October, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Santa Anita to Honor Privman Saturday

Recently retired Daily Racing Form National Correspondent and Racing Hall of Fame inductee Jay Privman will be honored Saturday at Santa Anita, as the track has named the day's fourth race in his honor and will present him with a plaque acknowledging his 40-plus years of covering the Sport of Kings.

Inducted into the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in August, 2021, Privman began his journalistic journey in racing while an undergrad at Cal State Northridge.

“We're honored to be able to name a race for Jay and to acknowledge his contributions to racing,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “Jay's love of the game and his professionalism through these many years are what made him stand out. He covered our sport with a steady hand and was always fair.

“Although we certainly miss him in print and as a regular voice on radio, we're happy that with all of his newly found free time as a retiree, he'll be able to spend significant amounts of quality time with us as a fan and horseplayer. He's truly a Hall of Famer and we wish him and [his wife] Anne all the best in the years to come.”

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Champion Midnight Bisou, In Foal To Tapit, Supplemented To Book 1 Of Keeneland November Sale

Keeneland has announced that champion and $7.4 million earner Midnight Bisou, a 7-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute who is in foal to Tapit, has been supplemented to Book 1 of the 79th November Breeding Stock Sale on Nov. 7. Midnight Bisou is consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.

Midnight Bisou won the $1 million Grade 1 Cotillion and G1 Santa Anita Oaks in addition to three other graded stakes at three. She was named the champion older dirt female at four in 2019 following a dominating campaign that produced seven wins in eight races. Among her seven graded stakes wins that year were victories in the G1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga, G1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont and G1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn.

Midnight Bisou returned in early 2020 to finish second in the $20 million Saudi Cup against males and win the G2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs.

Winner of 13 races – all stakes – in 22 starts over four seasons, Midnight Bisou earned $7,451,520 during her illustrious racing career.

“It's impossible to describe what she's meant to me, my family and my partners,” Jeff Bloom of co-owner Bloom Racing Stable said. “She took us on an incredible journey and created so many amazing experiences for us across the globe. All those memories I will treasure the rest of my life.

“She effortlessly transitioned to life as a broodmare with the same elegance, class and intelligence that she displayed as a racehorse.”

Out of Grade 3 winner Diva Delite, by Repent, Midnight Bisou is a half-sister to recent G1 Champagne runner-up and FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile candidate Verifying.

“Midnight Bisou represents the very best of Thoroughbred racing,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “She is a world-class racehorse from an active, talented family who is in foal to one of the industry's premier stallions. Keeneland is delighted to offer her during Book 1 of our November Breeding Stock Sale.”

Diva Delite, who is in foal to Gun Runner, also is cataloged to Book 1. Out of the winning Tour d'Or mare Tour Hostess, she is consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, agent.

Book 1 starts Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. ET. Keeneland will accept supplements to Book 1 until the auction begins.

The post Champion Midnight Bisou, In Foal To Tapit, Supplemented To Book 1 Of Keeneland November Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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PennVet Shares Major Equine IVF Breakthrough

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have discovered a method for in vitro fertilization in horses, resulting in the birth of three healthy foals.

Assisted reproduction in horses is often the method of choice for a variety of reasons, including preventing harm to the mare during breeding. Prior to this breakthrough, traditional in vitro fertilization (IVF), where a sperm fertilizes an egg in a petri dish, had been attempted for horses but was not successful, despite repeated attempts at manipulation.

Dr. Katrin Hinrichs, professor of reproduction at PennVet, and her colleagues have created a conventional IVF technique that has resulted in a 90 percent fertilization rate, with 74 percent of fertilized eggs resulting in blastocytes – a mass of cells that develop into the embryo and placenta.

The techniques don't require extensive training or equipment, Hinrichs says, so more veterinary practices may be able to offer the service.

In the past, other assisted reproduction techniques have been employed with little success. These include injecting a single sperm into an egg and extracting an oocyte from a mare, surgically placing it in a recipient mare and then inseminating the recipient mare. Utilizing the recipient mare was invasive and expensive; the technique wasn't feasible for many mare owners or veterinarians.

Key research for the breakthrough was done by Dr. Matheus Felix, now the chief embryologist in the Penn Equine Assisted Reproduction Laboratory. Sperm must undergo physiological changes to fertilize an egg. Felix tried a specific medium for incubating the sperm as well as a longer-than-normal incubation period to see if that might help the sperm fertilize the egg – and it worked.

The research team perfected the technique, finding that pre-incubating the sperm for 22 hours in the specific medium, then adding oocytes to the medium for three hours, led to a 74 percent production of blastocytes. Thus far, three foals have been born from this process.

There is still room for improvement, Hinrichs notes, saying that this method worked well only for fresh sperm; frozen sperm did not have the same results. Additionally, the medium must be precise, so variations may compromise the fertilization success.

Midnight Bisou Supplemented to Keeneland November

Champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute–Diva Delite, by Repent), in foal to leading sire Tapit, has been supplemented to the Book 1 section of the upcoming Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The 7-year-old will be consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.

Midnight Bisou, who earned over $7.4 million during her racing career, won the 2018 GI Cotillion S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks, as well as the 2019 GI Apple Blossom S., GI Ogden Phipps S. and GI Personal Ensign S. She was named champion older mare of 2019.

She produced her first foal, a colt by Curlin, earlier this year.

“She effortlessly transitioned to life as a broodmare with the same elegance, class and intelligence that she displayed as a racehorse,” Bloom said.

Out of Grade III winner Diva Delite, Midnight Bisou is a half-sister to recent GI Champagne S. runner-up and GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile candidate Verifying (Justify).

Diva Delite, who is in foal to Gun Runner, is also cataloged to Book 1. Out of the winning Tour d'Or mare Tour Hostess, she is consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, agent.

Keeneland November's Book 1 starts Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. ET. Keeneland will accept supplements to Book 1 until the auction begins.

The post Midnight Bisou Supplemented to Keeneland November appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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