Month: April 2023

‘In The Event We Need To Prop Up A New Ownership Group’: Maryland Bill To Establish Racing Oversight Board Rapidly Advances

Maryland lawmakers have proposed a new authority with vast powers over Thoroughbred racing in the state and the fast-tracked measure is expected to be approved and sent to Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland Matters reports.

Under the bill, a proposed nine-member Maryland Thoroughbred Operating Authority would be established to oversee the stalled plans for improving the Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park and to be a seamless transition to running those tracks, should the owners shut down racing July 1, the day after an agreement for operations expires between racetrack ownership company The Stronach Group, which operates racing as the Maryland Jockey Club,  and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

Senate Bill 720 was passed by the Senate in less than a day, then sent to the House of Delegates, referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, made the subject of a Friday morning hearing, voted out of committee, and sent back to the floor of the House unamended, nearly guaranteeing its passage.

The authority “would be a vehicle, in the event we need to prop up a new ownership group here in Maryland for day-to-day racing and training,” William H. Cole IV, a member of the Maryland Stadium Authority board, which oversees the tracks' redevelopment, told the Ways and Means Committee on Friday.

The Stadium Authority's cost estimates for the redevelopment project have nearly doubled in the three years since the legislature first authorized the sale of bonds for work at Pimlico and Laurel Park.

The new nine-member authority would have one member from the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association; one from the Maryland Horse Breeders' Association; and three others who have relevant industry, business or government experience. One of the five would serve as chair. The five unpaid members would be appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the Senate.

To read the full story at Maryland Matters, click here.

The post ‘In The Event We Need To Prop Up A New Ownership Group’: Maryland Bill To Establish Racing Oversight Board Rapidly Advances appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Dubai Honour Takes Queen Elizabeth, As Haggas Mulls Australian Satellite Yard

Mohamed Obaida's Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) defeated dual Group 1 scorer Mo'unga (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) and nine-time Group 1 winner Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss) to win the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. at Randwick during the second weekend of The Championships on Saturday.

The William Haggas trainee claimed the G1 Ranvet S. at Rosehill in March, and his two top-level victories have his trainer feeling “pretty keen” to add an Australian satellite yard to his operation.

Haggas, who would likely share the base with Andrew Balding according to Australian reports, told Sky Racing World, “[Balding] He's very keen and I'm pretty keen so we'll see what happens.

“Anamoe is a great horse, take nothing away from him. But this horse has come forward for being here and he's won well today. Don't underestimate him. He's a pretty good horse and he was never quite right last year and he was boxing against some good horses–top, top horses.”

The 5-year-old gelding, who won a brace of Group 2s in 2021, was reunited with regular pilot Tom Marquand, who pulled off the Ranvet/Queen Elizabeth double with the Haggas-trained Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) in 2020. That gelding would repeat in the latter in 2021, again with Marquand in the irons.

Marquand said, “For the boss to target the Queen Elizabeth with another horse and pull it off, it's just insane.

“Genuinely, I've jumped aboard this horse on the right day at the right time and it's everyone else behind it that got the job done. All I had to do was point and shoot.”

Another international race, the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong, is one of the probable targets for Dubai Honour on Apr. 30.

 

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Night Of Thunder Colt A New Rising Star

Most of the attention was focused on Ballydoyle's first juvenile runner Alabama (Ire) (No Nay Never) before Cork's five-furlong Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden on Saturday, but ultimately it was another newcomer in the Paddy Twomey-trained Noche Magica (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}–Pious Alexander {Ire}, by Acclamation {GB}) who stole the limelight to become the first European 2-year-old TDN Rising Star of 2023. Always travelling smoothly anchored towards the back by Billy Lee, Mohammed Ahmad Ali Al Subousi's £230,000 top-priced colt of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale moved forward with ease to take control 1 1/2 furlongs out and draw away for a 3 3/4-length defeat of the experienced Sturlasson (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}). There was another 3/4 of a length back to the 6-4 favourite Alabama in third in a maiden that despite being short on numbers will probably serve as a key reference point as the season advances.

“Like plenty of mine on debut, he was green and fell out of the gates but once he was going and joined them, Billy said he was just going through the gears,” Twomey said of the dark bay, Night Of Thunder's second TDN Rising Star who had attracted support as the 7-4 second favourite. “He said that that ground actually blunted his speed. He doesn't want that heavy ground, but I felt he was ready to start and run a nice race. I don't gallop horses in the spring and he had one breeze and a little half-speed with a three-year-old last week and that's all he has done so far–it is natural ability with him.”

“Mark McStay bought him for a new owner to the yard, Mohammed Ahmad Ali Al Subousi, who is a Dubai businessman, and I'm delighted to have him and delighted he sent the horse to us. Hopefully it's onwards and upwards now and while I didn't think past today, I'd say six is no problem and we'd love to go to Ascot in June. Wherever we go before then, I think he is good enough.”

Added McStay to the TDN, “Noche Magica was a very easy horse to pick as a yearling–he was very much a standout from the moment I saw him. He is a good blend of his sire, grandsire and damsire. The Dubawi (Ire) line, the Dubawi shape, that came through. Night Of Thunder was complemented by the little bit of length that Acclamation (GB) sometimes adds.

“He had good size and good scope. Noche Magica looked like a horse who would make a good 2-year-old, but he also had the scope and the size and the look of a horse that would hopefully make into a 3-year-old in time.

“I've been a Night Of Thunder fan from day one. I've followed his career closely from my days at Godolphin and Darley. I've bred mares to him, I've purchased horses by him. I've always liked the sire and Noel O'Callaghan and Rob Tierney at Mountarmstrong breed a very nice horse and produce a very nice horse at the sales.

This pedigree goes back to Sandhurst Goddess (Ire) (Sandhurst Prince {Ire}). [Her daughter] Lady Alexander (Ire) (Night Shift), I remember beating King Of Kings (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) in the Anglesey S. at the Curragh. It is one of the fastest families in the stud book with Dandy Man (Ire) (Mozart {Ire}), who was a very, very fast racehorse and a hugely influential sire when it comes to speed at the centre of the pedigree. You've got Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in the family as well.

“All in all, I thought he was a pretty straightforward horse to select. I thought he was the nicest horse in the Goffs Premier Sale last year. I didn't write any notes [on his sales page]. He got a tick and a very high grade. Luckily I found a client like Mr. Al Sabousi who was willing to pay for him, because I knew he wasn't going to be cheap and thankfully we got him.”

The dam, who also has a yearling colt by Starspangledbanner (Aus), is a daughter of the G3 Anglesey S. and G3 Molecomb S. winner Lady Alexander who produced the G3 Palace House S.-winning sire of note Dandy Man who was also runner-up in the King's Stand S. when it still held Group 2 status at Royal Ascot. Another of her progeny, Anthem Alexander (Ire) by Starspangledbanner took the Royal meeting's G2 Queen Mary S. as well as finishing third in the fixture's G1 Commonwealth Cup and second in the G1 Cheveley Park S., while this is also the family of the G3 Abernant S. scorer and G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp-placed Hamza (Ire) (Amadeus Wolf {GB}) and of Patience Alexander (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) who after winning the Listed Marygate S. went to Royal Ascot and finished third in the G3 Albany S.

 

6th-Cork, €16,000, Mdn, 4-8, 2yo, 5fT, 1:03.82, s/h.
NOCHE MAGICA (IRE), c, 2, by Night Of Thunder (Ire)
     1st Dam: Pious Alexander (Ire), by Acclamation (GB)
     2nd Dam: Lady Alexander (Ire), by Night Shift
     3rd Dam: Sandhurst Goddess (GB), by Sandhurst Prince (Ire)
£230,000 Ylg '22 GOFFUK. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $10,467. O-Mohammed Ahmad Ali Al Subousi; B-Mountarmstrong Stud & Alexander Bloodstock (IRE); T-Paddy Twomey. Click for for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Caravaggio’s Tenebrism Lights Up Cork

With her sights set firmly on sprinting in 2023, TDN Rising Star Tenebrism (Caravaggio–Immortal Verse {Ire}, by Pivotal {GB}) issued an early warning to that brigade with a smooth comeback win in the Listed Cork S. on Saturday. Keen initially for Ryan Moore, the 11-10 favourite eventually settled behind the pace and when cajoled to the front approaching the furlong pole showed her familiar surge to take control and register a 1 3/4-length success from the 3-year-old Wodao (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}).

“She could go to Naas in two weeks and then to Royal Ascot, where she could run in both the group ones [the King's Stand and Platinum Jubilee],” Aidan O'Brien said of the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G1 Prix Jean Prat heroine, who was racing under a five-pound penalty. “We had been trying to stretch her to seven and a mile, but obviously it is all pure natural speed she has. She has a lovely mind, relaxes and quickens and could be very exciting for the year. We took her here without training her hard and she was really only ready to come racing.”

Tenebrism, whose impressive resume also includes a second in the G1 Prix Rothschild and a third in the G1 Matron S., is the fourth foal out of the G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois heroine Immortal Verse whose fifth is fellow Ballydoyle TDN Rising Star Statuette who was last seen winning the G2 Airlie Stud S. A full-sister to the dam of the group 1-placed pair Roseman (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) and Baradar (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), the relative of the champion Last Tycoon (Ire), the GI Matron S. winner Sense Of Style (Thunder Gulch) and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winners Valentine Waltz (Ire) (Be My Guest) and Tie Black (Ire) (Machiavellian) also has a yearling colt by Wootton Bassett (GB).

IRISH STALLION FARMS EBF CORK S.-Listed, €42,500, Cork, 4-8, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:17.77, s/h.
1–TENEBRISM, 135, f, 4, Caravaggio–Immortal Verse (Ire) (G1SW-Eng, G1SW-Fr, $1,053,873), by Pivotal (GB). O-Westerberg,Coolmore,Merriebelle Stables; B-Merriebelle Stables & Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €25,500. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng & Fr, G1SP-Ire, 10-4-1-1, $654,856. *1/2 to Statuette (Justify), GSW-Ire.
2–Wodao (Fr), 127, c, 3, Showcasing (GB)–Dadao (GB), by Intello (Ger). (€150,000 Wlg '20 ARQDEC; €260,000 Ylg '21 GOFOR). O-Atlantic Thoroughbreds; B-SCEA Elevage d'Yllome (FR); T-Donnacha O'Brien. €8,500.
3–Pretty Rebel (Ire), 130, m, 6, Gutaifan (Ire)–La Chassotte (Fr), by Until Sundown.
1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Lance Bloodstock Limited; B-Lance Bloodstock (IRE); T-Darren Bunyan. €4,250.
Margins: 1 3/4, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 1.10, 10.00, 33.00.
Also Ran: Clever And Cool (Ire), Moss Tucker (Ire), Lovely Mana (Ire), Saliteh (GB), My Eyes Adore You (Ire), Wave Machine (Fr).

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