David Powell | Horse Racing Free Tips

Neige Blanche Rallies For Astra Stakes Win As Trainer Powell Mourns Loss Of His Father

Bottled up at the rail as the 1-5 favorite, French-bred Neige Blanche and jockey Juan Hernandez had but one option – wait out the storm. And wait they did, as the 5-year-old mare was able to finally split horses two from the rail turning for home and then overcome a 2 ½-length deficit a furlong out to run down Flavien Prat and Disappearing Act by one length in Monday's Grade 3, $125,000 Astra Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Trained by French native Leonard Powell, Neige Blanche (White Snow) got a marathon mile and one half on firm turf in 2:32.27.

With the Astra start transferred earlier in the day because of rain from the hillside course to a flat start on the backstretch, Frose bounded out to an early lead with Disappearing Act and Neige Blanche in close attendance. With nowhere to go with five sixteenths of a mile remaining, Neige Blanche had to bide her time while the back markers, Reiwa and Scherzo actually passed her approaching the quarter pole.

“The trip worked out pretty good for her because she likes to run like that,” said Hernandez, who has now ridden Neige Blanche in her last seven races, winning four of them. “Just put her behind horses and she was happy the whole race. I was just waiting for some space to come through and make her run, because as soon as she finds (room), you just put her in there and she just comes right through like she did today.

“I put a lot of trust in her and in Leonard to have her ready. I felt like I had a lot of horse. We were just waiting for something to open up. She's a nice filly, she was ready today.”

A winner of the G3 Red Carpet Handicap going 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar Nov. 25, Neige Blanche, heavily favored in a field of five older mares, paid $2.60, $2.10 and $2.10.

Owned by Madaket Stables, LLC, Laura De Seroux, Marsha Naify and Mathilde Powell, Neige Blanche registered her third graded stakes win and fourth overall added money win, running her overall mark to 16-7-0-3. With the winner's share of $75,000, she increased her earnings to $390,280.

“I was cursing my country and (fellow Frenchman) Flavien a little bit to open the hole, but she was there when Juan asked her and she's a very game filly, she's all-out,” said Powell, who suffered the recent loss of his father, a prominent bloodstock agent in France. “In the first of the spring, we have races here (at Santa Anita) that are spaced apart four or five weeks, so we will do that and if she does well, maybe we will try to look at a Grade 1 somewhere down the road.

When asked by TVG's Joaquin Jaime about the death of his father, Powell responded, “My father has done a lot for racing in France, and me being here is part of him. And my daughter (Mathilde) being here, that's another part of him. My brothers and stepbrother back in France, we all live on with all that he told us. He was a great man to all and I hope we make him proud.”

The second choice with Prat at 3-1, Disappearing Act nearly pulled off the upset, finishing six lengths clear of English-bred Scherzo and paid $2.80 and $2.10.

Last early, Scherzo, who shipped in from Golden Gate Fields for trainer Manny Badilla, was off at 22-1 with Kyle Frey up and paid $3.60 to show while finishing 2 ¼ lengths in front of early pacesetter Frose.

Fractions on the race were 25.99, 51.35, 1:16.99, 1:42.70 and 2:08.06.

Live racing resumes with first post time for an eight-race card on Friday at 12:30 p.m.

The post Neige Blanche Rallies For Astra Stakes Win As Trainer Powell Mourns Loss Of His Father appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

David Powell Passes Away

David Powell, a former American journalist who relocated to France in the 1970s and purchased Haras du Lieu des Champs in Coupesante in 1980, passed away in the early morning hours Sunday after a long illness, according to his son, Richard. He was 73 years old.

In addition to Richard, who bought the 222-acre farm from his father in 2013, Powell was the father of Freddy, the executive director at Arqana; Leo Powell, a trainer in California; and stepfather to trainer Arnaud Delacour.

During his career, Powell was a longtime contributor of articles on racing and breeding for several major publications in France, Britain and the United States, including Pacemaker and the Thoroughbred Daily News. He was a breeder, owner, manager and trainer of racehorses in France, most recently serving as the European-based racing manager for owner Magalen O. “Maggie” Bryant, one of France's most successful steeplechase owners, who passed away herself June 28, 2021. Powell did the pretraining and layup for her horses, and their recent successes included the G1 Grand Steeplechase of Paris, the oldest and most prestigious jump race in Paris, which they won in 2015 with Milord Thomas. They won the race the following year with So French, who came back to win it again in 2017.

Powell was born in Argentina to an American father and a German mother. His father was a diplomat, and during the family's travels, he went to Longchamp and discovered horse racing. He came to New York to study, and wrote for the Daily Racing Form while still a student at Columbia University. He was one of the original 120 fax subscribers to the TDN.

“He was the consummate horseman,” said Johnathan Miller, Bryant's American equine advisor. “He was very knowledgeable and very meticulous. He was passionate about all the horses that he cared for. I knew his health had not been good, but I know that the death of Maggie Bryant was a real gut punch for him. Those two were an amazing partnership. It was awesome to watch him with Maggie and the reason she was so successful in France was due to his genius.”

In a TDN article on Richard Powell in 2021, Chris McGrath asked what he had learned from his father. “Always to give your best,” Powell said. “And always to search for solutions, to find answers. Even today, I still have questions for him-and he gives me, I wouldn't say the pleasure but the 'envie' to seek the right thing for the right horse. Because you have to work on them all individually, to find the right balance for each one.”

Powell, Remi Bellocq and Pierre Bellocq | courtesy Remi Bellocq

Remi Bellocq, who along with his father Pierre “Peb” Bellocq, were old family friends and who had his first job in racing working for David Powell, said, “With the passing of David Powell, the Bellocq family have lost an old and dear friend and, in my case, a wonderful early mentor. And racing has lost one of its imortant pioneers. Few are aware that before one could find an obscure bloodline through the touch of a smart phone button, there was was only David Powell. My sympathies to his family.”

“A very sad day indeed,” Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock tweeted. “David Powell was a very special man with immense passion for the sport he loved and the horses he nurtured, produced and often mended. His eye for a champion was unparalleled and he taught me so much. I cannot believe he has gone. Please rest peacefully.”

“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our racing manager in France, David Powell,” co-owner Simon Munir of Double Green tweeted. “A pioneer who loved our sport and put heart and soul into #Doublegreen. RIP dear David. Our prayers and thoughts are with David and his family.”

Added Tinnakill House Stud's Dermot Cantillon on Twitter, “Sad to hear of the passing of David Powell. A great friend for many years. Always enjoyed and looked forward to his company. I valued his opinion as it was based on a mixture of research, fact and experience. Sincere condolences to his family.”

He is survived by his three children, and his wife, Elisabeth.

Information on services will be published when it is made available.

The post David Powell Passes Away appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Icone d’Aubrelle Brings €150,000 at Latest Auctav Sale

The latest Auctav Flash Sale saw winning 3-year-old gelding Icone d'Aubrelle (Fr) (Cokoriko {Fr}) bring €150,000 from Highflyer Bloodstock. A winner at Bordeaux-le-Bouscat, Icone d'Aubrelle is from a versatile Aga Khan female family that has performed with credit on the Flat and over jumps.

“He's not a particularly precocious horse but he has a lot of improvement. I really liked when he won in Bordeaux after making a huge mistake at the penultimate hurdle. He will have a break for six months to let him grow and strengthen. He will then be trained in England for an English owner,” explained bloodstock agent David Powell.

Dual winner Purplepay (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) was withdrawn and is targeting the G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud on Oct. 23.

“We are very pleased with the sale of Icone d'Aubrelle,” said Auctav General Director Arnaud Angeliaume. “This 3-year-old gelding really appealed to us and we thank all those who showed interest in him and Highflyer Bloodstock for this purchase. We would obviously have liked to see the auction with Purplepay but we respect the decision and the ambitions of her connections.

“Auctav is delighted that 100% of the horses presented during our Flash Sales have sold. It's a concept that works, both for sellers who can organize auctions in a matter of days, and for buyers who are offered horses on the up.”

The post Icone d’Aubrelle Brings €150,000 at Latest Auctav Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Letter to the Editor: David Powell

I read with interest the article about using speed figures to “flag” trainers who may be using performance enhancing drugs.

Whereas it may be a useful tool to focus on which trainers to keep an eye on, we should not jump to conclusions too hastily : there are plenty of other reasons a trainer might frequently improve a horse he has received.

He may have treated the horse for ulcers, any physical discomfort ranging from the cervicals to the sacro iliac, improved his shoeing, or just given him more work or less, trained him differently, better work riders, found the appropriate distance, surface or tactics, used a different bit, etc.

This could be the sign of a trainer simply more attentive to his horse's welfare and therefore a better trainer than the previous one.

One should not forget that one of the main advantages of the claiming system in the U.S. is that it encourages “upward social mobility” (remember Bobby Frankel, among others) in that it gives young trainers the chance to show their ability, specifically because they improve horses they claim. If the successful ones are systematically suspected of doping …..

It is a much better system than the all-handicap one in Europe, where the horses take turns in winning, and where making mistakes is nearly an advantage because you are “well in” as a result, once you figured out what you were doing wrong.

The handicap system preserves bad horses but also moderate (or “clever”) trainers, and is much less honest than the claiming one.

The post Letter to the Editor: David Powell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post