March, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

OBS 2022 Spring 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale Catalog Now Online

The catalog for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2022 Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training is now available via the OBS website at obssales.com.

A total of 1,231 juveniles have been cataloged for the four-day sale, now set for Tuesday through Friday, April 19 – April 22. All sessions will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Hip No 1 – 308 will sell Tuesday, April 19.
Hip No. 309 – 616 will be sold Wednesday, April 20.
Hip No. 617 – 924 will sell Thursday, April 21.
Hip No. 925 – 1231 will be sold Friday, April 22.

The Under Tack Show will be divided into seven sessions, set for Sunday through Saturday, April 10 – April 16, all beginning at 8 a.m.

Sunday, April 10: Hip No. 1 – 176
Monday, April 11: Hip No. 177 – 352
Tuesday, April 12: Hip No. 353 – 528
Wednesday, April 13: Hip No. 529 – 704
Thursday, April 14: Hip No. 705 – 880
Friday, April 15: Hip No. 881 – 1056
Saturday, April 16: Hip No. 1057 – 1231

The catalog covers are graced by photos of OBS Spring Sale graduates, winners of major graded stakes from coast to coast as well as overseas.

Book One's front cover features Speedway Stables LLC's unbeaten champion Corniche, winner of the Eclipse Award as 2021's champion 2-year-old male. After winning at first asking at Del Mar, he won Santa Anita's Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes and followed it with a victory in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Three-for-three for trainer Bob Baffert, the son of Quality Road ended his juvenile campaign with $1,262,000 in earnings. Consigned by de Meric Sales, Agent, to the 2021 OBS Spring Sale, he breezed an Under Tack eighth in :10 flat and was purchased by Marette Farrell, Agent, for a sale-topping $1.5 million

Book One's back cover features the one-two finish by Spring Sale graduates in the recent $20-million G1 Saudi Cup where Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz's 2020 grad Emblem Road beat 2019 grad Country Grammer by half a length. It was the third stakes win for the 4-year-old colt by Quality Road, trained by Mitab Almulawah, now 9-7-1-1 and the latest OBS millionaire with earnings of $10,204,734. Consigned to the 2020 OBS Spring Sale by Wavertree Stables, Inc. (Ciaran Dunne), Agent, he was purchased for $80,000 by Bruno DeBerdt, Agent, after breezing a quarter in :21 3/5 at the Under Tack Show.

Country Grammer, a 5-year-old son of Tonalist and multiple graded stakes winner in his own right, is now 9-3-2-1 with $3,877,320 in earnings for trainer Bob Baffert. He was purchased at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale out of the Wavertree Stables consignment for $450,000 by Bradley Thoroughbreds LLC, Agent, after turning in an Under Tack quarter in :21 flat.

Book Two's cover boy is Robert E. and Lawana L. Low's Colonel Liam, who successfully defended his title in Gulfstream's recent $982,300 G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes. It was the first start of the year for the 5-year-old son of Liam's Map, trained by Todd Pletcher, giving him four graded stakes wins, a 10-7-0-1 career record and $1,810,565 in earnings. At the 2019 OBS April Sale, he turned in an Under Tack quarter in :20 4/5 and was purchased for $1,200,000 out of the Wavertree Stables consignment.

A pair of 2021 Spring Sale graduates, unbeaten fillies Kathleen O. and Shahama, are featured on the back cover of Book Two.

Winngate Stables LLC's Kathleen O. is three for three and a graded stakes winner after a two-length victory in the $200,000 G2 Davona Dale Stakes. The 3-year-old daughter of Upstart is a two-time OBS graduate, sold by Stuart Morris at the 2020 October Yearling Sale, then purchased for $275,000 out of the Niall Brennan Stables consignment at the 2021 Spring Sale after working an Under Tack quarter in :21 1/5. Trained by Shug McGaughey, she has a pair of stakes wins to her credit and earned $226,280 to date.

KHK Racing's unbeaten Shahama is four for four and a graded stakes winner after a two-length victory in the $150,000 G3 UAE Oaks at Meydan. The 3-year-old daughter of Munnings trained by Fawzi Nass, a half sister to champion Lookin At Lucky, has earned $223,484 to date and has been transferred to Todd Pletcher to prepare for the Kentucky Oaks in May. Consigned to the 2021 OBS April Sale by Eddie Woods, she was purchased by her trainer for $425,000 after turning in an Under Tack quarter in :21 flat.

OBS will again offer Online Bidding during the Spring Sale. Buyers will be able to go to the OBS website and register to gain bidding approval, then access the OBS Bidding Screen with their credentials. For complete information on registration and online bidding please go to the OBS website here.

The Under Tack Show and Sale will be streamed live via the OBS website as well as the DRF, TDN, BloodHorse and Past The Wire websites.

The online catalog's main page contains a link to a sortable master index providing searchable pedigree and consignor information as well as access to pedigree updates occurring since the catalog was printed. Under Tack videos, walking videos and conformation photos are also available.

To view the online catalog, click here.

The post OBS 2022 Spring 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale Catalog Now Online appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

What Do This Generation’s Leading Freshman Sires Have In Common?

Across the Bluegrass and beyond, phone calls are being made and mares are being sent to first-year stallions in the hopes that in a few years' time, that stallion will top the freshman sire list and cement himself as a viable commercial force for years to come.

It's the goal of practically every person working in stallion season sales to book as many mares as possible. The more foals that are on the ground, the more chances a stallion has to produce a star, and with the recent repeal of The Jockey Club's stud book cap, that number can go as high as a stallion's physical capabilities will allow.

However, a packed book of mares isn't just a nice goal to have for a first-year stallion looking to make an impact on future year-end lists; recent results prove it's a necessity.

Since 2014, no stallion has finished in the top five on the freshman sire list by earnings without covering at least 100 mares during their first season at stud. Even among the stallions that cracked the top five standing outside Kentucky finished above the three-digit Mendoza line. Though there might have been some unexpected orders of finish, there were no stallions so far under the radar that breeders didn't see them coming years before their first 2-year-olds hit the track.

According to The Jockey Club's breeding statistics, the average debut book for a stallion that finished in the top five by freshman-sired earnings from 2014 to 2021 was 156.65 mares, which resulted in an average of 114.77 live foals.

There were no scrappy underdogs that covered limited books of mares and got one or two superstars to carry the load to a high placing. Those superstars were necessary for many of the top finishers to place where they did, but not without a strong base of runners backing them up.

Ashford Stud proved especially skilled at hitting the target between big books and success on the racetrack, accounting for the five largest books on the list, and two leading freshman sires in 2015 champion Uncle Mo (211 mares bred) and 2019 leader American Pharoah (208 mares bred). The group also included Cupid (223 mares bred), Practical Joke (220 mares bred), and Classic Empire (185 mares bred), all freshman sires of 2021.

Among the stallions that finished at the top of their respective freshman sire lists, Uncle Mo led the way, with 211 mares bred, ahead of what would become a record-setting freshman season. His runners were led by champion Nyquist, who retired to Darley America and became the leading freshman sire of 2020 after covering 153 mares in his debut book.

The leading freshman with the fewest mares bred in his first season was Spendthrift Farm's Cross Traffic, who was visited by 123 mares in his first season, then earned the freshman title in 2018 on the strength of Jaywalk's Eclipse Award-winning campaign.

The top-five freshman sire who earned his position with the fewest mares bred was Girolamo, who finished fourth in 2015 after standing his first season at Sequel New York. His runners were led during that freshman season by New York-bred She's All Ready, who won her debut maiden special weight and a stakes race at Saratoga before finishing third in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes.

Girolamo was one of four stallions to crack the top five on a freshman sire list standing outside of Kentucky since 2014. He was joined by Florida stalwart First Dude in 2015 (131 mares bred), Laoban (122 mares bred) who started his stud career at Sequel New York and was the second-leading freshman of 2020, and Central Banker (119 mares bred) who stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in New York.

Operating under the assumption that the top five freshman sires of 2022 will continue to follow the pattern of having bred 100 or more mares in their first book at stud, this leaves 23 North American stallions scrapping over those five spots.

This story originally appeared in the OBS March issue of The Back Ring, our mobile bloodstock newsletter. To view the full issue, click here.

The post What Do This Generation’s Leading Freshman Sires Have In Common? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Plusvital Extends Sponsorship of Devoy S.

Plusvital will continue to sponsor the Listed Devoy S. at Naas Racecourse in 2022. Now in its third year, the sponsorship will also offer €500 worth of Plusvital breeding products to the winning breeder of the Devoy. Group 1 winner Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) won the Devoy in 2021.

Ciara Watt, General Manager of Plusvital said, “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Naas Racecourse for a third year through our sponsorship of the feature race the Plusvital Devoy S. on the opening weekend of the Flat season. Breeders are the backbone of the industry so we are delighted to support an additional prize this year for the winning breeder of the Plusvital Devoy S. with a prize worth €500.”

The post Plusvital Extends Sponsorship of Devoy S. appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Business And Pleasure As Dubai Bounces Back

DUBAI, UAE–After an abandoned meeting in 2020 and a behind-closed-doors reprisal 12 months ago, the Dubai Racing Club will be itching to stage a back-to-normal Dubai World Cup on Saturday with an international cast of stars.

In fact, the week's activities are not quite as they would usually be as the race programme is enhanced by the inclusion of the first Dubai Breeze-up Sale at Meydan on Wednesday, hosted in association with Goffs. The 69 juveniles catalogued shipped in to Dubai last week with quite the fanfare, as branded horseboxes were filmed transporting the youngsters from the airport to Meydan's quarantine facility, where they have been familiarising themselves with their new surroundings over the last few days.

It may be the first sale of its kind in the Gulf, with a strong emphasis on American-bred horses – 37 of the 69 in the book bear the USA suffix – but there's a decidedly Irish feel to the consignor list, with all the major vendors one would expect to find at the European breeze-up sales. The background to the sale was explored in some depth by Nancy Sexton in a recent TDN feature and the final touches to the preparations were made in Monday morning's practice breeze in front of plenty of onlookers. Dress rehearsals over, come Tuesday at 7.45am the horses will step out in earnest. They will not, however, be pushed out in an attempt to clock a fast time, as is the norm at these sales whether or not they include official timing, but will instead be asked to perform a gentle two-furlong breeze.

As the sale co-ordinator Tom Taaffe of Goffs told TDN recently, “It's early in the year and a lot of these horses won't be running until November at the earliest. They'll have to be let down afterwards and acclimatise for a few months before going into pre-training. So there'll be no timing and no stride-pattern figures, it'll be all about allowing prospective purchasers to see that the horses can move well.”

Sounds very refreshing, especially with the mercury on the climb into the low 30s in Dubai.

And so to the main action: the 26th running of the $12 million Dubai World Cup. As has routinely been the case, first at Nad Al Sheba, now at Meydan, the race does have a properly global feel to it, with runners from the UAE being joined by rivals from America, Uruguay, Japan and France, with perhaps the most multi-national of them all being Grocer Jack, a German-bred, Saudi-owned 5-year-old trained in Britain.

Arguably the starriest in the line-up is the sensational Breeders' Cup Mile winner Life Is Good (Into Mischief). Since his near-exhibition round at Del Mar, the 4-year-old went on to trounce the Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter) in the latter's swansong in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Life Is Good has looked a picture of composure under his English-born work rider Amelia Green in his easy exercises at Meydan in the countdown to Saturday. His trainer Todd Pletcher is set to arrive in Dubai on Tuesday and bids to become the tenth American-based trainer to lift the Dubai World Cup.

An American challenge with strength in depth is completed by Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), the winner of his only previous start at Meydan last month, dual Grade I-placed Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), and the recent G1 Saudi Cup runner-up and enemy of the spell-checker, Country Grammer (Tonalist).

The recent Saudi Cup drew a similarly international line-up and, despite the pride of the event's organisers at having been backed by some of the biggest names in world racing, it was nothing compared to the delirium of the local crowd when the race was won by the Riyadh-trained Emblem Road (Quality Road) to give a major lift to the Mitab Almulawah stable.

No doubt similar scenes would unfold at Meydan if Bhupat Seemar, who is set to become champion trainer in his first year with a licence at Zabeel Stables, could set the seal on a truly memorable season by winning the big one with Remorse (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“I'm very fortunate to be in this position, and in my first season it's great that we have a runner in the World Cup itself,” said Seemar, who took over from his uncle, Satish, in November.

“You've got to be realistic. You're going in the world's biggest race with some of the top dirt horses in the world. Yes, we've improved from 80 to 111 but strange things do happen in races; the pace could collapse or something could happen. Remorse is such an honest horse and so far all he's done is improve, so hopefully we can keep him healthy for the race and get a good draw.”

Another hero of the most recent Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), returns to action for the first time since his triumph in the Turf and leads a team of five runners on the night from the Charlie Appleby stable. The quintet includes the recent G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint winner Man Of Promise (Into Mischief), one of three for the trainer in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint.

As progressive as Yibir was last season, he will face no easy task in a G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic line-up which features a fierce challenge from Japan, notably Authority (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), recent winner of the Neom Turf Cup in Riyadh, dual Hong Kong Vase winner Glory Vase (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), and last year's Japanese Derby and Oaks winners, Shahryar (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Uberleben (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}). These are just four of a 23-strong raiding party, the largest ever from Japan, as outlined recently in these pages.

Two years ago, with just six days to go to the Dubai World Cup, the event was cancelled along with all major sporting events as the Covid pandemic took its toll. The strict mask rules that remain in place locally are a reminder of those grim times, and the fact that the coronavirus is still a threat, but the world is pushing on with both business and pleasure, and in Dubai this week the racing world is able to gather once more to indulge in a spot of both.

The post Business And Pleasure As Dubai Bounces Back appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post