Racing Together Community Day Aims for Record Numbers

Racing Together, the industry's community engagement partnership, will host the 2024 community day on Wednesday, May 8 to coincide with the Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse, the organisation announced on Monday via press release.

British horseracing's national day of employee volunteering, the effort is supported by various charity and commercial partners with a focus on horseracing and bloodstock groups to give back as a team to their communities. Activities range from staff volunteering at local care homes to renovating stables, and picking up litter or collecting for local food banks.

In 2023, a record 75-plus groups took part with over 700 hours hours of manpower donated, an effort which included Tattersalls and Goffs as well as trainers nationwide, insurance brokers and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

“It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the social impact of racing and have some fun while doing it. We have already had lots of sign-ups and activity ideas for this year, so we are optimistic in beating the 75 organisations that were involved last year,” said Alex Shaw, the community engagement manager at Racing Together. “Assessing local need and getting people mobilized is the hallmark of this day; we also encourage colleagues unable to commit their time in early May to book in an activity which suits their calendars and to still be part of this industry-wide initiative.”

Anyone who would like to sign up is encouraged to visit the website or send in an email for more information.

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‘We’re Up Against Monsters’ – Molony On Kenny Alexander’s Cheltenham Squad

Peter Molony, racing manager to Kenny Alexander, says he cannot split the powerful owner's Jade De Grugy (Fr), Kargese (Fr) and previous Cheltenham Festival scorer Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) when it comes to picking the operation's best chance of a winner at Prestbury Park next week. 

The Rathmore Stud boss also provided a passionate riposte to some of the criticism being levelled at the mares' races at the Cheltenham Festival by stating that their horse of a lifetime Honeysuckle (GB) may never have seen a racetrack had it not been for the opportunities presented to mares through the heightened programme in recent years.

Following the high-profile defection of Constitution Hill (GB) in this year's Champion Hurdle, Willie Mullins and owner Rich Ricci have come under pressure to run last year's Triumph Hurdle scorer Lossiemouth (Fr), as short as 1-2 for the Mares' Hurdle, in the day one showpiece. 

It's a situation Molony can relate to as similar pressure was being heaped on trainer Henry de Bromhead and Alexander to run the reigning Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle against the boys in the build-up to last year's festival despite the fact she clearly wasn't operating at her brilliant best throughout the campaign. 

In the end, Honeysuckle bypassed the Champion Hurdle in favour of the Mares' Hurdle, and delivered one of the standout performances of the meeting when bowing out with a hard-fought victory over Love Envoi (Ire). 

While Molony agrees that change is needed in order to drive competition at the Cheltenham Festival, he says the three mares' races–the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, Mares' Hurdle and Mares' Chase–are hugely important lures for people to buy and race mares.

He said, “The mares' races have been under attack recently but, what people don't seem to realise is that none of these mares would be in training at all if it wasn't for these mares' races. Honeysuckle, Annie Power (Fr), Quevega (Ire)–none of those mares would have been kept in training if it wasn't for the mares' races. Before these races came about, there was zero trade for National Hunt fillies. Zero. That's what people don't seem to realise.

“For me, we need to step back and appreciate how these mares' races are enhancing the game. I don't understand the criticism levelled at these races. Now, I do agree that changes need to be made at Cheltenham, but I am firmly of the belief that these mares' races are adding to the programme and that they are not part of the problem. In actual fact, they are part of the solution.”

Molony added, “One pundit, I can't even remember who it was, described the Mares' Hurdle as the worst race at the Cheltenham Festival. Whoever he was, he clearly wasn't watching last year's edition. These races add a huge amount of colour. Okay, last year's race was run in exceptional circumstances and there was huge emotion surrounding the whole thing. However, according to most people who were there and a lot of people watching it on television, it was one of their most amazing experiences in racing when Honeysuckle won.”

The Mares' Novices' Hurdle is shaping up to be one of the races of next week. Gordon Elliott has gone on the record in saying that Brighterdaysahead (Fr) compares favourably with anything he has ever trained before. While Molony is full of respect for Brighterdaysahead, he is also confident that Jade De Grugy can give a good account. 

He said, “Great friends of mine, the Bleahens, sold Brighterdaysahead so I have known about her for a long time. She was the most beautiful three-year-old and she has a serious pedigree. She's clearly a very good racemare and we have lots of respect for her.”

Molony added, “Our lady has done everything very easily, though. When Brian Hayes got off her at Fairyhouse, he said he thought he was in loads of trouble at one point in the race, because he thought he wasn't going fast enough. As it transpired, she was just going so easy and he said he'd never sat on anything like her before. Willie seems to be quite bullish about Jade De Grugy so we will find out who is the best mare on the day.”

Alexander will be doubly-represented in the Mares' Hurdle with Gala Marceau (Fr) and Tellmesomethinggirl. Molony says that he is quietly confident that the latter can out-run her general odds of 20-1. 

He explained, “I think the two-and-a-half miles will really play to Gala Marceau's strengths. She was very disappointing the last day but Willie seems pretty confident that that was just a blip. We're actually quietly confident about Telmesomethinggirl. We know she loves the place-she won the Mares' Novice very impressively three years ago and she was running a huge race in the Mares' Hurdle itself two years ago before she got brought down. 

“Rachael [Blackmore] came in afterwards and was absolutely sick–she thought she was going to win. At her best, I think she'd give everything in the race something to think about. We had a waste of a year over fences last year with her. She didn't really take to it. Henry seems to be confident that she's coming right back to her best so we're quite hopeful.”

Alexander will take on another short-priced favourite on Friday when Kargese bids to get the better of the hugely impressive Sir Gino (Fr) in the Triumph. Kargese, a Grade 1 winner at the Dublin Racing Festival, is said to be improving with racing, and Molony gives the filly a big chance getting weight from the opposite sex.

Molony said, “Everywhere we look, we seem to be running against a monster. Telmesomethinggirl has Lossiemouth to contend with, Jade De Grugy has Brighterdaysahead and now Kargese has Sir Gino to worry about in the Triumph. She is a beautiful-looking mare. The first day she ran for us, she just didn't settle at all and did remarkably well to finish second. Then she went and won the Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival where she settled much better. If she settles in the Triumph, she'll run a big race getting weight from the geldings.”

On the rest of their festival squad, he added, “We'd love Doddiethegreat (Ire) to run well and win some money for the Doddie [Weir] foundation. He'll be declared for the Coral Cup and, if he gets in, he'll run. If he doesn't, he'll go for the Martin Pipe but we're hoping he gets into the Coral Cup. 

“We also have Miss Manzor (GB) in the Boodles. We like her a lot and she ran a blinder at Christmas. She must have a little bit of a squeak.”

Asked to nominate Alexander's best chance of the week, Molony said, “Tellmesomethinggirl, Jade De Grugy and Kargese all have great chances but they're all running up against monsters. If one of them happened to win, we'd be delighted.”

Meanwhile, four-time Festival winner and dual Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle is due her first foal by Walk In The Park (Ire) in the coming weeks. 

Providing an update on the legendary racemare, Molony concluded, “Honeysuckle is still in Scotland. Kenny was very keen that she foaled over there and it's all good so far, touch wood. She is due in about three weeks' time now. Kerry, who looks after her so well over there, is under strict instruction to call me whenever she foals–I don't care if it's two o'clock in the morning! 

“Fingers crossed, everything will go well and we will have a healthy foal. Everything going well, she will come back to us when the foal is about three weeks old and we will be visiting Blue Bresil (Fr) this year.”

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“I’m Absolutely Loving It” – Poste Excited By Debut Breeze-Up Consignment

Respected point-to-point handler and ex-jumps jockey Charlie Poste says that he is “absolutely loving” his first endeavours into the breeze-up business and looks forward to consigning his first draft at the upcoming Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up and Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up sales. 

Poste trained over 100 winners between the flags in Britain, including talented chaser Third Time Lucki, but explained how the broad international market for breeze-up horses compared to the parochial feel to the point-to-point game made it a no-brainer to try his hand at the former. 

The early indications are that Station Yard, the banner in which Poste consigns under and where he is based near Stratford-upon-Avon, is here to stay in the breeze-up game such is the level of enjoyment he has got out of the Flat additions to the stable. 

He explained, “I'm very excited about the whole thing. We have two in the Craven, two in Donny and then another couple for the Guineas Sale. There is a saying in life that a change is as good as a rest and that is certainly true in this case. The horses have been very well received by Jerry McGrath, Matt Prior and Freddy Powell during inspections and Gordon 'Flash' Power, who is going to ride them at the breeze-ups, came over on Sunday to give them all a little bit of a twist. We had a little away day and 'Flash' was very happy. Being completely honest, this is a new project for Francesca [Poste's wife] and I. We are not going to pretend that we have all of the answers, but I have been very encouraged by having respected people coming in and being complimentary about how the horses are looking and with 'Flash' being very happy with how the away day went, so that gives us a lot of confidence.”

Poste, who operates Station Yard alongside Francesca, will be represented by a filly and a colt by Blue Point (Ire) at the Craven Sale. The couple will also consign fillies by Calyx (GB) and Kodiac (GB) at Doncaster and expect to be represented in the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale as well. 

Speaking to TDN Europe at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale last year, Poste explained how he had gathered up a team of 10 investors to attack the yearling sales with the help of Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Biggs, and how he planned on putting his own stamp on how he produced the horses for the breeze-ups. 

Tom Biggs | Tattersalls

He elaborated on Wednesday, “The similarities between the point-to-point and breeze-up projects is that you are working with young, inexperienced athletes who are expected to perform to a high level without the benefit of match practice. Where there are massive similarities between the two disciplines is that you need to do all that you can to get as much life experience into the point-to-pointers and the breezers so that, when they go to there without any prior experience, they are streetwise enough to show whatever ability they have in their race or their breeze, whether that be good, bad or indifferent. What you don't want is a good horse not being able to showcase its talents because they are too green to deal with the occasion. With that in mind, we have done a lot of cantering around the farm with the breezers and have brought them to a lot of different places.”

He added, “We're fortunate enough that we rent a farm that offers us the ability to do a lot of different things and, beyond that, they've been in the lorry and have had away days. It's all about going to different places, introducing them to different scenarios and making sure that they can mentally adjust and cope with everything. That way, when they get to the breeze they can adapt and help 'Flash' do what he needs to do to make them go quickly.”

The decision to branch out into the breeze-up market could prove to be a timely one. At the Cheltenham February Sale just gone, all of the key figures took a hit, and Poste says that the flimsiness of the middle tiers in the National Hunt game in Britain is what ultimately forced him to change course.

He said, “We're definitely seeing a correction in the National Hunt market. Yes, there's no doubt that if you are in that top five per cent, you're still going to get well paid and people are falling over each other to buy those. But if you are in the middle market which, invariably, as the industry builds, the British point-to-point sector is in, it becomes tricky. It is definitely becoming tougher to know where you are at and to get those horses away for what, maybe three or four years ago, you'd be expecting them to make. In that respect, we are very happy to have a new potential revenue stream for the business with the breeze-up horses. The excitement, and maybe even the nerve-wracking part of it all, is the finality of the whole project. There is only one day, really, and you are preparing them for that day alone. There are no excuses.”

He added, “But I'm absolutely loving it. The changes in these horses in just a week or 10 days is very different to dealing with a store horse. These Flat horses seem to transform within a blink of an eye, which is really exciting for all of us.”

Poste was keen to heap praise on Biggs for helping source a rock-solid debut draft of breeze-up horses and says “he couldn't be more chuffed” by the quality of the horses he is working with.

He said, “Tom is immensely professional and is well-respected, hence why we asked him to come on board and help buy these horses. We couldn't be more chuffed by what he selected and bought for us. Fingers crossed, given he works closely with the Blandford Bloodstock group, who are big buyers from the breeze-ups, he may even put some of these horses up at the other end of this scenario.”

Poste added, “We've got fillies by Calyx and Kodiac for Doncaster. The Calyx looks very quick–everything has come very naturally to her. The Kodiac filly has a scopier action and has been shaping up very well at home. Neither of those have missed a beat. Both appear to be quick and should be ideally suited by the sale that they are in.

“With Blue Point, the sire speaks for himself. It's very exciting to have a filly and a colt by him going to the Craven Sale in our first draft and hopefully that shows people that we are serious about this venture moving forward. The Blue Point colt seems to be a really quick, professional horse who has thrived with work while the filly exudes class. Again, it's probably credit to Tom with the horses he's bought but everything just seems to come very naturally to all of them.”

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“Outstanding Horses” Feature In Goffs Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale Catalogue

What do Bradsell (GB), Perfect Power (Ire), Ardad (Ire) and Prince Of Lir (Ire) have in common? Not only did they all taste success at Royal Ascot but they were also sold at the Goffs Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, one of the go-to sources of top-notch talent.

The first glimpse of the potential star graduates of the future were made available on Tuesday with the publication of the eagerly-anticipated 2024 edition of the sale catalogue.

Doncaster has proven to be a tried and trusted source of talent with Carla's Way (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Beautiful Diamond (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}), Graceful Thunder (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) and Tiger Belle (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) some of the big names to have emerged from the sale less than 12 months ago.

This year's catalogue is jam-packed with potential talent and features the progeny of top-class stallions Siyouni (Fr), Kingman (GB), Night Of Thunder (Ire), Lope De Vega (Ire), Wootton Bassett (GB), No Nay Never and more.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent commented, “It is a proud boast that the Doncaster Breeze-Up has been on an upward trajectory for some time now and last year it really made a statement by achieving the highest level of trade in its history. Following that, and Bradsell claiming our ninth Royal Ascot win in the last eight years, we received over 1,000 nominations for places, the most we have ever received, and the resulting catalogue features some outstanding horses.”

He added, “The attraction of a winner at Royal Ascot is a huge driver for many when it comes to racehorse ownership and this sale's success there has grown its international following to a new level so we will be working hard over the coming weeks to ensure we attract another large and diverse buying bench.

“We will be traveling throughout America, France, Italy, the Middle East, Scandinavia, and of course Ireland and the UK, working alongside GBRI and the Breeze-Up Consignors Association, to market the catalogue and to ensure we can welcome another international audience to Royal Ascot's leading two-year-old sale on 23 and 24 April.”

A Siyouni colt out of a half-sister to Regal Parade (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) [lot 4] has the potential to get the sale off to a flying start on paper at least while the Kingman filly out of Group 3 winner Queen Of Bermuda (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) [lot 15] and the Night Of Thunder half-sister to Lucky Vega (Ire) [lot 16] also catches the eye.

There is a Mehmas (Ire) half-brother to high-class sprinter Marshman (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}) [75], a Bernadini half-brother to Group 1 winner Elate, a Wootton Bassett filly out of a Galileo (Ire) own sister to Group 2 winner Gustav Klimt (Ire) and a Havana Grey (GB) filly out of a half-sister to Group 1 hero Hearts Of Fire (GB) (Firebreak {GB}) that are also noteworthy.

As well boasting a strong catalogue with a host of top-class stallions well-represented, Arizona (Ire) [1], Earthlight (Ire)  [3], Far Above (Ire)  [1], Golden Horde (Ire) [2], Hello Youmzain (Fr) [4], Kameko [3], King Of Change (GB) [3], Mohaather (GB) [7], Persian King (Ire) [1], Pinatubo (Ire) [1], River Boyne (Ire) [1], Romanised (Ire) [1], Sands Of Mali (Fr) [6], Sergei Prokofiev [3], Threat (Ire) [1] and Without Parole (GB) [2] are some of the European-based first-season sires with representation in the catalogue.

The catalogue can be viewed online. Meanwhile, the breeze takes place on April 23 with the sale getting underway the following day.

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