say, 'tell me everything that's going on. Tell me about work. What about this? What about that?'

“He was somebody that really genuinely cared about what was happening in your life and how he could help. He was like that for a lot of young people in the industry. And when we lost Christophe, just the amount of people that came out and said how he had impacted their life or their journey in racing, I thought was really amazing. So of course it's been very tough for the family, but also for the whole team at the stables, which is like a family.”

It was pointed out to Clement that there are many women working in the racing broadcasting field, something you did not see 20 years ago.

“I totally agree,” Clement said after Randy Moss pointed out that she is one of many women who are making an impact with their work in front of the camera. “I do think that there are so many talented women along the entire racing industry, whether it's assistant trainers who maybe are not necessarily in the spotlight. We've seen a lot more female trainers having success as well, which I think is awesome. So I think it's not just for the racing analysts. Yes, there are more opportunities, but I think it's, thankfully, throughout the entire industry becoming a little bit more prevalent.”

Nonetheless, some stereotypes never quite go away.

“It's funny,” she said. “I was actually working on a social media site following some trends and looking back at some real questions that I have been asked throughout my time as a racing analyst that I don't think any male would ever be asked. People have asked, 'does somebody do your handicapping for you or do you do it yourself.' And 'is your husband going to let you keep working after you get married' and things like that? So there are still some stereotypes, sadly, that do exist, but I am very proud that I know I got my position on merit and I've worked so hard. This is my seventh summer at Saratoga with NYRA.”

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, we went over the many reasons there are breed to WinStar stallion Timberlake. The fastest horse of the week was Bring Theband Home (Into Mischief), who earned a 109 Beyer figure when winning the Harvey Pack Stakes at Saratoga.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the KTOB, Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV, the team of Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley concluded that the July 4-at-Saratoga meet is here to stay. NYRA handed $83 million over the four days as compared to $38 million over the same four days last year when the races were run at Aqueduct.

Other topics of discussion were the smashing debut at the Spa by 'TDN Rising Star' Ewing (Knicks Go) and the win by Magnitude (Not This Time) in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows July 5. The colt, who won the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds missed the GI Kentucky Derby due to a minor injury, but is now set to have a big summer.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

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NYTHA Establishes D. Wayne Lukas Award For Assistant Trainers

Wed, 2025-07-09 13:47

The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) has established the D. Wayne Lukas Award, to be given annually to a New York-based assistant trainer who demonstrates the qualities that the late Hall of Fame trainer himself exemplified– dedication, a strong work ethic, and a high commitment to excellence–the organization said in a press release on Wednesday.

Owners and trainers will be invited to nominate an assistant trainer for the $10,000 award, which will be presented each year on Sept. 2, D. Wayne Lukas's birthday.

“'The Coach' mentored countless young people, and so many of his assistants have gone on to have their own remarkable careers,” said NYTHA President Tina Marie Bond. “Assistant trainers are crucial to the success of every stable, and we wanted to recognize their contribution in honor of Wayne. His commitment to his craft, his love of horse racing, and his willingness to share his deep knowledge set a standard that we must all strive to match.”

NYTHA will put together a panel of horsemen and women to determine the winner of the D. Wayne Lukas Award. Details will be released later this month.

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Eclipse-Winning Apprentice Jockey Concepcion Joins Colonial Downs Colony

Tue, 2025-07-08 14:21

Eclipse Award-winning jockey Axel Concepcion, who was named top apprentice in 2023, will return to the Mid Atlantic and make his first appearance at Colonial Downs this summer as the 20-year-old has joined the local riding colony for the 2025 summer session.

“It feels great to be here,” Concepcion said. “I want to take advantage of these opportunities that the trainers are giving me. My goal is to win as many races as I can and to try to win a title.”

No stranger to the Mid Atlantic circuit, Concepcion won the Laurel Park riding title as an apprentice and those connections. Along with his familiarity with the Maryland jockey colony, put him in a good position to have success at Colonial.

“I know a lot of these riders from my first years based in the Mid-Atlantic,” Concepcion said. “I rode not just at Laurel but also Charles Town, Delaware Park, and Monmouth. There are so many good riders here. I am very blessed to be able to compete with them. You need to know all the riders who you are in the race with, you need to know all the horses, and how all that comes together to win a race.”

“We hope to ride for [Vicki] Oliver, as well as Mike Tomilson, Keith Desormeaux, and others,” said Concepcion's agent Liz Morris. “We'll also be looking to rekindle some of Axel's East Coast connections from when he was leading apprentice, as well as continue success with other Kentucky trainers who will be shipping in.”

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Bolt d’Oro Filly Our Lady Along In Time In Malvern Rose

Mon, 2025-07-07 18:33

Our Lady (Bolt d'Oro) made those that swallowed the 3-10 starting price sweat it out to the very finish, but the Canadian-based galloper saved her best for the final 100 yards, racing over the top of her fellow Pennsylvania-bred rivals to remain unbeaten in her three career starts to date in Monday's state-bred restricted Malvern Rose Stakes at Presque Isle Downs.

A 6 1/4-length maiden winner at first asking over the Woodbine Tapeta on May 4, the $75,000 Fasig-Tipton February yearling turned $160,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer added a May 24 optional claimer by better than four lengths against older rivals as the 1-4 chalk and was facing what appeared to be a step down in class for the Malvern Rose.

Off only fairly, Our Lady was taken back to race at the tail of the field behind slow fractions, and Patrick Husbands was in no hurry to make his move around the turn. Electing to chart an inside course as opposed to trying to loop the field, the Barbadian rider finally found daylight for Our Lady about five off the inside at the furlong grounds, and she lengthened her stride nicely to score in a fashion easier than the half-length margin of victory might indicate.

Our Lady is the 17th black-type winner for her sire in a race–then run over a two-turn mile–won by Shamrock Rose (First Dude) en route to a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in her 3-year-old season in 2018.

The previous black-type in the family is courtesy of the GIII Tempted Stakes-winning third dam Summer Raven, the dam of MGSW/MGISP Lewis Bay (Bernardini) and Grade III scorers Misconnect (Unbridled's Song) and Winslow Homer (Unbridled's Song). Summer Raven is the second dam of GSW Lost Raven (Uncle Mo).

Summer's Ready is also represented by the 2-year-old filly Jr Miss Buttercup (American Pharoah) and a colt foal by Volatile. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

MALVERN ROSE S., $75,000, Presque Isle Downs, 7-7, (S), 3yo, f, 6 1/2f (AWT), 1:17.66, ft.
1–OUR LADY, 121, f, 3, by Bolt d'Oro
1st Dam: Summer's Ready, by More Than Ready
2nd Dam: Summer Frolic, by Pulpit
3rd Dam: Summer Raven, by Summer Squall
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. ($75,000 Ylg '23 FTKFEB; $160,000 2yo '24 EASMAY). O-JDLP Holdings Inc; B-Blackstone Farm LLC (PA); T-Steven Chircop; J-Patrick Husbands. $44,550. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $110,188.
2–Queen's Wreath, 121, f, 3, Jimmy Creed–Ianthe, by Sky Mesa. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. ($27,000 RNA Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Tom Coulter; B-Arrowwood Farm Inc (PA); T-Erin C McClellan. $14,850.
3–Icona Mama, 121, f, 3, Maximus Mischief–Classe Signora, by Bernstein. ($75,000 2yo '24 OBSAPR). O-DeSales 85 LLC; B-J Patrick Morell & Tanya Lobsiger (PA); T-Flint W Stites. $8,167.
Margins: HF, 1HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 0.30, 10.60, 5.10.
Also Ran: Boujie Betz, Honorable Win, Dixieland Belle. Scratched: Double Airo, Up N Runnin.

 

The heavy favorite #4 OUR LADY ($2.60) went from last to first to win the $75,000 Malvern Rose Stakes at @PID_Casino. The daughter of @spendthriftfarm's Bolt d'Oro is now a perfect 3 for 3 in her young career. Patrick Husbands was up for @chircopracing. pic.twitter.com/4ebX5CSih6

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 7, 2025

 

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Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale ‘Gets the Ball Rolling’ Tuesday in Lexington

Mon, 2025-07-07 17:21

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearling Sale kicks off, not just the yearling sales season, but also a bidding-packed day of action at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington Tuesday. The auction, with 261 head catalogued, begins at 10 a.m. and will be followed immediately by the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, with 70 catalogued ready-to-race offerings.

Buyers were out in force at the sales barns on a steamy day in the Bluegrass Monday, with temperatures inching over the 90- degree mark.

“We have been slammed all day today,” Mark Taylor said from the front of the Taylor Made Sales Agency barn around midday Monday. “I think the foot traffic, looking at data this year versus last year, we are trending right on par, but I feel good about it. There just seems to be good energy and optimism.”

Taylor sees plenty to be optimistic about ahead of the first yearling sale of the year, starting right out of the gate with 94 yearlings in the July sale's traditional Freshman Sire Showcase.

“This sale has a strong representation of first-crop sires and I think it's an exceptional group,” Taylor said. “Not only in their popularity, but also in the physical specimens they are putting on the ground. There are some years that the freshman sires maybe aren't producing the quality and so this sale suffers. I think this year is a banner year for these first-crop stallions.”

Taylor continued, “And the recent tax legislation that got reinstated as far as bonus depreciation, I just think that is going to help the yearling market the whole way through. It just makes the economics of buying yearlings a lot better than it would have been otherwise.”

Mark Taylor || Fasig-Tipton

The July sale has perennially been known to attract a strong buying bench of pinhookers and, following a spring of record-setting juvenile sales, there were plenty of pinhookers looking to restock at the sales barns Monday.

“Fasig always tries to promote this as a trainer's sale, but at the end of the day I think the pinhookers are always the backbone of it,” Taylor said. “I've been talking to a lot of the Ocala guys coming through here and, by and large, most of them had a pretty good year. That always helps. Because they are so important to us yearling sellers, so I think that was a real blessing that most of them came out in pretty good shape.”

For the first time this year, Fasig-Tipton will award a bonus of $25,000 to the trainer who purchases the highest number of yearlings at the July sale. John Henry Mulholland of Mulholland Springs hopes efforts like that attract additional end-users to broaden the July buying bench.

“I think this sale is pretty dependent, generally speaking, on what kind of year the Ocala pinhookers have had,” Mulholland said. “So I think the ones that were pretty successful and had a good year, I think they will be here ready to shop. I am just hopeful that we get as many trainers and end-users as we can here. This is–for whatever reason–thought of as a sale mainly for pinhookers. We don't always get a whole ton of trainers, but I think as long as we get both pinhookers and end users, it will be fine. It will be a good, solid consistent sale.”

With a whole summer and fall of yearling sales to come, Mulholland thinks some buyers might take more of a wait-and-see approach at the July sale.

“It's the first sale of the year and everybody is probably going to tread lightly,” he said. “We've got a lot of sales in front of us. It's the transition for everyone. It's the sale that kind of gets the ball rolling for everybody. I don't expect any fireworks. I just think it's going to be the same thing. Whatever everybody perceives to be the top 20% of the sale, those horses will sell extremely well. And the middle market will be okay. I just hope that there are plenty of end-users, plenty of trainers that want to go to the races that come to this sale.”

Gabriel Duignan | Fasug-Tipton

From his Paramount Sales barn, Gabriel Duignan said he saw plenty of end-user shoppers.

“There were quite a few end users walking around today,” Duignan said. “It's the same old, same old. You have the right horse, I think you can sell them well here.”

He continued, “I think there is a lot of positivity in our business at the moment. We're running for record pots, we are coming off a good 2-year-old season, and the economy seems to be good.”

Freshman to the Fore

Of the seven horses in the Mulholland Springs' yearling consignment, six are by freshman sires, including Early Voting, Highly Motivated, Pinehurst, Drain the Clock, and Mo Donegal.

“I think it's a nice group,” Mulholland said of this year's class of freshman sires. “Those will be a lot of the ones people will want.”

With divisional leaders Flightline and Life is Good not represented in the July catalogue, Jackie's Warrior is the leading freshman sire by weanling average in the auction. Last year, 28 weanlings by the sprint champion sold for an average of $151,482. The stallion has six catalogued in the July Freshman Sire Showcase, including a filly from the Taylor Made consignment, which also features yearlings by first-crop sires Nashville, Drain the Clock, Early Voting, Pinehurst, Cyberknife, Epicenter, Olympiad, Idol, Mo Donegal, Corniche, Jack Christopher, and Golden Pal.

Jackie's Warrior | Sarah Andrew

The Freshman Sire Showcase brings a little extra buzz to the sales grounds and to the start of the July sale, according to Taylor.

“I think there are a lot of breeders who have supported these horses and they might have one going to September, but they like to walk around here and see what everybody else's look like,” Taylor said. “It's kind of a fun part of the sale.”

He continued, “Fasig actually put photos of all the new crop sires that are represented in the sale. There are conformation photos of each stallion and I've seen a lot of buyers looking at the horse that we are showing them and then they flip back to look at the stallion, so they can see if they are throwing themselves. I thought it was a cool touch.”

Other sires in the Freshman Sire Showcase include Mystic Guide, Happy Saver, Greatest Honour, Mandaloun, and Speaker's Corner

The July sale is an important step for the commercial success of these young sires, Taylor agreed.

“You look at some of the higher priced horses, they are not going to have a lot of representation here,” Taylor said. “But for those other sires, let's just say the $15,000 to $40,000 range, I don't think it's make or break by any means, but it definitely sets the tone. You're going to have a lot of them here and you're going to have a few in Saratoga. So if people have a positive outlook going into September, I think that it's easier for the momentum to continue. If they have a negative feeling, then they go in and the horse has to re-prove themselves. This is a select sale, so you have nice individuals in here, but the ones we have by first-crop sires are really knockouts.”

While the July sale may not be make or break, the clock is ticking in a fickle commercial market, according to Mulholland.

“You have such a narrow window,” Mulholland said. “They have to get off to a good start with weanlings and yearlings at the sale and then they have to do well at the 2-year-old sales or they have to come out running big early in the year at Churchill and Saratoga. It's an extremely unforgiving market anymore. I think that's because we are such a commercially driven industry. I understand we are losing a lot of tracks, I get all of the contraction of the racing business and all of that, there is a lot that needs to be solved there as well. But if you can get yourself a nice, decent racehorse, you can have a great time enjoying yourself and you can also make a hobby financially solvent. You can go have fun and actually make some money. These purses are just outrageous everywhere you look. I don't see why more people aren't on that end of the game, as opposed to just the commercial sales aspect of it.”

Perfect Time for a Horses of Racing Age Sale

The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale begins immediately following the yearling auction and will offer buyers the chance to bid on horses ready to compete during a busy–and lucrative–time on the racing calendar.

“It's so well-placed on the calendar,” Duignan said of the horses of racing age sale. “You can get a quick reward for your buck because you have a whole lot of races in the next couple of months with great purses at a high level.”

The Paramount Sales consignment will provide a little extra sizzle to the end of the racing age sale when it offers the 2-year-old Romeo (Honor A. P.) (hip 370), who was supplemented to the auction after winning the June 29 Bashford Manor Stakes in stakes-record time for owner Joseph Lloyd and trainer John Robb.

“I want to give a shout-out to Paddy Campion who recruited him and did a good job landing him,” Dugnian said. “It's not every day you get a chance to buy a 2-year-old of his caliber at public auction, coming off a win where he broke the stakes record in a prestigious stakes.”

Romeo romped by 10 1/4 lengths in his debut at Laurel Park in May before finishing third in the June 5 Tremont Stakes.

Romeo | Fasig-Tipton

“It's such a good time of the year to buy a horse like him with the whole summer ahead,” Duignan said. “He's got everything you'd desire. We are looking forward to selling him.”

Mulholland Springs will offer six horses of racing age from the estate of the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who passed away June 28.

“Wayne is the trainer who started the whole trend that we see now,” Mulholland said. “He was decades ahead of everyone else. It's an honor for us to be selling his horses. Just that they came from Wayne's barn, they will sell themselves. It's a humbling, rewarding feeling to be able to help out his wife, Laurie, and his grandchildren and his partners. I am looking forward to them going off to good homes and continuing on. It's very special to both Martha Jane and me and everyone at the farm to be handling his horses.”

The group of horses from the Lukas estate includes the unraced 2-year-olds Summer Date (Essential Quality) (hip 362), a $125,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September sale, Lost Valley (Liam's Map) (hip 363), a $90,000 acquisition last September, and Delancey Street (Street Sense) (hip 368). All three have been working in Kentucky towards their debuts.

Martha Jane and John Mulholland | Fasig-Tipton

Mulholland agreed July was a perfect spot on the calendar to sell racehorses.

“You've got every track that you would want open and you have the whole summer and fall of racing in front of you,” Mulholland said. “You've got great financial opportunities across the country. I am very happy to have some racehorses to sell.”

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Trainer Butler, Suspended for Having Employee’s Thyro-L in Barn, Sues HISA over Definition of ‘Possession’

Mon, 2025-07-07 16:43

The Illinois-based trainer Gerald Butler, who is currently suspended 20 months and was fined $10,000 after a Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s arbitration panel for Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program (ADMC) matters ruled in February that he possessed the banned substance levothyroxine (Thyro-L) in his Fairmount Park barn last summer, sued HISA in federal court July 3, seeking a stay of his penalties in a case that challenges the  definition of the word “possession.”

According to the sequence of events described in the arbitrator's decision, on June 13, 2024, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), which enforces the ADMC rules for HISA, received an anonymous tip stating that Butler, a licensed trainer since 1991, was administering Thyro-L to his horses.

Eight days later, on June 21, four HIWU investigators conducted a search of Butler's premises in Barn I.

The search turned up a powder form of Thyro-L in the trainer's feed room.

Butler denied the Thyro-L was his or that he had been administering it to his horses.

A part-time worker at Butler's stable, Tory Hughes, subsequently said that the Thyro-L belonged to her, and that she used it for her non-HISA-covered ponies that were stabled nearby.

Eight months later, on Feb. 13, 2025, the arbitrator ruled that, “there is no evidence that Trainer Butler had actual, physical possession or that he had had 'exclusive control over the Prohibited Substance.'”

The arbitrator also wrote that, “Trainer Butler presented credible evidence by way of his own testimony, as well as the testimony of Assistant Trainer [Stacy] Muskopf, Ms. Hughes, and Dr. [Donald] McCrosky, a veterinarian from whom Ms. Hughes' brother had purchased Thyro-L in July 2022 for Ms. Hughes' pony horse, that the Thyro-L belonged to Ms. Hughes.”

The arbitrator further wrote that, “There is no evidence that Trainer Butler ever administered Thyro-L to any Covered Horse after the ADMC Program came into effect. In other words, there is no evidence that Trainer Butler intended to cheat or did cheat.”

But, the arbitrator continued, the totality of those points of evidence still wasn't enough to get Butler off the hook for the possession penalty.

Although the arbitrator's final decision did shave four months off of what could have been a 24-month suspension, and Butler's fine was reduced to $10,000 from a possible $25,000, the HISA arbitrator wrote that, “there can be no doubt that Trainer Butler had exclusive control over the premises where the Thyro-L was found [and that] it is undisputed that Trainer Butler was in charge of, and had control over, Barn I, including the feed room where the Thyro-L was found.”

Now, five months later, Butler has initiated litigation against HISA in United States District Court (Southern District of Illinois), seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining HISA from enforcing the arbitration decision.

“This decision imposes severe and irreparable sanctions,” Butler's civil complaint stated, noting that the charge has cost him an additional $5,000 in adjudication costs. “Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that the arbitration decision, based on HISA's definition and application of 'Possession' under Rule 3214(a) and Rule 1020, violates his Fifth Amendment right to due process.

“The rule, as applied, imposes strict liability for unknowing possession of a banned substance, even when that substance belongs to a third party and Plaintiff was unaware of its presence, thereby failing to provide fair notice or safeguard against arbitrary enforcement,” the lawsuit stated.

Butler's lawsuit asserted that, “the balance of equities tips in Plaintiff's favor, as the harm to Plaintiff from immediate enforcement far outweighs any prejudice to HISA from a temporary stay.”

Butler's suit further contended that, “An injunction serves the public interest by ensuring that administrative decisions made under federal authority adhere to constitutional protections and promote fairness within the horse racing industry.”

The complaint also stated that the requested injunction “is narrowly tailored [and] seeks to enjoin HISA from enforcing the specific arbitration decision only as it applies to Plaintiff Gerald Butler, without seeking to broadly invalidate HISA rules or affect other parties.”

On July 7, a spokesperson for HISA acknowledged an emailed request from TDN asking for the Authority's side of the story regarding Butler's lawsuit, but declined the opportunity to comment.

Butler's lawsuit explained his case like this:

“Although structured as a private organization, HISA exercises authority delegated by Congress under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, and is thus subject to constitutional constraints, including the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Due process requires, at a minimum, fair notice of prohibited conduct and safeguards against arbitrary enforcement.

“In this case, HISA's Rule 3214(a) on 'Possession,' as defined in Rule 1020 and applied by the arbitration panel, fails to meet these fundamental due process requirements. Rule 1020 defines 'Possession' to include 'constructive possession (which shall be found only if the Covered Person has exclusive control or intends to exercise exclusive control over the Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method or the premises in which a Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method exists),'” the lawsuit stated.

“The Arbitrator explicitly found that Plaintiff had 'exclusive control over the premises (his barn) and that, under HISA's rule, Plaintiff's lack of awareness of the Thyro-L's presence was 'of no legal consequence,'” the lawsuit stated.

“This strict liability interpretation, which holds a trainer accountable for a banned substance found on their premises even when they have no knowledge of its presence and it belongs to a third party, is unconstitutional as applied.

“It creates a punitive regime where an individual can be subjected to severe professional and financial penalties without any showing of intent. Such a standard is particularly egregious when applied to a rule that purports to regulate 'possession,' a term that inherently implies some degree of knowledge or control in common legal understanding,” the lawsuit stated.

“Furthermore, while the Arbitrator assessed 'significant fault' against Plaintiff for failing to inquire about substances Ms. Hughes was bringing onto his premises, this 'utmost caution' standard, when coupled with strict liability for unknowing possession, creates an impossible and arbitrary burden.

“It effectively requires trainers to constantly police every item brought onto their property by any individual with access, regardless of their relationship or the nature of the items, to avoid a violation,” the lawsuit stated.

“This places an unreasonable and unpredictable burden on individuals, leading to potentially arbitrary enforcement and a lack of fair notice regarding the precise conduct that constitutes a violation,” the lawsuit stated.

“The application of HISA Rule 3214(a) through its definition of 'Possession' under Rule 1020 is also unconstitutionally vague and overbroad,” the lawsuit stated.

“A regulation is unconstitutionally vague if it fails to provide people of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to understand what conduct it prohibits.

“It is overbroad if it prohibits a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct. While the latter may not be directly applicable here, the vagueness argument is potent,” the lawsuit stated.

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New Jersey’s Version of Kelso, It’s He’spuregold

Mon, 2025-07-07 15:06

(This story is courtesy of the The Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey)

There are many reasons that Kelso is considered one of the best horses of the 20th century, but the ones that stand out are his class, consistency and durability. Back when the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup was still considered one of the most important races on the calendar, Kelso won it five years in a row, from 1960 through 1964. It's considered one of the greatest feats in racing history.

It would seem that accomplishment–winning the same stakes race five years in a row–would be beyond the reach of the modern thoroughbred. How many horses today even last five years? Not many. It's not what horses do anymore.

Then there's the New Jersey-bred He'spuregold (Vancouver {Aus}).

The 7-year-old gelding, who is owned and was bred by John Bowers's Roseland Farm Stable, celebrated the holiday weekend in style by winning his fifth straight Irish War Cry Handicap, a grass race restricted to New Jersey breds.

“John stopped by the barn this morning and said you seemed really excited about the race yesterday,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “I said, 'Do you realize what your horse just did? He won the same race five years in a row.' It's unheard of. It's incredible.”

Way back in 2020, He'spuregold made his debut finishing third in a maiden race at Keeneland while going off at odds of 70-1. Six starts later, he broke his maiden in a Jersey-bred race at Monmouth. Breen knew what he had, a horse with a lot of potential but one that also had ankle issues.

“We've had some ankle problems with him and they are just as bad now that he's seven-years-old as they were when he was he was three,” Breen said. “He's had those issues, so we've worked hard to keep the problems in check. He's made his visits to Patty Hogan and he has had surgery. But he keeps going. He's a warrior.”

“Kelly is over the moon,” Bowers said. “Kelly appreciates what he's done, with the five straight wins. We bred the horse in hopes that he'd be a good grass horse and he's always run great on the grass. The Irish War Cry is a New Jersey-bred race on the grass, so when he won it the first two times I wasn't really that surprised. Winning it five times in a row is really a thrill. It's something to be proud of.”

As a 3-year-old, He'spuregold won the race for the first time in 2021. Breen tried him in a couple of graded, open races, but he wasn't up to the challenge. So it was right back to the Irish War Cry, which, as a 4-year-old he won by 2 1/2 lengths. He picked up his only career win on the dirt when capturing the 2022 Charles Hesse III Stakes at Monmouth for Jersey-breds. And he would go on to beat a tough field of allowance runners in 2023 at Gulfstream. He lost his next three starts, but the 2024 Irish War Cry awaited. With Paco Lopez, his regular rider throughout his career aboard, he had to fight this time, wining by just a neck over One Time Willard (Micromange), who is also trained by Breen.

The secret to his success?

“His demeanor helps,” Breen said. “He's a pleasure to be around. He's overall just a nice horse. He's nice to be around. He's a classy horse. It's hard to put into words sometimes, but he's nice to be around, nice to train. He's the best athlete on your sports team. My son plays hockey. It's like training Gretzky. My style of training really fits with him. I tell them to go out there and work a half-mile in 48 flat and he does it. He is the perfect athlete.”

He beat open company in the 2024 Red Bank Stakes but that would be his last win coming into the 2025 Irish War Cry. This time he won by three-quarters of a length over the same One Time Willard.

“You have to give Kelly a lot of credit because the horse has had ankle issues since he was three,” Bowers said. “Kelly has kept the horse going. One thing Kelly said to me is that the horse runs easily once he starts running. That's what kept him in high class races for so long.”

The 2025 Irish War Cry win upped his career earnings to $687,170. He's won 10 races, five of them being the Irish War Cry.

There won't be a sixth straight. Though He'spuregold is obviously still on top of his game, Bowers doesn't want to assume any of the risks that come with campaigning an 8-year-old.

“We don't plan on running him next year,” Bowers said. “I don't want to see him running in claiming races. By the end of this year, he will have done everything we had hoped for and more. I appreciate it when people recognize him and his accomplishments.”

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Letter to the Editor: All in the Family – Remembering Wayne Lukas

Mon, 2025-07-07 14:21

The following is a note from Dauna Moths, the sister of the late D. Wayne Lukas, to TDN's Christina Bossinakis.

I just watched the TDN tribute to Wayne. I wish I could talk with each of those who commented–I consider us all “family.” Also, thank you for your recent comments on his life.  My heart overflows to read all the remembrances to him. I have been overwhelmed by calls and e-mails from my friends and I am still trying to accept this reality. My heartfelt wish is to thank those who made kind comments and were a part of Wayne's life.

For Wayne's 80th birthday, I sent him many scrapbooks of his life and I enclosed a card and blank pages, telling him he had to finish the books. Well, he certainly has done that. Many of the pictures of his early life were in Sermon on the Mount.

Of course, I'm proud of all his achievements, but what really counts to me are the memories of our childhood. The many remembrances of his kindness and giving to others from others that knew him are comforting. My brother, Lowell, and I try to live the same way–and this is a tribute to a mother and father who taught us these values and way to live.

It is ironic that I have a bulletin board with some of the same quotes that Wayne had on his, but that it was unknown to each of us!

I wish there was a way for me to respond to all those who have remembered him and their gracious comments comfort me. Thank you for being a part of his life.

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Horse Gets Loose at Monmouth, Winds Up on Route 36

Sun, 2025-07-06 15:05

Hawkstone (Catalina Cruiser) was entered in Sunday's second race at Monmouth Park, but it seems like he was more interested in doing some sightseeing.

As the Cal Lynch trainee was being walked over for the race, he spooked and got loose from his handler.

“He was heading over for the races,” Lynch said. “Unbelievably, no one had closed the stable gate and he ran right out. He was walking over for the race. He was at the gap by the racetrack and the horses from the previous race were galloping by. That spooked him. He reared up and got away from the groom and went all the way down the horse path, and galloped out of the stable gate. No one was there at the stable gate to stop him. That's unbelievable to me. I am very disappointed by that, but at least the horse is okay and nobody got injured. He's back at the barn and everything is fine. That's the saving grace. The people are okay and so is the horse.”

Hawkstone headed west on Rt. 36, the main thoroughfare into Monmouth. Lynch said the horse was caught near a Dunkin' Donuts about a half-mile from the track.

Welcome to @MonmouthPark pic.twitter.com/4uwOPOjR1J

— Alex Kondas (@a_kondas) July 6, 2025

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Spa Event to Mark NYS Fund Alliance With Irish Racing

Sun, 2025-07-06 13:53

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – As the final races of the opening day of the Saratoga season are being run July 10, a reception to celebrate a collaboration linking racing and breeding in New York and Ireland will be beginning across the street at the National Museum of Racing.

The event sponsored by the New York State Breeding and Development Fund will honor Helena Nolan, the Consul General of Ireland in the U.S. and Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland. Nolan and Eade were principals with Brian O'Dwyer, the chairman of the New York State Gaming Commission and the fund, in developing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was signed in October.

The goal of the MOU is to forge ties between the two prominent racing precincts. The reception within view of America's oldest and most popular track is being promoted as an opportunity to further strengthen this new arrangement.

O'Dwyer was named to the commission and fund posts in 2022 and he brought with him a desire to do more than just serve as a regulator and administrator. The New York based attorney was the founder and first Chair of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, and served as advisor to the Clinton administration during the Northern Ireland peace process. He was appointed by President Clinton to the Presidential Commission on White House Fellows, and by Secretary Clinton to the U.S. Committee for UNESCO. An alliance with Ireland was a natural fit.

“I'm lucky enough to have a great connection with Ireland in my previous jobs,” O'Dwyer said. “The job of the Thoroughbred Fund is to promote Thoroughbred racing and Thoroughbreds. While we have done that a certain way, which is promoting with prizes and things of that sort, it occurred to me that the other way is to bring Thoroughbred horses into New York and have New York horses race in Ireland, an international thing. We were able to get the sponsorship of the Consul General of Ireland, who I know, who put me in touch with Horse Racing Ireland. This idea is the first step of promoting interchange between those so that we can, hopefully, by next year, have many more Irish horses racing in New York tracks and vice versa.”

O'Dwyer said he expects that connecting the New York and Irish racing and breeding will lead to more interest in purchasing New York-breds

“I consider this an important first step,” he said. “We haven't done this before and if this works out and we start getting a real market in Ireland, then we'll go on to England. It's our next step, and then maybe to France. We all know that international trade works, and if we can get new markets for New York state horses, then we've done a great job of promoting the breed.”

Eade has visited several American race tracks, but this will be her first time at Saratoga Race Course. She said that HRI was formed by the Irish government in 2001 as a semi-state body to promote horse racing and develop the Thoroughbred industry.

“I think the growth that's going to come from racing is through global cooperation,” she said. “We have historically had great relationships on a lot of trade areas with the U.S. Obviously, New York and Irish people have great connections, particularly Brian himself. He's built up a great relationship with our Consul General of Ireland in New York itself. A lot of the momentum has come from Brian and Helena. I suppose my ownership team and my chairman for Horse Racing Ireland has spent a lot of time in in the U.S. himself on different assignments in his other walks of life. For us, we've seen a lot of U.S. interest in in Ireland, in racing, in the purchase of thoroughbreds, and we've also seen a lot of Irish-bred horses do really well in the U.S.

“We've also seen a lot of U.S. owners choosing to participate in both forms of racing in Ireland, and the signing of this memorandum of understanding is to kind of put that on a more specific footing with the New York area. I think it could be quite exciting. The shape it will take, I think, will evolve as we work on specifics. We're looking at different things, like twinning race tracks. I think that could be great fun both ways, getting people to visit both jurisdictions and participate. We have very successful breeders here who do have locations in the U.S. We may not have focused on this particular area enough, and this affords us that opportunity.”

Tracy Egan, the fund's executive director, said that she expects several officials of the New York Racing Association to attend the reception and will want to promote their program.

“I'm sure they're going to be talking about the attractiveness of some of their turf racing, and also the fact that we're going to have an artificial track in Belmont.”

Egan noted that there is an all-weather track in Ireland at Dundalk, but that the new Belmont Park might be attractive to some owners and trainers.

“It would give their horses an option for racing in the winter,” she said. “All things are possible.”

Egan said the event at the racing museum will be something of an in-person launch following the agreement.

“Part of having this reception, I'm hoping, is going to be where we really create some enthusiasm for this,” she said. “So, it's not just something that's going to sit on a back burner, but something that can really move forward and create some leverage and cooperation so we can really see things happen in the next couple of years.”

Eade said she first met O'Dwyer in the June 2023 in discussions that led to the MOU.

“There is the shared goal of creating best practice and encourage educational collaboration and promote career opportunities across the two jurisdictions in both the racing and breeding industries,” she said. “Also, we will work together to enhance understanding on welfare and develop a shared recognition of safeguarding standards. As CEO of HRI, I am really looking forward to see what we can achieve through this relationship in the future.”

The post Spa Event to Mark NYS Fund Alliance With Irish Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Bashford Manor Winner Among Latest Additions to Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale

Sun, 2025-07-06 13:30

Romeo (Honor A. P.) (hip 370), winner of the June 29 Bashford Manor Stakes, is among five additional supplemental entries to the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, which will be held Tuesday in Lexington. The 2-year-old, a 10 1/4-length debut winner at Laurel in May, was third in the June 5 Tremont Stakes before his front-running 3 3/4-length victory in the Bashford Manor for owner Joseph Lloyd and trainer John Robb. The colt is consigned by Paramount Sales.

The latest supplemental entries to the auction also include:

Classic Catch (Classic Empire) (hip 366): a two-time stakes-placed 5-year-old coming off a runner-up effort in a June 5 classified allowance race at Saratoga. He is consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

Jackstown (Speightstown) (hip 367): a 5-year-old who finished third in last year's GI Bing Crosby S. He is consigned by Elite, agent.

Delancey Street (Street Sense) (hip 368): An unraced 2-year-old who had three published works at Ellis Park in June, most recently going four furlongs in :49.60 (6/10) June 29. He is consigned by Mulholland Springs, agent for the Estate of D. Wayne Lukas & Partners.

Nanzig (Maclean's Music) (hip 369): a 2-year-old filly who finished third in a July 5 maiden special weight at Horseshoe Indianapolis. She is consigned by Mulholland Springs, agent.

The July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale will be held immediately following the July Sale of Selected Yearlings, which begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The post Bashford Manor Winner Among Latest Additions to Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Not This Time’s Magnitude Registers Iowa Derby Romp

Sat, 2025-07-05 21:46

Magnitude did not disappoint the hopefuls as he took the Iowa Derby stylishly at Prairie Meadows on Saturday evening.

Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack's story this week on the colt's return to the races post-surgery reported that trainer Steve Asmussen was “dreaming big” about the Winchell-owned runner's prospects. The reason had something to do with the stellar result from the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in mid-February when the 3-year-old won by 9 3/4 lengths with a 108 Beyer to boot.

Prior to that, Magnitude had broken his maiden at second asking last summer at Ellis Park. After clearing an optional claimer at Churchill Downs Nov. 17, the Asmussen trainee placed in the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds Dec. 21. When he was well-beaten in the GIII Lecomte Stakes in New Orleans that set him up to be a massive price in the Risen Star at 43-1.

Now that Magnitude recovered fully from his ankle chip, the bay came off the shelf and was installed as the 70 cents on the dollar choice here. The favorite fired like a bullet out of the gate and moved nicely towards the rail for the lead into the first turn. Though the colt was shadowed by a pair of competitors, Magnitude looked comfortable up the backstretch and around the far turn. Powering into the lane, the chalk was given a tap and finding another gear he strode to the wire looking like the Risen Star winner we saw earlier this year.

Rockadelic was a $110,000 purchase by Freddie Bloodstock at the 2022 Keeneland November Sale while future colt Azum (McKinzie) was in-utero. That current 2-year-old, who went to SBS Global for $165,000 during Keeneland September, broke his maiden under the care of Jose D'Angelo at Gulfstream Park June 13. The winner's dam is also responsible for a yearling colt by Bolt d'Oro and she foaled a colt by Jack Christopher Mar. 24. Magnitude's second dam is GI Coaching Club American Oaks victress Octave (Unbridled's Song).

IOWA DERBY, $250,000, Prairie Meadows, 7-5, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:42.26, gd.
1–MAGNITUDE, 122, c, 3, by Not This Time
                1st Dam: Rockadelic, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Octave, by Unbridled's Song
                3rd Dam: Belle Nuit, by Dr. Carter
($310,000 Wlg '22 KEENOV; $450,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Ron Stolich (KY); T-Steven Asmussen; J-Ben Curtis. $150,000. Lifetime Record: GSW, 8-4-1-0, $596,165.
2–Itsmybirthday, 116, c, 3, Vekoma–After the Rose, by Pioneerof the Nile. ($42,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP; $195,000 2yo '24 OBSOPN). O-Arnold Bennewith, Rick Wiest, Clayton Wiest and Lana Wiest; B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Robertino Diodoro. $50,000.
3–Mister Omaha, 116, c, 3, Omaha Beach–Cosmic Code, by Into Mischief. ($120,000 RNA Ylg '23 FTKOCT). O/B-Bryan Hawk (OK); T-Joe S. Offolter. $25,000.
Margins: 9 1/4, 4 1/4, 2. Odds: 0.70, 2.10, 7.20.
Also Ran: Maverama, Mickswagger, Authentic Gallop. Scratched: Big Truzz.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

MAGNITUDE ($3.40) RETURNS IN A HUGE WAY!

What a win for the Steve Asmussen trained Not This Time (@TMStallions) colt in the $250,000 Iowa Derby at @prmracing. @_benacurtis was in the irons for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Catch the Cornhusker next: https://t.co/p25XHD80go pic.twitter.com/j9EVJUHsoN

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 5, 2025

The post Not This Time’s Magnitude Registers Iowa Derby Romp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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