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Keatley Takes Top Stable Staff Awards Honour

Valerie Keatley, head girl for trainer Johnny Murtagh, was honoured with the Irish Racing Excellence Award at the 2021 Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards on Wednesday. Keatley, who also won the Leadership Award (Stable), has been with Murtagh since shortly after he set up his training business and Murtagh credits her contribution as one of the reasons behind the yard's success.

Keatley said, “It was a huge honour to be nominated and be chosen as one of the finalists. To win the Leadership Stable Award and then win the Irish Racing Excellence Award is just unbelievable–I am over the moon, especially when I was nominated with all the other brilliant finalists and winners this year.”

The other award winners are Helen O'Sullivan, career coach with the Irish Jockeys Trust who received the Racing and Breeding Support Services Award; Anne O'Connor, racing secretary to Michael Halford who earned the Administration Award; Ringfort Stud's Keith Lynam, who took the Newcomer Award; Henry de Bromhead's Emmett Raher, winner of the Horse Care Award; Dermot Weld stable lad David Glennon, who took the In The Saddle Award; Caroline Hannon, manager of Newtown Stud who received the Leadership Award (Stud); Ger Brabston, Derrinstown Stud's horsebox driver who earned the Dedication To Racing and Breeding Award; and Jennifer Pugh, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's senior medical offer who earned a Special Recognition Award. Tramore Racecourse took the Racecourse Award.

The 11 award categories carry over €85,000 in prizemoney which is divided among the winners, finalists, and their employers. The Newcomer Award winner also receives a trip to Dubai. In addition, the winner in each category receives a specially commissioned trophy by sculptor Ani Mollereau.

Joe Osborne, managing director of Godolphin Ireland, said, “On behalf of Godolphin and our fellow sponsors I congratulate the winners announced today. It is an inspiring array of talent, dedication and enthusiasm–talents which have helped us all navigate our sector through a difficult time. Valerie Keatley deserves particular mention as winner of the Irish Racing Excellence Award. She is a great role model for everyone in our industry and we are delighted that her leadership skills have been credited with that prestigious award by the judging committee.”

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Three Godolphin Runners Top First Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings Of 2021

Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, dominant winner of the Saturday's Stephen Foster Stakes (G2), leads fellow Godolphin stars Mystic Guide and Essential Quality in the first week of tabulated votes for the 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings. The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), which will be run at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 6.

Maxfield, a 4-year-old son of 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Street Sense, topped all Classic contenders with 13 first-place votes and 269 total votes. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield earned a “Win and You're In” berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic with a runaway 3 ¼-length triumph in the 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. The victory was Maxfield's third this year, which also includes wins in the Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at the Fair Grounds and the Alysheba Stakes (G2) at Churchill. His only defeat in eight starts was a third-place finish in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) in March.

Mystic Guide, trained by Mike Stidham, is in second place with 17 first-place votes and 261 total votes. A 4-year-old son of 2004 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Ghostzapper, Mystic Guide is two for two this year, winning the Razorback Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park and the Dubai World Cup (G1) at Meydan. Mystic Guide is slated to start in this Saturday's Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, a “Win and You're In,” for the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. The Suburban will be broadcast live on NBC (5 p.m. ET) as a part of the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In presented by America's Best Racing.”

The Brad Cox-trained 3-year-old Essential Quality, winner of the Belmont Stakes (G1), is in third place with 245 votes. A son of Tapit, Essential Quality, last year's TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) winner, and champion 2-year-old male, has won three of four starts this year.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing and William Straus's 3-year-old Hot Rod Charlie, a hard-fought second to Essential Quality in the Belmont, is in fourth place with 160 votes. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie, a son of Oxbow, won the Louisiana Derby (G2) in March, and finished third in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's 4-year-old Silver State, unbeaten in four starts this year, is in fifth place with 118 votes. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Silver State won the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and Belmont's Metropolitan Handicap (G1), a “Win and You're In” for the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). Asmussen saddled Curlin and Gun Runner to Breeders' Cup Classic victories.

The undefeated Happy Saver, owned by Wertheimer and Frere, is in sixth place with 106 votes. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Happy Saver, a 4-year-old son of Super Saver, won an allowance optional claiming race at Belmont Park on May 28 in his lone start this year. Winner of last year's Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), Happy Saver is also expected to start in Saturday's Suburban Stakes.

WinStar Farm's 4-year-old Country Grammer, also expected to start in the Suburban, is in seventh place with 100 votes. In his two starts at Santa Anita Park this year, Country Grammer, a son of Tonalist, was second in the Californian Stakes (G2) and then won the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1). Country Grammer is now trained by Pletcher.

Mandaloun, second in the Kentucky Derby, is in eighth place with 78 votes. Owned by Juddmonte and trained by Brad Cox, Mandaloun, a 3-year-old son of Into Mischief, won the Risen Star (G2) at the Fair Grounds and the listed Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park in his most recent start on June 13.

St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska is in ninth place with 71 votes. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska has won four of five starts this year, including Saturday's powerful 5 ¾-length victory in the Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) at Churchill.

Rounding out the top 10 is Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm's 5-year-old gelding Royal Ship (BRZ). Trained by Richard Mandella, Royal Ship (60 votes), a son of 2008 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman, won the Californian and finished second in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 11. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – June 29, 2021*

Rank	Horse	Total Votes	First-Place Votes
1	Maxfield	269	13
2	Mystic Guide	261	17
3	Essential Quality	245	1
4	Hot Rod Charlie	160	0
5	Silver State	118	0
6	Happy Saver	106	0
7	Country Grammer	100	1
8	Mandaloun	78	0
9	Letruska	71	0
10	Royal Ship (BRZ)	60	0

*Note – The Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles on the main track, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

The post Three Godolphin Runners Top First Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings Of 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘Really On His Game Right Now’: Maxfield Headed To Saratoga, May Point To Whitney

Godolphin's homebred Maxfield has exited his victory in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes in good order and shipped to Saratoga on Monday, trainer Brendan Walsh told the Daily Racing Form. The 4-year-old son of Street Sense could target the G1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 7 for his next start, another “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Maxfield has won seven of his eight career starts, beaten for the only time when third in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap earlier this year.

“It seems like since he got beat at Santa Anita, he's really turned a corner,” Godolphin's Jimmy Bell told DRF. “It's like it woke him up, maybe even toughened him up. He is really on his game right now.”

The Weekly Wrap: The Derby Sire

Coming into 2021, there was little Frankel (GB) hadn't yet accomplished in his rise to the top of the stud ranks. In four crops of racing age he could already claim a world's highest-rated horse, a champion middle-distance horse and champion 2-year-old, Group 1-winning milers and stayers, and an Oaks winner.

This weekend, the Juddmonte sire exceeded even his own lofty standards by siring Godolphin's Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire), and thus giving him victory in both the English and Irish Derbys following on the heels of Adayar (Ire) at Epsom–a feat Frankel's sire Galileo (Ire), who has become synonymous with Derby success, has thus far been able to accomplish only once with two different horses, Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) and Sovereign (Ire) in 2019. Since the turn of the century, the only other sire to have done so is Montjeu (Ire) in 2005 with Motivator (GB) and Hurricane Run (Ire).

While the last four weeks have seemingly answered any lingering questions about Frankel's scope as a sire, they have also reignited the what-could-have-beens of his racing career. Could he himself have excelled at a mile and a half? Doing so at Epsom or The Curragh in June seems a much greater question mark, given his early exuberance, but as he settled into the finished product and got the mile and a quarter at York and Ascot with ease, it is difficult to imagine that he didn't have a G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. or G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory within him. Now, we'll have to rely on his sons and daughters to fill those voids, and Adayar and Hurricane Lane could be among those to get the chance. Charlie Appleby, trainer of both horses, noted after the Irish Derby that future targets for both colts would depend upon how Adayar performs against older horses in the July 24 King George. While Adayar has remained ensconced at Moulton Paddocks since his blue riband win, Hurricane Lane has given him a significant boost, having himself been third at Epsom.

As it had been when Adayar and Essential Quality (Tapit) won Classics for Godolphin on opposite ends of the Atlantic on June 5, Saturday was another red-letter day for the royal blue transatlantically, with Maxfield (Street Sense) easily winning the GII Stephen Foster H. at Churchill Downs. He forms part of an enviable squad that Godolphin America will have for that country's marquee middle-distance races this summer and autumn, joining Essential Quality and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), who makes his return in Saturday's GII Suburban H. at Belmont Park. Godolphin's stallion arm, Darley, will have some serious ammunition to add to its stud ranks on both sides of the Atlantic in the coming years. While Appleby has already left the door cracked open for 4-year-old campaigns for both his Derby winners, they will surely eventually take up residence at either Dalham Hall or Kildangan Stud, and likely alongside Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). And while Godolphin and Appleby's 3-year-old ranks have been fast off the blocks this year, the divisional ranks are far from decided within Moulton Paddocks, with talented Dubawi (Ire) colts like Master Of The Seas (Ire), Highland Avenue (Ire) and Naval Crown (GB) still in with a chance to make their mark at the highest level.

Big Day For Night Of Thunder

Those sons of Dubawi will have lofty footsteps to follow in thanks to Night Of Thunder (Ire). The standout young Darley sire reached an important milestone this weekend, with the progressive 4-year-old filly Thundering Nights (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) giving him his first European Group 1 winner in Sunday's G1 Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh. Victorious over the Group 1-winning Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in last summer's G3 Snow Fairy Fillies S. at The Curragh, Thundering Nights was beaten a head in the GII New York S. at Belmont Park just three weeks ago, and bested the highly regarded Santa Barbara (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on Sunday. Thundering Nights is owned by Shapoor Mistry, whose Manjri Farm is one of the most renowned studs in India. Thundering Nights's dam, Cape Castle (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), was exported to India in foal to Dawn Approach (Ire) after being bought by Mistry for 32,000gns-the same price Night Of Thunder cost as a yearling–at the Tattersalls February Sale in 2017 while carrying Thundering Nights. Thundering Nights was herself offered as both a foal and yearling and failed to sell for €17,000 and €19,000.

The G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Lockinge S. winner Night Of Thunder burst onto the scene as a freshman sire in 2019 with seven stakes winners in his first season, equaling a 19-year-old record. His upward trajectory continued last year, with three of his first-crop 2-year-old stakes winners adding black-type success at three and eight additional members of that crop winning stakes races. Night Of Thunder's fee was hiked to €75,000 from €25,000 for 2021, so without a Group 1 winner upon the completion of his first crop's 3-year-old season it was crucial that he achieved that feat this year. He accomplished it Down Under on May 29 with the New Zealand-bred Kukeracha (NZ)'s win in the Queensland Derby, with Thundering Nights continuing the momentum up north.

Night Of Thunder remains his sire crop's leader across most parameters, with Gleneagles (Ire) closing the gap on the heels of a highly productive first half of 2021. Gleneagles has 14 overall stakes winners compared to Night Of Thunder's 17, but one more stakes winner (six) in 2021 alone. Novemba (Ger) became his first Classic winner in the May 30 G2 German 1000 Guineas, while Loving Dream (GB) burst onto the scene with victory in the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot and 2-year-old filly Velocidad (GB) won the G2 Airlie Stud S. at The Curragh on the weekend.

Japan's Arc Dreams Alive

Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) looked the real deal when winning Hanshin's G1 Takarazuka Kinen for the second consecutive year on Sunday. It was the fourth Group 1 win for the 5-year-old mare since her victory in the 2019 G1 Shuka Sho, and she is firmly on course to be the latest Japanese challenger in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 3. Can she at last break her country's hoodoo in the race they most want to win? Her sire, Bago, won the 2004 Arc, she has won over 2400 metres and looks versatile ground-wise. In the realm of racing, however, the Arc is still eons away, and with more immediate implications is the fact that Chrono Genesis and her compatriot Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), second and third in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, have both flattered the winner, Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), with Group 1 wins since. Mishriff returns in Saturday's G1 Eclipse S.

Also from the Takarazuka Kinen, it is also worth noting the excellent second-place performance of Unicorn Lion (Ire) (No Nay Never). An 850,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling purchase by JS Company, Unicorn Lion was his sire's most expensive first-crop yearling and while the 5-year-old has been slow to come to hand, he has shown marked improvement in 2021, earning a first black-type win in the G3 Naruo Kinen earlier this month and holding on valiantly after setting the pace on Sunday.

The post The Weekly Wrap: The Derby Sire appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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