Tag: Breeders’ Cup

Charlie Appleby Crowned International Trainer Of The Year

Charlie Appleby was crowned International Trainer of the Year for a fourth time at today's Horserace Writers & Photographers Awards (HWPA) at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The award, which has been sponsored by the International Racing Bureau since 1981, was presented by Adrian Beaumont.

Appleby was joined by Ralph Beckett, John and Thady Gosden and William Haggas on the contenders list, but it was Appleby who came out on top.

Charlie Appleby once again has had a fabulous season both in the UK and internationally. Horses hailing from his Moulton Paddocks base in Newmarket contested ten North American Grade 1 races during 2021 and won no less than eight of them, twice being followed home by a stablemate. Throw in the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont, a Grade 1 in all but name won by Yibir, and Appleby had an incredible nine big transatlantic triumphs during the year.

His crowning glory was, of course, the Breeders' Cup, where three of his four horses that did start at Del Mar came home in front, landing arguably the meeting's three most prestigious turf contests. His wins around Europe throughout the year were also impressive. Hurricane Lane took both the Irish Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris before his gallant Arc third; Space Blues landed the Prix de la Foret; and, over the Irish sea, Native Trail gave his handler a third National Stakes victory at The Curragh in the past four years.

International racing has once again been hugely popular with UK trainers. Remarkably, given the negative impact of Covid upon international travel, 2021 could yet become the highest grossing year ever in terms of overseas prize money earned by British trainers. At the time of writing, the total is a little shy of the blockbusting £29.7m accrued in 2018 but it is already the second largest tally. And, given the riches on offer at the Longines Hong Kong International meeting this coming Sunday, the £30 million barrier could yet be broken.

Adrian Beaumont said: “It has been an amazing year for international racing, especially given the extra protocols caused by Covid. British based trainers have won major races in Bahrain, Canada, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and the States as well as throughout Europe. It is remarkable that John and Thady Gosden won the world's richest race, the Saudi Cup with Mishriff, but didn't win our award due to Charlie Appleby's stellar season.”

The post Charlie Appleby Crowned International Trainer Of The Year appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Economic Indicators: Record Breeders’ Cup Handle Leads Slight Wagering Increases In November

Equibase, North American racing's official database, released Monday its November 2021 statistics for the industry's economic indicators, including field size, wagering, and other data, along with year-to-date and 2019 and 2020 numbers. The database distributes 2020 and 2021 numbers and includes 2019's data for comparisons to pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers.

Led by a record handle at the Del Mar-hosted Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 5 and 6 ($183,260,127, a two-day record for the championship event), November's total wagering numbers were up 7.40 percent over the same month in 2020. Part of the reason for the increase could be the return of in-person attendance to the Breeders' Cup, which was severely restricted at Keeneland in 2020.

When Del Mar last hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2017, it posted a then-record handle of $166,077,486. The new mark is 10.4 percent higher than that.

Compared to 2019, this November's handle was only 0.62 percent higher, though average wagering per race day sustained a solid 12.04 percent bump between November of 2019 and November of 2021.

Though purses and race days are both up over 25 percent from the same month in 2020, average daily wagering saw a sharp decrease of 17.33 percent, while the year-to-date figures for average wagering are also down nearly 10 percent. That contrasts sharply with the numbers from 2019, which put average wagering up over 20 percent from the first 11 months of 2019 to the same period in 2021.

The discrepancy could be explained by the increased attention horse racing experienced during the harshest months of the pandemic in 2020; this year's return to a more normal sports schedule and in-person activities could definitely play a role in where wagering dollars have been spent.

November 2021 vs. November 2020
Indicator November 2021 November 2020 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $961,813,331 $895,546,532 +7.40%
U.S. Purses $117,678,625 $92,095,830 +27.78%
U.S. Race Days 291 224 +29.91%
U.S. Races 2,440 1,945 +25.45%
U.S. Starts 18,782 16,236 +15.68%
Average Field Size 7.70 8.35 -7.79%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $3,305,200 $3,997,976 -17.3`3%
Average Purses Per Race Day $404,394 $411,142 -1.64%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2020
Indicator YTD 2021 YTD 2020 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $11,409,728,296 $10,171,153,164 +12.18%
U.S. Purses $1,106,048,142 $812,236,796 +36.17%
U.S. Race Days 3,821 3,073 +24.34%
U.S. Races 31,415 25,692 +22.28%
U.S. Starts 230,147 203,122 +13.30%
Average Field Size 7.33 7.91 -7.34%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $2,986,058 $3,309,845 -9.78%
Average Purses Per Race Day $289,466 $264,314 +9.52%

2019 Comparisons:

November 2021 vs. November 2019
Indicator November 2021 November 2019 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $961,813,331 $955,843,009 +0.62%
U.S. Purses $117,678,625 $115,756,315 +1.66%
U.S. Race Days 291 324 -10.19%
U.S. Races 2,440 2,730 -10.62%
U.S. Starts 18,782 21,839 -14.00%
Average Field Size 7.70 8.00 -3.78%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $3,305,200 $2,950,133 +12.04%
Average Purses Per Race Day $404,394 $357,273 +13.19%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2019
Indicator YTD 2021 YTD 2019 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $11,409,728,296 $10,326,096,192 +10.49%
U.S. Purses $1,106,048,142 $1,101,605,086 +0.40%
U.S. Race Days 3,821 4,173 -8.44%
U.S. Races 31,415 34,038 -7.71%
U.S. Starts 230,147 254,992 -9.74%
Average Field Size 7.33 7.49 -2.21%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $2,986,058 $2,474,502 +20.67%
Average Purses Per Race Day $289,466 $263,984 +9.65%

* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

The post Economic Indicators: Record Breeders’ Cup Handle Leads Slight Wagering Increases In November appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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After The Finish Line’s Charity Auction Of Breeders’ Cup Hats To Benefit RRP & Others

After the Finish Line's 6th Annual Charity Auction of Breeders' Cup Hats starts this Sunday, Dec. 5. The auction, which runs for one week, is one of After the Finish Line's fundraisers that benefits its grant making activity. The Retired Racehorse Project has partnered with After the Finish Line, and will receive a portion of proceeds.

Up for bid are over 50 iconic purple Breeders' Cup hats from the 2021 World Championships at Del Mar. They are typically only available for the connections of Breeders' Cup entrants. Several hats of past fan favorites will also be in the mix, including Zenyatta, Medaglia d'Oro, Songbird, Ghostzapper, and more. Hats for this year's auction were generously donated by the horses' connections.

“This auction brings aftercare and horse racing fans together in a unique way,” said Dawn Mellen, president and founder of After the Finish Line. “Fans can bid on the hats of their favorite racehorses to benefit the Thoroughbreds after racing. This helps raise awareness about the importance of aftercare for racing fans. We are excited to help build the bridge between racing and aftercare with this annual auction.”

A selection of hats is directly pledged to individual aftercare organizations who will receive the proceeds raised from their chosen hat. Participating aftercare organizations include Beyond the Roses Equine Rescue and Retirement, CARMA, Florida TRAC, Old Friends, Racing For Home, Second Call Thoroughbred Adoption & Retirement, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and Turning for Home.

Bidding in the eBay auction will open this Sunday, Dec. 5 at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT at ebay.com/str/afterthefinishline.

About After the Finish Line: After the Finish Line is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that awards Monthly Grants to aftercare organizations across the United States that care for, rehab, retrain, rehome and/or retire Off Track Thoroughbreds, Thoroughbreds in training that never raced, and Thoroughbred broodmares, stallions, and foals. Grants are awarded for surgery, veterinarian, chiropractor, medication, supplements, farrier, dental, vaccines, hay, feed, training, boarding, transportation and/or auction rescue. Since 2007, ATFL has awarded nearly 750 grants helping approximately 4,700 Off Track Thoroughbreds. Visit, afterthefinishline.org.

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) is a 501c3 charitable organization working to increase demand for off-track Thoroughbreds in the equestrian world. In addition to producing the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, the organization also publishes Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine, hosts off-track Thoroughbred retraining clinics, offers programing at major horse expos and events around the country, and maintains the online Thoroughbred Sport Tracker (the internet's only user-driven database tracking second career talent and accomplishments of registered Thoroughbreds. Visit the RRP online at TheRRP.org.

The post After The Finish Line’s Charity Auction Of Breeders’ Cup Hats To Benefit RRP & Others appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gun Runner Breaks Freshman Progeny Earnings Mark

Three Chimneys' Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) set a new record for progeny earnings for a first-crop sire when his total moved past the $3.8-million mark Sunday. Coolmore's Uncle Mo held the previous record of $3,717,490, which he established in 2015. Prior to Uncle Mo, the first-crop progeny earnings record had been held by Gainesway's Tapit, who set the mark in 2008.

Gun Runner took over the record earnings figure when the Tom Amoss-trained Shotgun Hottie won a $92,000 maiden special weight at Churchill Downs Sunday, becoming the stallion's 22nd winner.

“Gun Runner's record start at stud is a crowning achievement for the farm and its philosophy,” said Three Chimneys' owner Goncalo Torrealba. “To surpass a record established by Uncle Mo, and Tapit previous to that, clearly compares Gun Runner favorably at this point in time with two of the most influential sires at stud today. He not only established a new progeny earnings record, but he is also the Leading Sire in America by percent Stakes Winner to runners among all sires, pretty astonishing. Three Chimneys' whole team is grateful to the breeders who continue to support him with great mares, and a special thanks to partner Ron Winchell. He has been fantastic. I am grateful for his continued commitment to breed his best mares and race their progeny. Trainer Steve Asmussen has created his legacy through Horse of the Year Gun Runner and his progeny. Thank you, Steve.”

From his first crop to race this year, Gun Runner has been represented by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and expected champion Echo Zulu, as well as GI Hopeful S. winner Gunite and graded winners Pappacap and Wicked Halo.

Echo Zulu, Gunite and Wicked Halo are all trained by Asmussen, who conditioned Gun Runner to a Horse of the Year title in 2017, and are owned or co-owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, which, along with Three Chimneys, campaigned the stallion to six Grade I victories.

Gun Runner will stand the 2022 breeding season at $125,000.

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