January, 2023 | Horse Racing Free Tips

From Gymkhanas To Group Races: Viktor Vegas Does It All

In the space of a week, New Zealand racehorse trainer Casey Lock went from winning ribbons with Viktor Vegas at a Cambridge show to winning the Group 3 Waikato Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa at the weekend.

“Last Sunday, I took him to Leamington where they had an adults ribbon day. We had a go at every class from flatwork through to jumping in the second half of the program,” Lock said.

“We came home with a first, second, third and a fifth – it was great.

“It is the first competition I have done since I was a kid on my pony.”

Operating a small stable, Lock believes variety is key to reinvigorating her team, and it has worked wonders for her pride and joy Viktor Vegas, with the 9-year-old son of Tavistock having found a new lease on life after being retired a few years ago to become the Te Aroha trainer's sport horse.

He did so well in her care that he was brought back into work and was initially leased to Lock by breeder-owner Bob Emery before he gifted her the horse.

The pair have subsequently had a dream run, with Vicktor Vegas running in the money in all but one of his seven starts for Lock, including two victories and a placing in the Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m).

Saturday's Group Three triumph was the icing on the cake for Lock, who is looking to continue her varied training routine with her evergreen galloper.

“There is another one (ribbon day) coming up at Te Aroha in a couple of weeks' time that we will have a go at, which will lead into the Wellington Cup (Group 3, 3200m),” Lock said. “It's nothing too serious, it's just so we can have some fun and it is something different for him.

“They will go around the track, we have got a treadmill, they go swimming at Matamata. No two days are the same, they are always doing something different. I think it is hugely important that they just don't go around in circles all of the time.”

[Story Continues Below]

Lock wasn't the only member of her family celebrating success at Te Rapa on Saturday, with her father, Peter, taking out the Group 3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) with Faithful Feat, by Per Incanto.

“It was huge, you couldn't ask for a better day,” Lock said. “We go into every race meeting being the underdogs as the small fish. Here we are with our two little horses against all of these big names, it was just incredible to get those results.”

Lock is excited for the future with her boutique stable and is hoping to add some numbers to her barn in the coming months.

“I have got his (Viktor Vegas) half-sister by Churchill who has just gone to the paddock,” Lock said.

“She has had a few issues and she is going to have a good, long break. The family takes a bit of time, so I am not worried about her.

“There are a couple at the yearling sales that I am quite interested in, but my forte is horses that don't like big stables and want something different with their work.

“If anyone is out there that has got some older horses that want something different, I am open to them.”

In the meantime, Lock is looking forward to campaigning Viktor Vegas around the country in her signature pink ensemble.

“You'll definitely see me before you hear me,” Lock quipped.

The post From Gymkhanas To Group Races: Viktor Vegas Does It All appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Corrales, Lobo Take Holiday Meet Titles At Turfway

At the close of 2022, Turfway Park's Holiday Meet ended in style with jockey Gerardo Corrales, trainer Paulo Lobo, and owner Larry Best's OXO Equine taking respective titles.

The trio seek to continue their momentum at the Winter/Spring Meet, which runs through Saturday, April 1.

Corrales, represented by veteran agent Cliff Collier, tabbed 30 wins from 104 mounts–a stout 29% win clip. His mounts tallied $1,115,484 in purse earnings. Corrales' meet was highlighted by a victory in the Prairie Bayou Stakes aboard the Lobo-trained Brazilian-bred In Love. The 26-year-old rider also won the Holiday Inaugural Stakes aboard Ready to Venture.

Corrales finished eight wins in front of Joe Ramos. Luan Machado was third with 13 victories followed by Declan Cannon (11) and Manny Esquivel (9).

In the trainer standings, Lobo, who trains many horses for OXO Equine, recorded 11 wins from 29 starters. His runners earned a solid $531,772 in purses. Among his top performers were the aforementioned In Love, along with allowance winners Bromley, Greyes Creek, Koolhous, Purple Dream, Quaria Comet, and Querobin Dourada. Lobo won a $70,000 maiden special weight contest December 29 with OXO Equine's Itzos, a Bolt d'Oro three-quarter brother to the great Rachel Alexandra.

Lobo finished five wins clear of Doug Cowans and Mike Maker while Brad Cox, Bill Morey, and Wesley Ward were tied in fourth with five victories.

OXO Equine tallied four wins at the Holiday Meet, which tied with Stanley Bergman's Brownwood Farm. OXO Equine's runners earned $205,079, nearly $29,000 more than Brownwood Farm.

“As we end 2022 OXO had a year that saw us hit our record win mark and money won,” Racing Manager Don Chatlos said on Twitter (@DCHI23). “Our trainers and jockeys know they are appreciated but it's the grooms, hot walkers, exercise riders and assistants that do all the heavy lifting. So, it's a toast to them. We can't thank you enough.”

Racing at Turfway Park will continue Wednesday with a first post of 5:55 p.m. (ET)

The post Corrales, Lobo Take Holiday Meet Titles At Turfway appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

From Stallion Families, Early Voting and Jack Christopher New to Ashford

Among Ashford Stud's new stallions for 2023, two members of the Coolmore quintet boast standout sire-making families. GI Preakness S. hero Early Voting (Gun Runner – Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow) is out of a half-sister to perennial top sire Speightstown while Jack Christopher (Munnings – Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours), a 'TDN Rising Star' who raced to three Grade I victories, is out of a half-sister to Darley's Street Boss.

Jack Christopher is also the first son of Munnings to join his sire at Ashford Stud. After carrying the Coolmore silks to a trio of graded stakes wins, Munnings stood his first five seasons at Ashford for under $15,000, but steadily produced one elite runner after another. A top 10 North American sire in 2022, Munnings will stand for his highest fee yet this year at $100,000 while his highest-earning son Jack Christopher is advertised at an introductory fee of $45,000.

“It's always very fulfilling when you have a stallion and are able to stand one of his sons,” said Ashford Stud's Adrian Wallace. “I think that is particularly true of a horse like Munnings, who was really a rags-to-riches story. He was a very fast horse over six and seven furlongs and I think you see that with a lot of the Munnings stock including Jack Christopher.”

Earning the 'Rising Star' nod with a 8 3/4-length debut score at Saratoga, Jack Christopher followed that effort with an easy win in the GI Champagne S. Owned in the partnership of Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter Brant, the Chad Brown trainee scratched from the GI Breeder' Cup Juvenile due to a shin problem, but returned to the track at three to remain undefeated in the GII Pat Day Mile S. and GI Woody Stephens S. He ran third in his lone defeat while stretching out in the GI Haskell S., but got back to his winning ways at seven furlongs in the GI H. Allen Jerkens in his final career start.

“The thing about Jack Christopher is that he's all about speed,” Wallace explained. “He was quick out of the gate. He could get to the front and dominate his races. He was also very tactical in the way he raced. Chad Brown is quoted as saying he's one of the fastest horses he has ever trained.”

“He is very like his sire Munnings,” he continued. “He's a balanced horse and a good mover. He's probably a better-looking horse than his sire, so if he can become as good a sire as Munnings, we'll be very happy.”

Jack Christopher's grandsire Speighstown jumps out on the pedigree of another new Ashford resident, Early Voting. The Classic winner was bred by Three Chimneys Farm and his dam Amour d'Ete is not only a sibling to Speightstown, but also to MGSW Irap (Tiznow).

Early Voting stands out among this year's class of incoming stallions as one of the first two sons of remarkably fast-starting sire Gun Runner to go to stud. Along with Early Voting, Gun Runner's six Grade I winners include Cyberknife, who will stand at Spendthrift Farm after making his career finale in the GI Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28.

“With Early Voting being one of the first sons of Gun Runner to stand at stud, it's a huge privilege to be able to get his career off to a good start,” said Wallace. “Gun Runner is widely perceived as one of the best young stallions in America and now we're excited to stand one of his best sons. I think Early Voting has the size and balance of Gun Runner, but in many ways he looks like his damsire Tiznow. He's got the big hip and shoulder.”

On the racetrack, the Klaravich Stables-campaigned colt made a good impression in his winning debut late in his juvenile season and then returned to the winner's circle in the GIII Withers S. He ran second to future GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) in the GII Wood Memorial S. before scoring his signature victory in the GI Preakness S., where he earned a 105 Beyer as he defeated his eventual studmate Epicenter (Not This Time), a leading consideration for top 3-year-old of 2022.

“Early Voting had speed and he was able to carry that speed,” Wallace noted. “He also had great heart and there was no better reflection of that than his race in the Preakness. He ran a superb race that day. His speed took him to the front and he kept going. His form was very strong throughout the year and a horse like him has been very popular with breeders so far.”

Early Voting will stand for $25,000 and was awarded the silver medal on Chris McGrath's Value Podium for new sires in 2023.

Find our feature on Ashford Stud's other new residents, and more on this year's class of incoming stallions, here.

The post From Stallion Families, Early Voting and Jack Christopher New to Ashford appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Rajasinghe: ‘A Few People Have Cottoned On To The Stats’

Everybody loves a bargain, especially in January in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. The latter may barely have affected the bloodstock sales so far, but a knock-on effect may be felt if smaller or syndicate owners start to reduce their racing investment, which in turn would surely have a bearing eventually on the lower end of the yearling market. The top tier generally takes care of itself, while the middle market has been given a great boost by increased international participation, though that in itself is not necessarily a great boost for the long-term health of racing and breeding in Britain and Ireland.

Breeders with mating plans still to be decided, and who may be wincing at some of the stallion fees advertised, could do worse than adding the name of Rajasinghe (Ire) to their list of sires under consideration.

We talked to Rajasinghe's owner Phil Cunningham back in April just ahead of the son of Choisir (Aus) being represented by his first runner, Talamanca (GB). That Mickley Stud-bred gelding has now run 11 times for three wins and is the most prolific of his sire's runners. As noted by Brian Sheerin when assessing the last year's freshman sires in Saturday's TDN, the group numbers only 10 to date, but remarkably eight of them won races in 2022, and three achieved an official rating of 80+, headed by the listed-placed Waiting All Night (GB), a Cunningham homebred.

Last spring, Cunningham told TDN: “He's had limited numbers and limited support so I think we've got to do it the hard way, which is to do it ourselves.

“We've got a nice little crop this year, some more next year and a few more the following year. Hopefully he will become more popular with everyone else by then and he'll have a few more runners.”

Doubtless the owner-breeder is delighted with the start made by his stallion, who, like Cunningham's dual Classic winner Cockney Rebel (Ire) before him, is standing at the National Stud. The Newmarket farm is sure to have plenty of visitors this spring, with Stradivarius (Ire) still exerting plenty of pulling power and Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) likely to be busy again. But those visiting should not ignore the well-made son of the late Choisir, who was a very good stallion in his own right and whose prowess continues to be so well advertised by his Irish-based son Starspangledbanner (Aus).

It doesn't necessarily follow that Rajasinghe will be similarly successful, and of course he will need to build on that 80% strike-rate with some proper stakes horses if he is to take his career to the next level, but he has dropped enough hints during the last year that he can get your mare a runner if given the chance.

So far, outside the backing of his owner, he hasn't been given many opportunities. He had 24 foals in his first crop, 14 in his second, which are the juveniles for this coming season, and 26 born in 2022. Only once has he covered a black-type winner, and in his most recent season he is listed with Weatherbys as having covered just nine mares, mostly owned by the Cunningham family. One of the outside breeders, Morecool Racing, will be pleased to have supported him again this year as, since they sent New Road Side (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) back to be covered, her Rajasinghe son Hougoumont (GB) has won two of his four starts for Julie Camacho.

The majority of the stallion's offspring of racing age are in the stable of Richard Spencer, the retained trainer for Cunningham's Rebel Racing and for whom Rajasinghe was a breakout star when winning the G2 Coventry S. in 2017 in Spencer's second season with a licence.

The Newmarket trainer admits with a smile that he is of course biased, but he is also well placed to have a handle on plenty of Rajasinghe's runners so far. He says, “He's basically stamped his offspring very much like himself. He was very laid-back. He thrived on his work and was very easy in himself and had a great attitude with everything he did.

“From the mares that have been sent to him, and this is no disrespect to any of them, they weren't the best mares that you could have asked for, but he has definitely upgraded them judging on progeny they've produced in the past. Their attitudes are great, wind great, and for what is on offer for breeders at that level in England, you can't really find anything much better, I don't think, on the market.”

Spencer continues, “I know I'm probably biased, but we've had such great success this season from the horses that have run, and everything has won or been placed. The ones that have been placed that haven't won will win. And the ones we haven't run, for various little reasons, that will run in this year coming have all got ability to win races. There's not one amongst them you think, 'Oh God, we're not going to win with him.'

“They are all capable of winning, from relatively low-grade mares, and they've got size and scope. I think a few people have cottoned on to the stats, but I think [his offspring] are value for money and real 'trainers' horses' at the moment, whilst they're able to be bought.”

Spencer has had a fresh intake of horses who have just turned two and says that better results could be seen this year.

“I genuinely think the ones we've got coming through are a better quality again. Phil had some some fillies with decent ratings that have gone to stud to support him and I think in the next couple of years we'll see even better quality coming through,” he notes.

“So it's exciting from our side of things, seeing it behind the scenes with what we've got to come, and with the GBB scheme running as well now, which is fantastic, it's a big incentive to be sending a mare to a British stallion.”

Rajasinghe was 15th overall in the first-crop sires' table for Britain and Ireland on prize-money. When judged by number of individual winners, he achieved a top-10 finish with far fewer runners than any of his rivals in that top echelon–and of course on his percentage of winners to runners he was best of all at 80%.

For a stallion standing right down the bottom of the fee table at £3,000, a strike-rate at the top of the table should perhaps open a few eyes, hopefully followed by a few wallets.

The post Rajasinghe: ‘A Few People Have Cottoned On To The Stats’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post