Pizza Bianca’s Dam White Hot Surges To Session Lead at Keeneland November

White Hot (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (hip 170), the dam of 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf heroine Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), was knocked down to the BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe for $2.1 million to take the lead at the Keeneland November Sale Wednesday afternoon. The 10-year-old mare, offered by Stone Farm in foal to the all-conquering Into Mischief, comes with a world of pedigree, as she is a half-sister to 2011 G1 Investec Derby hero Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and MGSW/MG1SP Gagnoa (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), the dam of MGSW/MG1SP Ancient Rome (War Front) and Group 3 winner Etoile (War Front). Celebrity chef Bobby Flay purchased White Hot for 1.25 million guineas ($2,122,050) as a yearling at the 2014 Tattersalls October and her yearling colt by Not This Time sold to Lael Stable for $350,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Pizza Bianca was bought back on a bid of $3.45 million at Fasig-Tipton November last fall and was one of several high-profile mares purchased by John Stewart Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton.

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No Nay Mets Continues Winning Ways In Colonial’s Exacta Systems Rosie’s S.

Undefeated on American soil, No Nay Mets showed promise on debut in taking Gulfstream's Royal Palm Juvenile S. May 13 to earn a spot in the gate for Royal Ascot's G2 Norfolk S. After selling for £800,000 at Goff's London Sale just before the Ascot meet, he was soundly beaten in the Norfolk. The Irish-bred then returned to the East Coast with a dominant win as the heavy favorite in Monmouth's Tyro S. last time out July 30.

Despite running over his fourth track in as many starts, No Nay Mets jumped as nearly a sure thing at 1-5 in the wagering and showed his customary early speed to set a pressured lead just ahead of King Kontie (Karakontie {Jpn}). Pushed through fractions of :21.45 and :44.06, he continued to find more and drew off readily when asked into the lane to sprint clear for the easy win.

Etoile, herself a group winner in Ireland, is a full-sister to last week's GIII Mint Millions S. winner Ancient Rome. This is also the extended family of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) who RNA'd for $3.45-million at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale. No Nay Mets is his dam's first and only reported foal. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

EXACTA SYSTEMS ROSIE'S S., $125,000, Colonial Downs, 9-9, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.03, fm.
1–NO NAY METS (IRE), 122, c, 2, by No Nay Never
                1st Dam: Etoile (GSW-Ire), by War Front
                2nd Dam: Gagnoa (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
                3rd Dam: Gwynn (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
(€180,000 Ylg '22 ARAUG; $335,000 RNA 2yo '23 OBSAPR;
£800,000 2yo '23 GOFLO). O-Bregman Family Racing LLC and
WWBD LLC; B-Coolmore (Ire); T-George Weaver; J-Paco Lopez.
$75,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $183,000.
2–Toupie, 117, f, 2, Uncle Mo–Amertume, by Tapit.
1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Wertheimer Et Frere (KY); T-H. Graham
Motion. $25,000.
3–Air Recruit, 120, c, 2, Air Force Blue–Werewolf, by Arch.
($105,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Mark B. Grier;
B-Springhouse Farm (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour. $13,750.
Margins: 3 1/4, 3 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 0.30, 6.60, 7.40.
Also Ran: Atmidnight, Ruddy Buddy, Sebastian Run, Woodcourt, A G Diamond, King Kontie, Mi Dinero, Gone Elvis.

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Seven Days: No Hollywood Ending but Baden Still Shines

The Tattersalls Somerville Sale has meant that a return to Newmarket could be delayed no longer but this column sprang, or perhaps staggered, into life on the final day of Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche.

The scribbling started reasonably early on Sunday morning from a desk in the press room that boasts one of the best views in the racing world, looking out across the turf to the wooded mountains of the Black Forest. It was also the desk that was once occupied by British-born but German-based racing correspondent David Connolly-Smith, who died in July. David was 83 but he had still been a regular presence at the races, and I always enjoyed a chat with him on my annual trip to BBAG. He brought German racing to life for readers of various publications in Britain and Ireland and, more than that, he was always so helpful and welcoming. David is much missed and it was an honour to be granted temporary residence at the desk that still bears his name.

The last day of Baden-Baden's premier week of racing is not for the faint-hearted. By 11am, the runners were already leaving the parade ring just after 11am for the first of a 12-race card on a sweltering day at Iffezheim. Three of those races, much to the delight of Baden Galopp's effervescent Stefan Buchner, featured within the World Pool, an increase from just one race on the same card last year and following on from the inclusion of the Deutsches Derby and Grosser Preis von Berlin earlier this season. By the end of the day, World Pool reported turnover of HK$64.3million (€7.5m) on those three races.

It is hard not to be concerned about German racing, primarily because it is really important for it not just to survive, but to thrive. Any country that continues to make such an impact on thoroughbred breeding globally really must have a strong domestic racing scene in order for that reputation not to start waning. Germany is not alone in struggling with falling racecourse attendances and a reduction in the number of horses in training and mares in the paddocks, but the contraction, to around 850 broodmares and slightly less than 2,000 racehorses, is worrying nonetheless.

A day or two at the bustling Baden-Baden racecourse during this late summer week almost certainly gives a false sense of the health of German racing overall, but it also provides an encouraging glimpse of racing at its very best, where a significant portion of the crowd is fully engaged with the stars of the show: the horses. It is hard to think of another racecourse where the runners and riders are clapped as they pass the stands for the first time. This happens for every race of sufficient distance at Baden-Baden; not so much a Cheltenham roar, more a polite Iffezheim ripple of applause, but it is beguiling.

The huge hedge-lined parade ring is encircled by racegoers four or five deep for every race, even from such an early start. Each winner and the also-rans are cheered back in by those lining the route, including plenty of children, along each side of the walk of fame that has the names of every winner of the Grosser Preis von Baden embedded in a path back to the winner's enclosure.

I wonder how many bosses of British racecourses have visited Baden-Baden on a raceday to see what's possible with low-cost entry, very little division of enclosures, no dress code, plenty of seating and picnic areas, and better still no noisy sideshows to divert attention from the main event or to upset the horses. It can be done, as long as we promote a day at the races as just that, and not as a big boozy outdoor party with some horses galloping around in the background.

To Longchamp via Baden-Baden

The trophy for Germany's main race of the week, the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, hopped over the nearby border to France when Christophe Soumillon timed his run to perfection on the statuesque Zagrey (Fr) to give Zarak (Fr) his first Group 1 winner. The Aga Khan Studs stallion was also the sire of the third home, Straight (Ger), and in the States over the weekend he was represented by Parnac (Fr), winner of the GII Flower Bowl S. At Saratoga. 

It was a banner day for Zagrey's trainer Yann Barberot, who was in Germany to receive the prize for the second Group 1 win of his career despite having the smart Beauvatier (Fr) in action at Longchamp, where he remained unbeaten in the G3 Prix la Rochette. That son of Lope De Vega (Ire) looks a smart Classic prospect for Barberot's Deauville stable next season. Before that, however, the trainer has much to look forward to on the first weekend of October, with Zagrey bound for the Arc and Beauvatier likely to start next in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

Zagrey was the sole foreign runner in the Grosser Preis, and his last-gasp win was a blow to fans of the second-placed Mr Hollywood (Ire), who has featured in this column before and almost made all, going down by just a neck at the line. It was encouraging to see the three-year-old in the flesh, as he is a strong, handsome individual, who will surely notch his top-level win before too long. 

Sean Cronin and Tom Frary, who are the racing writers entrusted with handing out TDN Rising Stars, guard this honour closely, and it was hard not to prick up one's ears when Tom decided to award one to a son of the little known (outside Germany anyway) Iquitos (Ger) back in early April. That was the day that Mr Hollywood made his debut at Mulheim and bolted in to win by 16 lengths. He won the G3 Bavarian Classic on his next start, and has been second in his ensuing three runs, including when second to Fantastic Moon in the Deutsches Derby. He is one of one five foals from the first crop of his sire, a son of Adleflug (Ger) standing at Gestut Graditz. Another of the quintet is the G3 Diana Trial runner-up Drawn To Dream (Ire). Both were bred by Dietrich von Boetticher of Gestut Ammerland, where the stallion stood for his first two seasons, and they are both out of mares by the owner-breeder's Arc winner Hurricane Run (Ire). 

We'll keep a close eye on Iquitos. I've a feeling there may well be plenty more to report on his offspring in the coming seasons. 

Breakthrough Win for Pearson 

Baden-Baden is likely to be remembered fondly by British jockey Laura Pearson, who had her first German ride there on Saturday. She won the Listed Wackenhut Mercedes Benz Fillies Cup with a cool-headed ride aboard the Ralph Beckett-trained Diamond Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

It was the first stakes-race victory for Pearson, 22, who only rode out her claim a month ago having had to sit out the second half of 2022 with a serious neck injury. She returned to the saddle in January and is already well on her way to surpassing last year's tally of winners, with 19 on the board, including a Ffos Las treble for Beckett on August 25.

“I had a really fun trip to Italy last February and was lucky enough to have a double at Pisa, so it's great to keep my overseas record at 100 per cent,” Pearson told TDN.

She is enjoying her association with Beckett's Kimpton Down stable, which currently has one of the best strike-rates in Britain after a hugely successful August.

“I ride out there four days a week and it's a pleasure to be in there with the team,” she added. “I recently had my first treble for the boss, and it's great to get this win for him. I can't thank him enough for the opportunities he's given me. It's brilliant.”

Along with Zagrey, various international raiders struck in the major races during the week at Baden-Baden. Charlie Johnston saddled the third group winner from the first crop of Too Darn Hot (GB) when Carolina Reaper took the 150th running of the G3 Renate und Albrecht Woeste Zukunfts Rennen last Wednesday, and Francis Graffard sent out the Aga Khan's Darkaniya (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) to win the G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis.

Stauffenbergs on Top

Philipp and Marion Stauffenberg may be best known to many on the sales circuit as the leading German consignors internationally, but they are also first-class breeders and currently occupy the top spot on the list of German breeders with significantly fewer runners than their nearest rivals in the table, Gestut Karlshof and Gestut Rottgen.

Of course, a large portion of the prize-money haul comes from the Deutsches Derby victory of Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who disappointingly was a late withdrawal for the G1 Grosser Preis on Sunday owing to ground worries. But they were also represented at the course on Saturday by a homebred debutante, Lady Mary (Ger) (Lawman {Ire}), winner of the strong maiden, the Gestut Etzean Winterkonigin Trial, for Andreas Suborics. The juvenile is out of La Reine Noir (Ger) (Rainbow Quest), a half-sister to G1 Prix de l'Opera winner Lady Marian (Ger) (Nayef), who, like Fantastic Moon, had been sold by Stauffenberg Bloodstock for €49,000 at the BBAG September Yearling Sale.

None of the five yearlings in the Stauffenberg draft sold for that magic number this year, but the vendor was among the leaders with a €220,000 filly by Sea The Stars (Ire). The other Sea The Stars yearling in the consignment, a colt from the Lordship Stud family of Classic winners Love Divine (GB) and Sixties Icon (GB), sold for considerably less than one might have expected, and was knocked down at €80,000 to Tina Rau for the Ullmann family of Gestut Schlenderhan. 

The good-looking colt will be well worth following when he heads into training with Joseph O'Brien, however. As we see time and again, there is often little correlation between sales prices and racecourse performances, and the most notable Lordship Stud graduate of recent years was another by Sea The Stars who was sold for just 60,000gns as a yearling. Later named Emily Upjohn (GB), she turned out to be rather good.

King of Paris

Kingman (GB) was represented by a notable double at Longchamp on Sunday when his daughter Sauterne reeled in the front-running Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) to land the G1 Prix du Moulin and Narnaco (GB) made all in the G3 La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte.

For Sauterne, who delivered her trainer Patrice Cottier a first Group 1 win, this was truly reward for effort and consistency. Bred by her owner Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois, she won the Listed Prix Pont du Neuf in April and since then has been placed three times at Group 1 level, in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Prix Jean Prat and Prix Rothschild.

On the same weekend two years ago, Spain's champion trainer Guillermo Arizkorreta sent out Rodaballo (Ire) and Kitty Marion (GB) to win the G2 Oettingen Rennen and G3 Goldene Peitsche in Baden-Baden, and this year he turned his attention on Longchamp with Naranco. 

It was a truly international result. The colt was bred in Britain by the Hong Kong-based Eric Chen and was bought at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale by the former head of the Spanish Jockey Club, Jose Hormaeche, for owner Yeguada Rocio. Trained in Madrid by Arizkorreta, he was ridden to glory by Czech jockey Vaclav Janacek. Naranco also owns a pretty smart pedigree that is spreading its wings. His dam Patsy Boyne (Ire) is a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to High Chaparral (Ire) and she has been exported to Australia by Chen.

Hays Making Merry

One should never say never, but it seems highly unlikely that any other owner will be able to repeat having a treble spreads across Kincsem Park and Kentucky Downs, as enjoyed by Jim and Fitri Hay on Saturday.

This unique feat was pulled off by Splendent (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) and Silent Film (GB) (New Approach {GB}), both of whom won at Hungary's big meeting with Frankie Dettori in the saddle. This was followed later in the day by victory in the valuable GIII Mint Millions S. for Ancient Rome (War Front). Trained by Charles Hill and ridden by Jamie Spencer, the 110-rated four-year-old won almost £1 million in prize-money and was following up on his win in the Chesterfield Cup at Goodwood last month. 

 

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The Week In Review: The Year In Which Saratoga Lost Its Mojo

At the conclusion of racing on Monday, Saratoga will have handled about $800 million for the meet, the third highest handle figure ever for the track. On-track attendance was at 1,055,543 after Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day card, setting an all-time record with two racing days to go.

Yet, by just about any measure, it was not a good meet. Saratoga came into 2023 with the wind at its back. Every year the racing seemed to get bigger, the handle would grow and more and more fans would pile into the historic racecourse. Taking out the covid year, handle had risen at Saratoga for five straight years.

Would Saratoga ever lose its momentum or would it keep growing exponentially?

It turned this year. The 12 fatalities, including two particularly gruesome ones that occurred in full view of packed grandstand and before a national TV audience, were as bad as it gets. How many racing fans were turned into ex-racing fans on those days? NYRA has always taken the safety of the horses and jockeys very seriously and will no doubt continue to put in place measures to keep both safe.

They have some control over horse safety, but none over the weather, which was a huge problem at the meet. During the 2022 meet, only 15 races came off the grass. Through Sunday of the 2023 meet, 65 races had come off the grass. There had been 189 grass races run in 2022 versus 129 this year. That always leads to the same problems. When races come off the turf there are always a number of scratches, typically creating off-the-turf races with four or five-horse fields. On Aug. 10, an off-the-turf race actually turned into a match race. This is stuff no one wants to bet on.

NYRA is ready to do what it can to address that problem. NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke has said that there is serious interest in installing a synthetic track at Saratoga by the 2025 meet. It wouldn't replace either the dirt main track or the two turf courses but would give NYRA a third option when it comes to racing surfaces and the synthetic track would largely be put to use when the rains washed races off of the turf.

The weather has been a problem, but if you dig a bit further you can find some signs that Saratoga handle was affected by more than the rain. On GI Travers Day 2023, when two races came off the turf, the handle was $50,183,71. In 2022, the handle was $55,559,315 when one race came off the grass. This past Saturday, on GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day, they bet $27,400,509 on a day not impacted by weather. The year before the handle was $32,505,600.

“I think what happened is with all the earlier rain we lost some momentum and when that happened it's hard to get it back,” O'Rourke said.

Field size fell by 2.5 percent, from 7.75 to 7.56. A more telling number was the average handle per betting interest. It was $255,773 this year and $272,599 last year, for a drop of 6.2%.

What's done is done and there's nothing to do now but turn the page and hope Saratoga 2024 is one of the safest meets in history and the weather is gorgeous from opening day to closing day. The place is still magical and popular, but everything peaks at some point. Maybe that's happened to Saratoga.

European Dominance On The Turf

This is getting a bit ridiculous. U.S. racing is used to second-flight European horses coming over and winning some of our biggest grass race, but the year European shippers are having this year shows that our grass horses are vastly inferior. Take Saturday's GIII $2 million Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs. There was only one European shipper in the field, Ancient Rome (War Front), who is trained by Charlie Hills and was ridden by Jamie Spencer. Facing the likes of GI winner Annapolis (War Front), he came into it off a win in a handicap race. Before that you had to go all the way back to 2021 for his last graded win, a victory in the GIII Prix des Chenes in France. He won that by a half-length. He won the Mint Millions by a half-length.

A week earlier, it was Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). He came into the GI Sword Dancer after losing by 21 1/2 lengths in the GI King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I Stakes, where he went off at 125-1. Yet, that was good enough to win the Sword Dancer by 4 1/2 lengths. The win broke a nine-race losing streak, going back to the 2021 GI Belmont Derby where he also took advantage of a weak group of U.S. turf horses.

Then there's Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify). She was sent off at 50-1 in the GI Irish 1,000 Guineas and finished last beaten 14 1/2 lengths. But that was good enough for her to take home first prize of $500,000 in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational in her next outing.

Good luck to our horses in the Breeders' Cup turf races.

Surprise, Surprise, Still No News Out Of Saudi Arabia

Back in 2020, Maximum Security (New Year's Day) crossed the line in front in the 2020 $20 million Saudi Cup. Just a few days later, his trainer, Jason Servis, was arrested and charged with using performance-enhancing drugs on most of the horses in his barn. When that news broke, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia said it was withholding the purses until it could investigate the situation

It's been 29 months since Servis was indicted, he has pled guilty and in November will begin a four-year prison sentence. The case is over, but the Saudis still haven't paid out the purse. Presumably, the winner's share of $10 million will eventually go to Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). But no one has been paid as the Saudis, who should have all the evidence they'll ever need, do nothing and don't seem to be in any hurry to write a check. We tried to get an update on the situation this week, but the answer we got didn't really answer anything.

“Due to the extended nature of the judicial process in the USA, the JCSA has been unable to fully conduct its own investigation into the awarding of the winner's prize for The Saudi Cup 2020,” wrote the JCSA's Sarah Tregoning in response to an email sent by the TDN. “Now that the legal process in the USA has finished, the JCSA expects to swiftly conclude its own investigation and make an announcement in the coming weeks.”

I wouldn't hold your breath.

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