NEW War Front Filly for Beholder at Spendthrift
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Four-time champion & three-time Breeders’ Cup winner Beholder delivered a dark bay filly by War Front Wednesday night at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. “Beholder foaled a very nice War Front filly last night on the farm,” said Ned Toffey, General Manager at Spendthrift. “This filly is a good-sized, well-made foal, with a great shoulder and plenty of bone. She couldn’t be doing any better. The delivery was very smooth and uneventful. It was another beautiful effort by Beholder.” She’s the third foal for Beholder, who has a 2YO Uncle Mo colt – now named Q B One – and a yearling filly by Curlin. Beholder will visit Spendthrift stallion Bolt d’Oro, who shuttles to Australia, in 2020. Beholder retired from racing in 2016 after an illustrious career that saw her win 18 (11 at Gr1 level) of 26 starts with earnings of US$6,156,600. She earned Eclipse Awards as the outstanding 2YO filly of 2012, 3YO filly of 2013, and older filly & mare of 2015 and 2016.Stratum Star Half Set for Canterbury Debut
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Friday’s Sydney race meeting at Canterbury will be highlighted by the debut of valuable juvenile colt Prague (Redoute’s Choice-Purely Spectacular, by Pins) who’s two trials to date have produced a win and a runner-up. In training with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, fresh off celebrating snaring the $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic with Away Game (Snitzel), Prague was knocked down for $1.6 million at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale where he was consigned by Mike and Kate Fleming’s Bhima Thoroughbreds. Carrying the familiar aqua, black checked band & armbands and checked cap of Aquis, Prague is a half-brother to Gr1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and Gr1 Kingston Town Stakes winner Stratum Star, who also recorded Gr1 placings in the Futurity Stakes, Australian Guineas, Toorak Handicap and Memsie Stakes. The duo’s half-sister Serenade was placed in Moonee Valley’s Gr3 Champagne Stakes, the RL Inglis 2YO Classic and another two Listed events. With Tommy Berry engaged, Prague has drawn well for Race 2 (1200m) at Canterbury which jumps at 6.45pm. The forecast is for possible showers and storms off the back of similar conditions on Thursday.
Stratum Star's half-brother will debut at Canterbury (pic: Mark Gatt)
2020 MM Adelaide Yearling Catalogue Online
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Following its record-breaking Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Magic Millions has released the online catalogue for the 2020 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale. With recent graduates including Melbourne Spring Carnival Gr1 winners Begood Toya Mother and Warning, the Adelaide Yearling Sale continues its proud tradition as a first class source of high class racehorses. Last Saturday, rising Queensland-based star Vega One, a $75,000 Adelaide Yearling Sale buy, swept the $1 million Magic Millions Cup (RL) and is now a leading contender for the Gr1 Stradbroke Handicap. All-told, 521 lots from leading breeders across the country will go under the hammer at the Morphettville-based auction over two days on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 March. A feature of the sale each year is the great variety of quality stock on offer and its appeal to a broad market is highlighted this March by a catalogue comprising 293 BOBS-eligible, 144 SuperVOBIS-nominated and 109 SABOIS Breeder-Paid youngsters. This year 130 individual sires are represented, including the first Australian crops of a record 30 freshman stallions. To view the online catalogue for the 2020 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale click here or download it via the Equineline iPad app.
Adelaide Gr1-winning graduate Warning (pic: Mark Gatt)
Stewards Ping Leading SA Apprentice For a Month
Weekend, 17th January 2020
South Australia’s Stewards’ panel has taken a dim view of a Boxing Day ride by the state’s reigning Dux of The SA Apprentice Academy, handing down a one month suspension. It’s a tough penalty for Kayla Crowther who currently sits third on the Adelaide Jockey’s Premiership behind Todd Pannell and Barend Vorster. According to racing.com, it’s a bitter pill after Crowther’s struggles in Melbourne in 2019 culminated in a 15-meeting suspension when she attempted to take a run that wasn’t there and fell at Caulfield. This time, to the naked eye at least, Crowther appeared to have enough room to drive a London bus between runners at Morphettville soon after turning for home when riding Thompson’s Star, before inexplicably switching across heels of almost all the small field to rush home for second place. Crowther plead guilty to a charge of “failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures aboard” the runner-up, and will start her suspension after the Murray Bridge meeting on Saturday where she has 8 rides on the 9 race card.Free of Debt Building Towards Return
Weekend, 17th January 2020
One of the forgotten juveniles of last season, Free of Debt (Unencumbered-Stagerush, by Giants Causeway) is building towards a race return, reports smh.com.au. In a Golden Slipper that proved disastrous for his connections, the son of ill-fated Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Unencumbered was galloped on during the race, and the now 3YO has not been seen on a racetrack since. Trained by Chris Bieg, the then 2YO had shown untapped potential – winning at Morphettville and Flemington with Jake Toerek in the irons before Michael Walker guided him to a placing in the Gr1 Blue Diamond Stakes (see below) where he was beaten less than a length by Lyre to be the first colt home. Raced by a large group of owners headed by Aquis, Free of Debt is likely to find the Gr1 Australian Guineas comes around too quickly, but Bieg is hopeful he could get a guernsey in the All-Star Mile, and will trial him between races at Murray Bridge. "That mile race would be perfect for him,” said Bieg. ”The boys are all jumping on board, Aquis obviously own half of him. He's got a pretty big following here in Adelaide and [I] thought it might be worth having a crack at."
Asano On Fire Atop NZ Jockey Table
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Japanese-born New Zealand apprentice jockey Kozzi Asano extended his lead in the New Zealand Jockeys’ Premiership after recording five wins at New Plymouth on Thursday, reports NZ Racing Desk. The in-demand Christchurch-based hoop began the day with a third-placing on Southern Vogue in the Peninsula Beachfront Hotel Mooloolaba Maiden (2000m) before winning his first race of the day aboard $1.60 favourite Aquila Star in the Epsom With Wheels & George 1800. He then went on to take out the four remaining races on the card. It was Asano’s second five-timer at the Taranaki track, after bagging a quintet of wins at New Plymouth last month. The popular hoop is indentured to Riccarton trainer Andrew Carston, following stints with Gary Vile and Kevin Myers in the central districts.
High five for Kozzi Asano (pic: Race Images Grant Matthew)
Aquis’ Real Bonus Extended To NZB Karaka Sale
Weekend, 17th January 2020
In further news involving Aquis, subsequent to how well received the Aquis First Season Sire Bonus Scheme was at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast, Aquis is set to also offer the bonus at the upcoming 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale. Rewarding not only the purchasers of the yearling, but the breeder as well, the lucrative Bonus Scheme will see the purchase price paid back to the buyer of any Divine Prophet yearling who wins any Saturday metropolitan race at Ellerslie Racecourse or Trentham Racecourse in New Zealand, or any metropolitan Saturday winner in Sydney or Melbourne up until the 2021 Karaka Million. With the breeder playing such an integral part, they too will be rewarded – securing a A$50,000 bonus should the Divine Prophet yearling purchased adhere to the above winning criteria. “The bonus scheme has been developed with the purpose of assisting and rewarding those who support Aquis,” said Aquis CEO Tony (Tubba) Williams. “We were really pleased with how the market embraced the Bonus during the recent Magic Millions and we’re looking forward to offering it at the New Zealand Bloodstock yearling sales in the coming weeks.”Mills Smitten By Record Written Tycoon Filly
Weekend, 17th January 2020
If it’s true that yearling buyers invariably regret the ones they didn’t buy more than the ones they did, then Victorian bloodstock agent Sheamus Mills has 1.5 million reasons for buying the highest ever priced yearling by Woodside Park’s leading stallion Written Tycoon. The progeny of the Iglesia sire-son are always in high demand, but even though Mills knew he’d need to go close to $1 million to get the daughter of Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Karuta Queen, when push came to shove, tbv.com.au reports that Mills just couldn’t allow her to slip through his fingers. $1.5 million later, and he believes he’s bought the best yearling he’s ever seen out of some 30,000 inspected in 15 years. “I have been in this game for a fair while now and I have bought fast ones and slow ones and I have not seen one like her,” Mills said. “I score everything on a sale complex and I gave some other horses an A-plus which is in line with previous A-pluses I suppose I have seen in previous sales, [but] I didn’t know what to write for her because she was, in my opinion, lengths above those horses. Remarkably, Karuta Queen (Not a Single Doubt), already the dam of a stakes-winner, has had 5 foals, all of which are fillies, and is currently carrying a filly by Zoustar. At this stage Mills hasn’t decided on a trainer, and the buying group is currently working out how much of the $1.5 million they will each take in the Strawberry Hill Stud-consigned filly.
The $1.5 million Written Tycoon-Karuta Queen (pic: Steve Hart)
Lindsays Deserving of Karaka Millions Luck
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Brendan and Jo Lindsay, principals of Cambridge Stud which they purchased off Sir Patrick and Lady Justine Hogan, endured in 2019 what Queen Elizabeth II might term an annus horribilis. The globally famous stallion station, visited by Her Majesty, suffered three unconnected, but no less crushing, deaths of the sires Roaring Lion, Burgundy and Tavistock. As the industry gears up towards the evergreen New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales Series, the Lindsays have an undeniable chance to take home the trophies and rich purses for both the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) and Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1400m) at Ellerslie on the eve of the Karaka Sale. While Not an Option (Not a Single Doubt) and Taroni (Showcasing) are among the combatants in a competitive juvenile affair, 3YO filly Probabeel (Savabeel) is the likely favourite among the sophomore division after the Gr1-performed winner of 2019’s NZB 2YO showpiece scored a soft 1400m victory at Awapuni in early January. Her trainer Jamie Richards enthused, “We had that race picked out for a while, three weeks out from the Karaka Million,” Richards said. “She’ll improve a lot, and it’s nice to have her back and to win a race in those colours of Brendan and Jo Lindsay. Head trainer for Te Akau Racing, whose principal David Ellis purchased Probabeel for $380,000 at the 2019 NZB NYSS before selling her to the Lindsays, Richards revealed, “She’s really started to thrive – the spring campaign in Sydney brought her on a lot. She didn’t develop a huge amount from two to three through the winter, but with a bit of sun on her back in Sydney and a good month at the Karaka farm of Cambridge Stud, she’s come on in leaps and bounds.”
Savabeel Starts His Run Home
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Meanwhile, dominant kiwi stallion Savabeel (Zabeel-Savannah Success, by Success Express) has begun his customary move on the New Zealand General Sires table, and could pass current front-runner Darci Brahma in the comings months. As of Thursday, 16 January, he is just shy of $300,000 adrift of the much admired The Oaks Stud stallion. Gr1 Cox Plate-winning Waikato Stud stalwart Savabeel boasts an extraordinary record: he has topped the New Zealand table in an unbroken sequence for the past five completed seasons. While Darci Brahma has freakishly exciting Catalyst, plus Harlech, Kali & Dee and Gee to fly the banner in 2019-20, Savabeel’s representatives are ubiquitous in number and talent. On Saturday he has representatives in three Kiwi features races: Grand de Flora, Showbeel, Yearn, Johnny Lincoln and Amanda Lincoln. By any standards the most in-demand sire of progeny at NZB’s National Yearling Sales Series' premier sessions of recent years, Savabeel has another massive group of yearlings catalogued for later this month at Karaka.
Champion sire Savabeel (waikatostud.com)
Shadai Strikes For American Gr1 Producer
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Japanese global thoroughbred force Shadai Farm, whose principal Katsumi Yoshida purchased 3 yearlings at last week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, has bought the dam of Gr1 Hollywood Derby winner Mo Forza at the 2020 Keeneland January sale. According to bloodhorse.com, 10YO mare Inflamed (Unusual Heat-Little Hottie, by Afternoon Deelites) was knocked down for US$525,000 to bloodstock agent Naohiro Hosoda on behalf of Shadai Farm’s Terry Yoshida. The third highest-priced mare of Tuesday’s session, the full-sister to Gr2 winner Burns and Gr1-placed Brushburn is in foal to Tapit sire-son Tapiture, a Gr1-placed multiple graded-stakes winner. Hosoda explained that Shadai was particularly impressed with both Inflamed’s pedigree and what they see as the toughness of her progeny – traits required for future offspring that will compete in their homeland: “Japanese racing is tough on the main track. She's a proven mare and she's still young, only 10-years-old." Inflamed will be shipped to Japan in the next few months where her next mating is yet to be decided.
UK Gambling Commission To Ban Credit Cards
Weekend, 17th January 2020
In a decision which could significantly impact gaming and wagering turnover in the UK, the Gambling Commission will implement a complete credit card ban from 14 April. Enforcing the ban on gamblers using credit cards follows an extensive review that, according to racingpost.com, shows that of 24 million gamblers, 10.5 million use online accounts. Of those, 800,000 made use of a locally-issued credit card during 2018. The head of the gambling commission, Neil McArthur, opined, “Credit card gambling can lead to significant financial harm. The ban that we have announced today should minimise the risks of harm to consumers from gambling with money they do not have.” With the Commission’s own research finding that up to 22% of online gamblers who use a credit card are problem gamblers, McArthur acknowledged that it would “inconvenience those consumers who use credit cards responsibly but we're satisfied reducing the risk of harm to other consumers means that action must be taken.”
Credit cards are set to be banned for gambling in the UK
Weekend Black-Type Schedule
Weekend, 17th January 2020
Out of 10 Group and Listed races over the weekend, 4 of them will be run at Gr1 level. New Zealand’s Trentham Racecourse in Wellington hosts a Gr1 double on Saturday when renewals of the Telegraph (1200m) and Thorndon Mile (1600m) are run. A day later, Sha Tin in Hong Komng hosts the Gr1 Stewards’ Cup and Gr1 Centenary Sprint Handicap. The former is full of intrigue, with the level weight field of seven headed by champion Beauty Generation, beaten at his last 3 starts after winning 9 races in a row. Whilst every effort is made to ensure information and the below race times (in Australian Eastern Summer Time order) are accurate, please consult official race cards if certainty is required.
- SAT 12.40pm: Gr3 NZB Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) Trentham
- 1.52pm: Gr1 Telegraph (1200m) Trentham
- 2.27pm: Gr1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) Trentham
- 2.39pm: Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) Gore
- 3.03pm: Gr3 Wellington Cup (3200m) Trentham
- 5.50pm: Listed Kensington Stakes (1000m) Flemington
- 6.14pm: Listed Miss Andretti Stakes (1100m) Ascot
- 7.40pm: Listed Launceston Guineas (2100m) Launceston
- SUN 5.15pm: Gr1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) Sha Tin
- 6.20pm: Gr1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) Sha Tin
SAT 12.40pm: Gr3 NZB Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) Trentham
Weekend, 17th January 2020
1.52pm: Gr1 Telegraph (1200m) Trentham
Weekend, 17th January 2020
2.27pm: Gr1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) Trentham
Weekend, 17th January 2020
2.39pm: Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) Gore
Weekend, 17th January 2020
3.03pm: Gr3 Wellington Cup (3200m) Trentham
Weekend, 17th January 2020
5.50pm: Listed Kensington Stakes (1000m) Flemington
Weekend, 17th January 2020
6.14pm: Listed Miss Andretti Stakes (1100m) Ascot
Weekend, 17th January 2020
7.40pm: Listed Launceston Guineas (2100m) Launceston
Weekend, 17th January 2020
SUN 5.15pm: Gr1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) Sha Tin
Weekend, 17th January 2020
6.20pm: Gr1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) Sha Tin
Weekend, 17th January 2020