Horse Racing News | Horse Racing Free Tips

Failure Of Stewards’ Checks And Balances To Blame For Wrong Order Of Finish At Golden Gate

A disruption in the system of checks and balances between racing officials is to blame for a strange incident at Golden Gate Fields Sept. 7 in which the incorrect order of finish was posted and made official for roughly 15 minutes before being corrected.

Initially, stewards posted the order as 5-2-3-4, when in reality it should have been 5-3-2-4, the difference lying in a photo for second place between #2 Blues Rapper and #3 Hold Me Close. A note from steward Richard Lewis published on the California Horse Racing Board website stated Lewis “spoke with the placing judges, who called the 2 as the place horse and 3 as show finisher. I misread the photo picture as well.”

Lewis admitted he failed to have fellow stewards Will Meyers and Dennis Nevin review the photo. At the same time as the outriders gave Lewis the “all clear” signal after the race, Meyers was telling Nevin to pull #5 Herdsman and #2 Blues Rapper (the second betting choice) for testing. As Lewis was listening to Meyers' suggestions on test horses, he looked at the tote board, which indicated the 5 and 2 were the top two finishers, and gave the go-ahead to make the race official.

Nevin had been checking with Equibase chartcallers to see if the #4 Arc Nation, who finished last in the four-horse field, had officially been eased when he heard the photo operator reading out the finish. When he realized the mistake, he immediately notified Lewis and Meyers and contacted the mutuels department to put a hold on the system until the issue could be sorted out.

According to Golden Gate announcer Matt Dinerman, he was instructed to let the public know horseplayers who had the correct order of finish would be paid out for exactas, trifectas and place wagers.

California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) spokesman Mike Marten reported that $528.40 was paid out on the incorrect order of finish to horseplayers cashing tickets in person at California brick and mortar betting locations before the error was caught. In the case of advance deposit wagering (ADW) monies, one company told Marten ADWs were responsible for removing incorrectly-cashed amounts from customers' accounts.

It remains unclear whether Lewis could face disciplinary action for the error.

“After gathering all of the information the CHRB will determine whether any action is appropriate with respect to the racing officials involved,” Marten said.

The post Failure Of Stewards’ Checks And Balances To Blame For Wrong Order Of Finish At Golden Gate appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Swiss Skydiver Remains Possible for Preakness

GI Alabama winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) remains possible to contest the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Oct. 3.

“It’s going to depend on who shows up,” said trainer Ken McPeek. “We are also nominating her to the [GI] Spinster [Oct. 4] and she’s been invited to the [GI] QEII [Oct. 10]. We’re shopping it, that’s all. We have three good choices. My strong preference would have been a 3-year-old filly Grade I [on dirt], but there isn’t one out there.”

Both alternatives to the Preakness, the nine-furlong Spinster for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up, and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, a 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies, will be contested at Keeneland.

Campaigned by Peter Callahan, the chestnut finished second behind Art Collector in the July 11 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. Swiss Skydiver also captured the Aug. 21 Alabama at Saratoga and finished second in the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

“She’s likes to run, work,” said McPeek. She acts like she wants to do more. She never misses an oat. If she had backed out of the feed tub at any time, we would have spread her races, but she hasn’t done it,” McPeek said. “As long as she’s telling us she wants to do something, we’re going to consider it.”

McPeek indicated that a run in the Preakness would be more likely if Tiz the Law (Constitution), the GI Belmont S. winner who finished second behind Authentic in the Kentucky Derby, should skip this year’s third leg of the Triple Crown.

“We know the two toughies will be Art Collector [Bernardini] and Authentic [Into Mischief],” he said. “They’re both nice horses. We’re just waiting to see who else is going, Right now, we’re undecided. We’re doing the research.”

Swiss Skydiver won the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn and GII Santa Anita Oaks earlier this season.

The post Swiss Skydiver Remains Possible for Preakness appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Marlhill House Stud Starts New Website

A new website was launched by Marlhill House Stud on Wednesday. The site will be a comprehensive platform for buyers to learn about Marlhill House Stud yearlings in advance of the sales, including photos, conformation videos and pedigree information. To view the 10 Marlhill yearlings, split evenly between Tattersalls October Book 1 and Goffs Orby, go to www.marlhillhousestud.com.

“We have done our best to move with the times this year by bringing ourselves online with a new website and greater use of social media,” said Marlhill House Stud Manager Brian McConnon. “We hope that it might give those who are unable to attend the sales due to COVID-19, as much opportunity as possible to look at our yearlings. We are particularly excited about our group of horses heading to the sales this year and hope that our website will help to showcase them to the best of our ability.”

The post Marlhill House Stud Starts New Website appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

China Horse Club’s Breeding Operation Continues To Branch Out

A new chapter in the evolution of China Horse Club has been written with confirmation that the first yearling produced by one of its American-based Grade 1-winning racehorses is now taking its formative steps towards a racing career.

Yellow Agate, who became the China Horse Club's inaugural Grade 1 winner in the United States, is again blazing a trail for the internationally-minded operation, closing the final loop in a long-standing plan to buy and race elite fillies before breeding them to sell at major markets the world over.

“This is an exciting time for the Club. A long-term plan set in process several years ago is now coming full circle,” said Michael Wallace, chief operating officer for the China Horse Club. “In 2015 we started a plan to selectively purchase quality fillies from major sales around the world. The objective being to develop some of them into Grade 1 winners on the track and, in time, for these Grade 1 winning fillies and mares to become a cornerstone of our breeding operations in major markets.

“That has now happened,” he continued. “Earlier this year we had First Seal's first yearling offered publicly at auction in Australia and this spring we have the first yearling by one of our American stars, Yellow Agate, taking the first steps in his career for his new owners.”

In April, a Snitzel colt out of G1 Flight Stakes winner First Seal topped the 2020 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, Australia's premier yearling sale, when Coolmore Australia won out with a final bid of $1,800,000 Australian (US$1,315,751). The athletic colt has recently turned two and is in the care of champion trainer Chris Waller.

The Curlin x Yellow Agate colt is currently being broken in at Stonestreet Farm before joining the operation of Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Pletcher's record grows season upon season and its achievements with the China Horse Club and partners are representative of this. He trained former G1 Florida Derby winner and now WinStar Farm-based sire Audible, Kentucky Oaks contender Ivy Bell and currently oversees the careers of the stakes-winner Valiance and the above-average Fearless.

Yellow Agate was purchased from the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and franked that assessment by becoming a Grade 1 winner at just her second start in the 2016 Frizette Stakes. That explosive performance was a career highlight for the athletic bay who joined China Horse Club's U.S.-based breeding operation after an injury setback.

The 2008 Eclipse Horse of the Year, Curlin, was chosen as the first mate for Yellow Agate. In the ensuing years the champion racehorse has continued to build on his imposing record as a sire and there is every reason to be buoyant about this latest prospect by Yellow Agate.

“The Curlin x Yellow Agate yearling is a stunning colt, he really is,” Wallace said. “He has always been highlighted rated in our system and just continue to develop physically. He is a really powerful type who gets over ground well.

“Earlier this year Yellow Agate delivered a filly by Quality Road and she is just exceptional,”Wallace continued. “The mare is doing a wonderful job to China Horse Club. She is the racetrack graduate we hoped for and she is throwing her athletic frame into her progeny and giving them the chance to replicate what she was able to do on the track.”

Yellow Agate was covered again by star stallion Quality Road in March. In Australia, China Horse Club's talismanic First Seal was covered by champion first, second and third-season sire Zoustar earlier this month.

The post China Horse Club’s Breeding Operation Continues To Branch Out appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post