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Foaling In Love

A newborn foal at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale
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A newborn foal at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale
A newborn foal at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale

The new year is here and it’s about time for a foaling frenzy!  Due to the January 1st birthday, that all Northern Hemisphere Thoroughbreds must share, it is of upmost importance that no newborn be born prior to that day but we see a rapid upswing in foals thereafter.  A few foals have already made their arrival.  Literally, several hundred per sire are on the way, fathered by the most popular of studs.  Most horse farm tours are open to stallion visits but naturally the very pregnant mares and new foals are sheltered and protected.  My best chances, for now, of seeing the babies, is at the sales.  With the majority of the broodmares currently pregnant there are usually a few who give birth while they are in the sales barns.  I am hoping to see some of the newest foals to the Thoroughbreds, we love so much, tomorrow.  Read on to see which foals I am in most anticipation of as I am foaling in love.

 

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Knockout November

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Love The Chase

Photo:  Love The Chase

Don’t blink!  The 2016 Breeders’ Cup finished up on Saturday and in the next moment the Thoroughbreds shipped away.  Some we will see on the track again, some retired and others were sent promptly to Kentucky for the November sales.

Stopchargingmaria

Photo: Stopchargingmaria

On November 4th and 5th, Santa Anita Park in California hosted the Breeders’ Cup.  13 races took place yielding the following results by race and winning Thoroughbreds:

  • Juvenile Turf: Oscar Performance
  • Las Vegas Dirt Mile: Tamarkuz
  • Juvenile Fillies Turf: New Money Honey
  • Longines Distaff: Beholder
  • 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies: Champagne Room
  • Filly and Mare Turf: Queen’s Trust
  • Twin Spires Sprint: Drefong
  • Turf Sprint: Obviously
  • Sentient Jet Juvenile: Classic Empire
  • Longines Turf: Highland Reel
  • Filly and Mare Sprint: Finest City
  • Mile: Tourist
  • Classic: Arrogate

Baffled

Photo: Baffled

There were a whole lot of upsets and close calls but it is all part of the game!  The results of these races lead to updates in bloodlines all over the world and the new information was influential at the following sales.

Cassett

Photo: Cassett

The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, KY was quite the success.  Held at 4 P.M. EST on 11/7/16 there were 175 hips cataloged.  88 horses were sold and 34 did not meet the reserve.  The others scratched prior to the sale.  The auction grossed over $54 million dollars which is up over 22% versus the prior year.  The average price rose nearly 30% versus last year to about $615 thousand dollars.  The median price went up almost 60% to more than $377 thousand dollars.  The horses that didn’t make the reserve, the minimum price per the seller, was down to less than 28% versus 34% in 2015.  15 horses sold for a million dollars or more.

  1. Baffled $3.5 M
  2. Curalina $3M
  3. Stopchargingmaria $2.8M
  4. Cassatt $2.5M
  5. Embellish The Lace $2.4M
  6. Lady Zuzu $2.35M
  7. Jacaranda $2M
  8. Love The Chase $1.95M – oh my goodness, it’s California Chrome’s mom!
  9. Whatdreamsrmadeof $1.65M
  10. Cover Song $1.6M
  11. Cathryn Sophia $1.4M
  12. Tapas $1.3M
  13. Paid Up Subscriber $1.1M
  14. Haveyougoneaway $1.1M
  15. Luminance $1M

Peace And War

Photo: Peace And War

The 2016 November Breeding Stock Sale at Keeneland in Lexington, KY was held starting at 11am on 11/8/16.  It will continue thru November 20th.  Day 1 of Book 1 went very nicely.  Day 1 included 239 hips.  115 Thoroughbreds were sold.  Over $50 million dollars were grossed.  The average price was more than $436 thousand dollars.  The median was $260 thousand.  10 horses sold for 7 figures.

  1. Secret Gesture $3.5M
  2. Celestine $2.55M
  3. Tapicat $2.2M
  4. My Conquestadory $1.5M
  5. Peace And War  $1.45M
  6. Princess Sylvia  $1.4M
  7. Summer Soiree $1.3M
  8. Yellow Ribbon $1.3M
  9. Lexie Lou $1M
  10. Dust and Diamonds $1M

Keenekand November Sale

Photo:  from left to right Dust And Diamonds, Celestine, Tapicat

It was a good couple of days to catch the action in Lexington, KY.  I can’t wait to see what the remainder of the sales yield.  I hope we have a knockout November!  Check back at least weekly and I’ll do my best to keep you updated on new adventures with race horses.

Top Book 1 Keeneland November

Photo: clockwise from top left Summer Soiree, Secret Gesture, Princess Sylvia, My Conquestadory

 

 

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The Shoemaker Is A Shoo-In

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Salutations to all of my faithful readers and anyone new who happens upon this story.  I hope you each had a nice long holiday and are looking forward to some exciting racing this coming weekend.  This Saturday will leave us hanging exactly one more week until the 148th Belmont Stakes but it marks the 1st race in the U.S. for the 2016 Challenge Series that paves the path to the Breeders’ Cup.

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The 33rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be hosted at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on November 4th and 5th in 2016.  The Breeders’ Cup authorities identified 77 races in which the winner will automatically qualify for placement in a BC race.  These 77 races are the 2016 Challenge Series, also known as the “Win And You’re In” races.  49 of these races take place in North America.  The other 28 races are abroad in 11 countries.  59 of these races are classified as Grade or Group I thus they are some of the best races in the world.

Eight races in the Series have already taken place.  The 1st and 2nd race was on 1/9/16 at Kenilworth in South Africa.  Australia held 3 more races at Randwick in April.  The May races were held at Palermo in Argentina, Club Hippico de Santiago in Chile and San Isidro, also in Argentina.  These races gave us entries in 5 of the 2016 BC races.

  • BC Mile: Legal Eagle, Winx, Kitcat
  • Filly and Mare Turf: Smart Call, Azkadellia
  • Turf Sprint: Chautauqua
  • Longines Distaff: Corona Del Inca
  • Longines Turf: Don Inc

At the very same track that will host the BC this year, we will witness the 1st North American race in the series, The Shoemaker Mile!  On June 4th the Grade I Shoemaker Mile will feature six Thoroughbreds with BC dreams.  The Shoemaker Mile was inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewoood, CA as the Premier Handicap.  The race now has a purse of $400,000.  It is a turf race of 8 furlongs (1 mile) and eligible for horses 3 years old or older.  Hollywood Park has closed and in 1990 the race name was changed in honor of Bill Shoemaker.

William Lee “Bill/Willie/The Shoe” Shoemaker was a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey.  He died at age 72 in 2003.  He received 2 Eclipse Awards.  Willie won 11 races of the Triple Crown series.  For 10 years he led in earnings and in 5 years he had the most wins.  The Shoe won many awards and honors.  I remember him most as Ferdinand’s jockey.

Last year’s Shoemaker Mile winner was the late, great Talco.  He passed away months after his big win, following surgery.  Talco was sired by Pivotal, his dam was Trylko.  Rafael Bejarno was Talco’s jockey.  Bejarno will ride Midnight Storm this year.  Talco was trained by John S. Sadler and owned by Hronis Racing, LLC.

This years 6 entries by post position/horse/jockey/trainer/and owner are:

  1. Heart to Heart/Julien Leparoux/Brian Lynch/Terry Hamilton
  2. Twenttwentyvision/Flavien Prat/Richard Mandella/Ellen and Peter Johnson, Sr.
  3. Tourist/Jose Lezcano/William Mott/Gary Barber, Wachtal Stable and WinStar Farm, LLC
  4. Home Run Kitten/Joseph Talamo/David Hofmans/Tarabilla Farms Inc.
  5. Cape Wolfe/Mike Smith/Philip D’Amato/Sterling Stables LLC, Andy Ellis, Mark Gorman, Mike Lewis and Jeff Owen
  6. Midnight Storm/Rafeal Bejarano/Philip D’Amato/A Venneri Racing and Little Red Feather Racing

I have watched Heart to Heart Race live.  He has a nice heart shaped star on his head.  The photos above are him finishing second at Keeneland on 4/15/16 in the Maker’s 46 Mile.  Miss Temple City won that race.

The Shoemaker Mile will be the 6th race at Santa Anita this Saturday, 6/4/16.  Post time is 4:30 P.M. PT. (that is 7:30 P.M. EST).  Don’t miss out on all the BC fun.  The winner is a shoo-in for the BC Mile!  As they like to say about the BC, “The Best Is Yet To Come”!  Look back for my Belmont Stakes Preview story following the post position drawing next week for all the information that you might need.

 

 

 

 

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Nyquist Loves and Leaves Keeneland

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Over all too soon.  Yesterday was the closer for Keeneland’s Spring Meet.  Live racing took place from April 8-29, 2016.  I was there for the final day of racing and it was too much of a good time to be sad that it was all about to end.

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Keeneland’s meet was quite a success story with plenty of excitement and quality races, horses, owners, trainers and jockeys.  The handle was up over 23% versus last Spring and the attendance was up over 4%.  I had the pleasure of attending 6 times and the weather was quite pleasant each of those days.  Keeneland credits the appeal of the Breeders’ Cup, that they hosted in October, with the returning fans and Thoroughbreds.  They also believe that having Nyquist, the 2016 Kentucky Derby favorite, living and training on the grounds added a special attraction.  I certainly agree.  Nyquist had his last Derby prep work at Keeneland on closing day and then shipped to Churchill Downs today.  He is featured in most of the pictures throughout this post.  I watched him work once again prior to the races yesterday.  He breezed a mile in 1:41 with Mario Gutierrez on board.

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45 horses that participated in the Breeders’ Cup in October returned to Keeneland this meet to race or train.  Ralis is seen in the top photo with Nyquist.  Other BC horses on the grounds this meet were Tepin, Ready for Rye, Barbados, Rachel’s Valentina, Nickname, Camelot Kitten, Ma Can Do It, Limosine Liberal, I’m A Chatterbox, Dacita, Azar, Thrilled, Private Zone, Land Over Sea, Bradester, Green Mask, Riker, Recepta, Holly Boss, Dothraki Queen, Fioretti, Gilding By, Red Rifle, Salama, Shinning Copper, Curlina, Right There, Grand Arch, Siding Spring, Catch A Glimpse, Wavell Avenue, Stopchargingmaria, Sheer Drama, Undrafted, Brody’s Cause, Da Big Hoss, Something Extra, Swipe, The Great War, War Envoy, Twilight Eclipse, Super Majesty and Tourist.

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As for the people who help make this sport awesome, many big names were present this meet.  Javier Castellano was the leading jockey with 17 wins.  He won that title last Spring as well.  Ken and Sarah Ramsey are owners who won 9 races at Keeneland this meet. They are Keeneland’s leading owners for the 17th time.  The leading trainer was won by Michael Maker, his 4th time earning this title.  Many more Hall of Fame, Eclipse Award and Graded Stakes winning jockeys, owners and trainers were in attendance for this Spring as well.

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I really had a great time at Keeneland, as always.  I am really going to miss the track that won’t have live racing again until October.  I thought that watching Nyquist work was a real joy.  I appreciate that the horse’s connections and Keeneland were kind enough to share the experience.  I wrote a story about a prior work a few weeks ago

My Eye On Nyquist

I hope Nyquist wins the Kentucky Derby next week on May 7th.  The success of American Pharoah has me eager for another Grand Slam.  Nyquist is a champion and he looks ready to win.  The 20 horse field won’t be finalized until Wednesday, 5/4/16.  Look for me to bring you the information you may need for the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby.

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