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Curtain Up At Tattersalls For Popular February Fixture

NEWMARKET, UK–Here we go again. Dry January has been consigned to the books and the sales world will be back in full flow from Thursday at Park Paddocks.

The Tattersalls February Sale jumped up from one day to two five years ago and it shows no sign of reverting to its more compact format. Once withdrawals are taken into account, around 400 horses will pass through the ring, ranging from just-turned yearlings to horses in training and broodmares. They will be preceded by the TBA's annual stallion parade, featuring a dozen first- and second-season sires, on Thursday.

Shadwell continues with its reduction of stock and will sell a range of horses in and out of training through Barton Sales and New England Stud, as well as offering broodmares and yearlings through its own consignment during the opening session.

With the largest draft catalogued, Barton Sales also offers Tiger Lilly (Ire), a winning daughter of Galileo (Ire) and the only mare in the catalogue in foal to Time Test (GB) for Sir Robert Ogden, who dispersed the majority of his stock during the December Sales. The 11-year-old mare, whose half-sister Kelly Nicole (Ire) has produced the Group 2 winner Aljamaheer (Ire) by Time Test's sire Dubawi (Ire), is set to sell as lot 117.

Though lower key than the December Mares' Sale, the February Sale has however been a decent source for mares who have gone on to be stellar producers, with the dams of last year's Group/Grade 1 winners Going Global (Ire), Thundering Nights (Ire) and El Bodegon (Ire) having been bought from previous February Sales for 55,000gns, 32,000gns and 10,500gns respectively.

There is certain to be plenty of interest in Heaven's Angel (Ire) (Henrythenavigator), one of 43 lots to be offered by Godolphin. The unraced 8-year-old (lot 172) is not only a half-sister to the Oaks winner Qualify (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) but is also the sole mare in the book to be offered in foal to the French champion sire Siyouni (Fr). Further back on her page are the Classic winners Workforce (GB) (King's Best) and Brian Boru (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), while a more recent update was provided by the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner El Bodegon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who is also a full-brother to four-time Group 1 winner Best Solution (Ire).

Those looking for form horses with which to hit the ground running this all-weather season or farther afield, a last-minute update has come for Tributo (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}), who sells late on Friday as lot 445. The 4-year-old dead-heated when winning for the second time on Jan. 31 for Stuart Williams and Opulence Thoroughbreds.

The 3-year-old gelding Sydney Street (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is another to have been in good form through the winter, winning in December and January for Hugo Palmer and Chelsea Thoroughbreds, and he comes under the hammer as lot 417 from The Castlebridge Consignment.

Trainers and breeze-up consignors who didn't quite fill their quotas from last year's yearlings sales have another 22 chances to recruit a 2-year-old at Tattersalls on Thursday. Among the juveniles on offer is a filly from the lone crop of the late Roaring Lion (lot 71), who is one of those being sold by Shadwell through New England Stud. The grey filly is out of the young Shamardal mare Raddeh (GB), a half-sister to the Listed winner and Group 1-placed Hadaatha (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). In the same draft is a 2-year-old colt by Sea The Stars (lot 80) out of the Group 2 winner Tarfasha (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), a full-brother to Listed winner Rakan (GB), and also a Dubawi colt (lot 81) out of the Listed winner Yaazy (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). His dam is a half-sister to group winners Matterhorn (Ire) (Raven's Pass) and Bangkok (Ire) (Australia {GB}) as well as to the dam of Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}).

This time last year Britain was still in the grip of strict lockdown restrictions, meaning that the February Sale had to be held online. Figures held up remarkably well, with the median and average only marginally down on those set for 2020 and, given the extraordinary way in which most sales fared during the pandemic, it is fair to expect some decent trade across the next two days.

For breeders with mating plans still undecided, there is the chance to peruse some young stallions in advance of the proceedings getting underway, with Newsells Park Stud new boy A'Ali (Ire) kicking off a parade which will conclude with his stud-mate Without Parole (GB), whose first foals are arriving this season. Not quite an A to Z then, but between A and W, you can find Bangkok (Ire), Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), Mr Scaramanga (GB), Roseman (Ire), Ubettabelieveit (Ire, Diplomat (Ger), Legends Of War, Sergei Prokofiev, Southern Hills (Ire) and Tip Two Win (GB).

Meanwhile, the Shadwell stallions Tasleet (GB), Mohaather (GB) and Eqtidaar (Ire) have been brought in from Nunnery Stud for breeders to view close to Tattersalls at Beech House Stud.

The sale commences directly after the stallion parade at 11am, and it is worth nothing that Friday's trade gets underway earlier at 10am.

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Fishman Absent From Court After Wiretaps Reveal Him Bragging About Dubai Sales

Closing arguments were a late scratch Jan. 31 in the horse doping trial of veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman being held in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

New York U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil met the lawyers for both sides in the robing room, then called the jury into the courtroom and sent them home. She told the jurors to return to court Tuesday.

“There has developed legal issues that need to be dealt with,” Vyskocil told the jury of eight women and four men.

But Fishman's absence in court only deepened the mystery. His wife, Hanna, was in the courtroom in the morning and at one point appeared to be visibly upset. Fishman is free on $100,000 bond and has appeared in court for each of the trial's previous eight sessions.

The only other clue as to what was happening came when Fishman attorney Maurice Sercarz appeared in the courtroom after the jury had been dismissed and told the judge Fishman was on his way to the hospital.

“We are in open court,” Vyskocil said to Sercarz in admonishment.

Sercarz and his co-counsel Marc Fernich and prosecutors declined further comment.

Lawyers showed up in the afternoon for another conference in the robing room. The day ended with Vyskocil never returning to the bench.

Closing arguments in Fishman's trial were set to begin after the prosecution rested its case and the defense rested without calling a single witness, including Fishman. The jury has heard five days of testimony from 11 government witnesses, as well as an FBI wiretap in which convicted trainer Jorge Navarro was recorded speaking to Fishman.

Another prominent name that emerged in court in one of the wiretaps was that of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and the owner of the internationally successful Godolphin racing stable.

On the wiretap, Fishman appears to discuss a $2-million “program” with the Sheikh's hospital in Dubai, known as Dubai Equine. On the other end of the line in the 2019 call was Florida harness trainer Adrienne Hall, who testified Thursday that Fishman put her on a program with his PEDs and that she administered the drugs to a horse that won a low-level claiming race. Hall agreed to testify in exchange for a non-prosecution agreement.

A transcript of the wiretap obtained Monday begins with Fishman telling Hall that his program “is not instantaneous.”

“Right, so ok, because they are racing on Sunday–they are going to be in on Monday. I gave the other stuff today anyway,” Hall says.
Fishman then goes on to say that it takes one or two weeks to start things.

“This is a program,” he says. “This is a program that Dubai Equine spent probably $2 million devising for their Thoroughbreds, you know? It is part of a program that uh, you know…there's other stuff too.”

Fishman goes on to say that he was bringing Hall on slowly.

Fishman adds, “This is what they do for all their horses and overall, they are very happy. Sheikh Mohammed Maktoum said the best three years, you know, in the 30 years he has been racing and they are very happy. So, I'm sharing stuff with you. But then again that's for Thoroughbreds so we just have to tweak something out because some of the stuff I design for Standardbreds, they don't work.”

It was unclear if Fishman was simply trying to impress Hall; a Godolphin spokesman said they would have no comment Monday night.

Fishman, 50, is on trial on for conspiring to violate medication adulteration and misbranding laws. He's accused of supplying horse trainers with illegal performance-enhancing drugs designed to evade testing by racing regulators in various states, including Florida, New York, and Kentucky.

Sercarz says the actions his client has been accused of were carried out to protect the health and welfare of horses in keeping with his oath as a licensed veterinarian.

Prosecutors allege that Fishman was part of a sweeping conspiracy to dope racehorses that included top trainers Navarro and Jason Servis and two dozen others. The New York U.S. Attorney's Office announced the charges in March 2020.

Servis is awaiting trial and Navarro has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty. Servis's name hasn't come up in testimony, but Navarro's name has come up numerous times. Prosecutors said Navarro paid Fishman tens of thousands of dollars for PEDs.

The jury also saw a video of Navarro's doped X Y Jet (Kantharos) winning the $2.5-million G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in 2019. In a text seen by the jury after the race, Navarro thanked Fishman for his help. A tally shows the FBI's aforementioned wiretap was one of 55 recordings the jury heard in the case. Almost all of them involved Fishman.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

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Speedy Speaker’s Corner Scores Breakout Victory in Fred Hooper

Lightly raced Speaker's Corner had earned some strong speed figures up to this point for a horse without a stakes win, and he kicked off his 4-year-old campaign auspiciously with a breakthrough tally in Florida. A second-out graduate in New York as a fall juvenile over a very salty bunch of future stakes runners (Caddo River, Greatest Honour, Miles D, Bourbonic and Original), Speaker's Corner resurfaced off the long lay-off to crush Saratoga allowance foes by open lengths. The GI Pennsylvania Derby next out perhaps proved too much too soon, as he was a distant sixth behind Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) that day, but he bounced back just fine to take a Belmont optional claimer Oct. 29 with a gaudy 109 Beyer. He settled for second last out to old familiar foe Miles D (Curlin) after showing the way in Aqueduct's nine-furlong Discovery S., but this one-turn-mile trip figured to hit him right between the eyes.

Speaker's Corner broke well and eventually poked a head in front of foes on either side through a :22.13 first quarter. The bay was able to earn a sliver of separation after that, but he had to work for it through a :44.82 half. Favored GIII Harlan's Holiday S. winner Fearless was scrubbed on aggressively heading for home as Speaker's Corner still had his hands full with his company up front. Speaker's Corner put away Officiating as he straightened for home, and he dug in ferociously to hold sway Fearless, who was previously 5-4-1-0 over this strip and was representing the red-hot Todd Pletcher barn.

“It was just a phenomenal performance by him,” said winning pilot Junior Alvarado. “We always thought very high of him. He's been a bit of a process to build up and to get to this race and the way he did it. He has a great a great trainer in Bill Mott. I think I was just a passenger today. He was very good today. He put up the fast fractions with horses on the inside and outside. He put them away and still had enough courage to draw away home very strong.”

Mott added, “We didn't know if we'd be on the lead. We didn't really plan to be there, but the horse broke well and he was taking him and he was traveling easily. He was in between horses and he said he didn't want to get jammed up so he let him cruise on and it worked out well. They took a little run at him around the turn and he was able to repel those horses and, of course, good enough to hold off the late challenge of Fearless.”

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FRED W. HOOPER S. PRESENTED BY HILL 'N' DALE FARMS AT XALAPA-GIII, $150,000, Gulfstream, 1-29, 4yo/up, 1m, 1:35.26, ft.
1–SPEAKER'S CORNER, 118, c, 4, by Street Sense
                1st Dam: Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Round Pond, by Awesome Again
                3rd Dam: Gift of Dance, by Trempolino
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado.
$90,210. Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-1, $286,850.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Fearless, 124, g, 6, Ghostzapper–And Why Not, by Street Cry
(Ire). ($725,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP; $120,000 RNA 4yo '20
FTKHRA; $205,000 5yo '21 FTKHRA). O-Repole Stable; B-Helen
K. Groves Revocable Trust (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $29,100.
3–Officiating, 124, c, 4, Blame–Come a Callin, by Dixie Union.
($100,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP). O/B-Vegso Racing Stable (FL);
T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $14,550.
Margins: 1 1/4, 9 1/4, 2HF. Odds: 1.50, 1.30, 22.70.
Also Ran: Girolamo's Attack, Liam, Shivaree, Payne, Dennis' Moment. Scratched: Bon Raison. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Speaker's Corner is bred identically to MGISW Maxfield, who will begin his first season at stud for Darley in a couple weeks. Fellow Darley resident Street Sense now has 82 stakes winners, 36 of them graded. The late Bernardini, meanwhile, one of the hottest broodmare sires of the last few years, is responsible for the dams of 61 stakes winners (34 graded) and counting. Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), also out of a Bernardini mare, defended his title in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. one race later Saturday.

The winner's unraced dam is a daughter of 2006 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Round Pound (Awesome Again)–she rode the same Churchill rail that day that Street Sense charged up for his GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile romp. Round Pond was acquired by Sheikh Mohammed for a sale-topping $5.75 million at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Her black-type earning progeny include G1 Al Maktoum Challenge winner Long River (A.P. Indy).

Speaker's Corner is his dam's first foal. He has a year-younger full-brother named Town Branch who shows an upbeat worktab at Payson Park, a 2-year-old half-brother by Maclean's Music and a yearling half-brother by Nyquist born last May.

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Speaker’s Corner Turns Back Fearless In Fred W. Hooper Stakes

Godolphin homebred Speaker's Corner ran a big race in Saturday's Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park In Hallandale Beach, Fla., fighting for a contested early lead and fending off the late challenge of 6-5 favorite Fearless to win by a length. The 4-year-old son of Street Sense, ridden by Junior Alvarado for trainer Bill Mott, ran a mile over the fast main track in 1:35.26. Speaker's Corner was sent off as the 3-2 second choice.

Speaker's Corner set taxing fractions in the Hooper but still had enough in reserve to hold off Fearless in the one-mile race named for one of Florida's most iconic horsemen. With Junior Alvarado in the irons, Speaker's Corner assumed command along the backstretch before unleashing his winning kick in the stretch to record his first stakes victory. Fearless, the 6-5 favorite, circled horses in the turn and rallied gamely in the stretch but could not overtake the winner, falling a length short of Speaker's Corner. Officiating finished third.

Winning trainer: (Bill Mott): “We didn't know if we'd be on the lead. We didn't really plan to be there, but the horse broke well and he was taking him and he was traveling easily. He was in between horses and he said he didn't want to get jammed up so he let him cruise on and it worked out well. They took a little run at him around the turn and he was able to repel those horses and, of course, good enough to hold off the late challenge of Fearless.”

Winning jockey: (Junior Alvarado): “It was just a phenomenal performance by him. We always thought very high of him. He's been a bit of a process to build up and to get to this race and the way he did it. He has a great a great trainer in Bill Mott. I think I was just a passenger today. He was very good today. He put up the fast fractions with horses on the inside and outside. He put them away and still had enough courage to draw away home very strong.”

Bred in Kentucky by his owner, Speaker's Corner is out of the unraced Bernardini mare Tyburn Brook. His second dam, Round Pond (Awesome Again), won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff and is also the dam of Grade 1 winner Long River.

Speaker's Corner broke his maiden at second asking as a 2-year-old, didn't make it back to the races until late in his 3-year-old season, and was second last-out in the listed Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct. Overall, the colt has won four of his seven starts to earn over $280,000.

The post Speaker’s Corner Turns Back Fearless In Fred W. Hooper Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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