Month: November 2022

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Dies at 91

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, owner-breeder of Crystal Ocean (GB), the world's co-top-rated horse of 2019, has died at the age of 91.

Born in August 1931 and a member of the noted banking family, Rothschild enjoyed much success on the turf with horses bred and raised at his Southcourt Stud in Bedfordshire.

Most notable among them was the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Crystal Ocean, a top-class middle-distance performer who now stands at The Beeches Stud in Ireland, and whose seven group wins included the G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot in the same season he was beaten a head in the G1 Juddmonte International. He was also twice second in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.

Rothschild also raced the GI Canadian International winner Hillstar (GB) and treble Group 2 victrix Crystal Capella (GB), both also trained by Stoute, and he was represented with a Grade 1 winner over jumps by Ogee (GB), trained by his sister Renee Robeson, who played a key role in the family's Southport Stud operation and died in 2015.

The treble Group 1 winner Notnowcato (GB) was also bred at Southcourt and raced in the colours of Rothschild's sons, Anthony and David. 

This season the owner-breeder had his colours carried to victory by Crystal Caprice (Ire), who won consecutive races at Yarmouth, Goodwood and Ascot in the summer. The 101-rated daughter of Frankel (GB), out of a half-sister to Crystal Ocean, is among a group consisting of one yearling, four foals, two fillies in training and six broodmares to be offered at Tattersalls later this month as part of a partial dispersal of Southcort Stud, consigned by New England Stud and Stoute's Freemason Lodge respectively.

Peter Stanley, owner of New England Stud, paid tribute to his longstanding friend and client on Tuesday. He said, “Evelyn is a real loss. He was a very special man, extremely charming, and he loved everything to do with his bloodstock operation, he really took pleasure out of it.

“He was one of the last of the great owner-breeders in a way, and was a man who punched well above his weight with the good horses he bred. His sister Renee was a very key part of the entire operation, too. She was an incredible lady and they had great fun doing it as a partnership. The 'Crystal' famiy has been a huge success in particular and it is still going strong.”

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, a philanthropist and financier, was knighted by the Queen in 1989 for services to banking and finance. A statement issued by his family on Tuesday morning read, “It is with great sorrow that Lady de Rothschild announces the death of her beloved husband, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, after a short illness.

“Sir Evelyn passed away peacefully yesterday evening at his home in London with his loved ones by his side.

“The family appreciates thoughts and prayers at this very sad time.”

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HRI Award Nominations Announced

A total of 36 nominations across seven categories have been made for the 2022 Horse Racing Ireland Awards, which will be presented in Dublin in December. The categories and their respective nominees are as follows:

Horse of the Year:

  • Kyprios (Ire)
  • State Of Rest (Ire)
  • Honeysuckle (GB)
  • A Plus Tard (Fr)
  • Allaho (Fr)
  • Energumene (Fr)

National Hunt Award:

  • Henry de Bromhead
  • Willie Mullins
  • Rachael Blackmore
  • Paul Townend
  • Patrick Mullins

 National Hunt Achievement Award:

  • Paddy Corkery, who joined an illustrious list of Grade 1 winning trainers;
  • John “Shark” Hanlon for his most notable hat-trick of wins with Hewick;
  • Tony Martin for saddling Tudor City to become the first horse to win the Guinness Galway Hurdle for a second time in almost 40 years;
  • Dermot McLoughlin who became the first trainer in almost 50 years to win back-to-back renewals of the BoyleSports Irish Grand National with two different horses;
  • Emmet Mullins who hit the big time with his Aintree Grand National success in April.

Flat Award:

  • Colin Keane
  • Billy Lee
  • Paddy Twomey
  • Aidan O'Brien
  • Joseph O'Brien.

Flat Achievement Award:

  • Willie Browne for his exploits with Spirit Gal (Fr);
  • Dylan Browne McMonagle for his breakthrough Group 1 success;
  • Nathan Crosse for celebrating a listed winner soon after riding out his claim;
  • Brian Duffy for his memorable win with Magic Chegaga (Ire) at the Galway festival;
  • Ado McGuinness for his Galway festival hat-trick in the 'Ahonoora' H. with Current Option (Ire)
  • Mikey Sheehy, who followed up on losing his claim with a notable Group 3 win.

Point-to-Point Award:

  • Colin Bowe
  • David Christie
  • James Hannon
  • Liz Lalor
  • Barry O'Neill

Emerging Talent Award:

  • Jake Coen
  • Sam Ewing
  • Michael O'Sullivan
  • Jamie Powell

The winners will be decided by a ballot of the Irish racing media, while a public vote will decide the outcome of the 2022 Ride of the Year category.

Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said, “Irish racing has had much to celebrate in the year gone by and I look forward to reflecting on that success at the 20th HRI Awards in Dublin next month. It is terrific to see so many nominations across the awards categories, honouring the wonderful achievements by so many in a racing industry that we can all be proud of.”

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Another Five Wildcards Added To Arqana Autumn Sale

Group 3 winner Djo Francais (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) (lot 364) is one of five additional wildcards added to the Arqana Autumn Sale, which begins on Nov. 14 and ends on Nov. 17. Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, the 4-year-old is a half-brother to three black-type performers and won the G3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil.

The other four wildcards all have ties to the jumps sphere, with Alain Couetil offering Jackpot D'Athou (Fr) (Doctor Dino {Fr}) (lot 388) and Jumper D'Ange (Fr) (Doctor Dino {Fr}) (lot 399). In The Box (Fr) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) will sell as lot 389 for trainer Jerome Delauney; and King Turgeon (Fr) (Turgeon {Fr}) (lot 407) is part of the Gabriel Leenders draft. All five will go through the ring on Monday, Nov. 14. For the whole catalogue, please click here.

The post Another Five Wildcards Added To Arqana Autumn Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Old Warrior Prevails: 13-Year-Old Timber Star Mystic Strike Captures Third Hunt Cup

There were enough storylines in this weekend's National Steeplechase Association 16-race tripleheader in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia to fill a full chapter in the NSA's 2022 yearbook.

At the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Races in Unionville, veteran timber star Mystic Strike made magic one more time, capturing his third Hunt Cup and topping the $300,000 career earnings mark to cap an illustrious steeplechase career that began in 2016. Locally owned and trained by Upland Partners and Todd McKenna, Mystic Strike, now 13, engineered a come-from-behind victory in the three-horse field, reeling in Ballybristol Farm's pro-tem leader Mercoeur and holding off Charlie Fenwick's Royal Ruse to score by two lengths in the testing four-mile fixture under jockey Gerard Galligan. After the race, Mystic Strike's team said their star may not be ready to call it a career just yet.

At Montpelier in Virginia, Gillian Johnston's Song for Someone, a German-bred 7-year-old who won eight races in Europe before coming to the U.S. this summer to try Grade 1 competition, pulled away late to score by about 10 lengths in the $60,000 Noel Laing stakes over Montpelier's unique live brush fence course. The victory was the first in three mounts for new 23-year-old NSA rider Nathan Brennan, a veteran of 127 jump race starts in the UK.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck moments later as Song for Someone was returning to the winner's circle when he collapsed and died after suffering a medical crisis. National Steeplechase Association safety committee chairman Reynolds Cowles, who was one of the attending veterinarians at the meet, reported that Song for Someone pulled up immediately and initially looked to be overheating.

“I was on him quickly and we started cooling him, but within 30 seconds it was apparent he was expiring and died very quickly. We will await the necropsy results from the Marion duPont Medical Center where he was sent. The most common cause of this incident is a ruptured aorta or other large vessel. I would not speculate and we will have to await the findings.”

On a happier note, Sandra Webb, the longtime assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Jack Fisher before venturing out on her own, earned her first victory as a conditioner when she saddled Riverdee Stable's Seizing the Dream, ridden by Barry Foley, to a 14-length triumph in the finale at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., a $20,000 maiden claiming hurdle.

Also at Callaway, in the richest race of the afternoon, Sonny Via's Welshman, under Graham Watters, unleashed a late rally to defeat Atlantic Friends Racing's Theocrat by 2 ¼ lengths in the final novice hurdle stake of the season, the $75,000 Aflac Supreme.

Leslie Young secured the 2022 training title and, along with Keri Brion, continued their year-long dominance in the standings. Of the 16 races run this weekend, Young and Brion won nine. At Callaway, Young enjoyed three straight trips to the winner's circle (all with Freddie Procter aboard), with Leipers Fork Steeplechasers' Court Ruler in the $20,000 steeplethon; Tom Rice and Ashwell Stable's Booby Trap in the $15,000 handicap for horses rated at 120 or less and ridden by amateur or apprentice riders; and Potter Group USA, Gaskells Waste Services, and Ashwell Stable's Uco Valley, who captured the $30,000 maiden hurdle. She also took the $60,000 Noel Laing stakes with the ill-fated Song for Someone at Montpelier along with a $15,000 maiden claimer with Charlie Fenwick's Arrowheart.

Brion countered with three victories at Montpelier and another in the training-flat contest at Unionville, which does not count in the standings. The Montpelier winners were Sanna Neilson and John Huganir's He'll Do in the $30,000 handicap for horses rated at 115 or less; Hudson River Farms' Modus Operandi in the $30,000 maiden hurdle; and R and K Racing's Molly Fantasy in the $50,000 Montpelier Cup filly and mare stakes. Jordan Wycoff's Summer Anthem was victorious in the Athenian Idol flat race.

With only four opportunities remaining in the season, at Charleston on Sunday, Young holds an insurmountable 36 to 30 advantage. Jack Fisher is in third, with 21 wins. It is Young's first title.

Similarly, teen riding sensation Parker Hendriks locked down his first championship in only his third year on the NSA circuit. As first-call rider for Keri Brion, Hendriks rode all three of Brion's winners at Montpelier, giving him 24 (in 92 mounts) for the year, seven more than Freddie Procter, who had a remarkable year himself, earning those victories in only 48 mounts.

Full results can be found here: https://nationalsteeplechase.com/racing/

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