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Aug. 22 Insights

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HALF TO LEA DEBUTS AT THE SPA

1st-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:10 p.m.

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider homebred FOLIAGE (Speightstown), a half-brother to Grade I winner Lea (First Samurai), makes his career bow in this spot for Al Stall. In addition to his top-level victory on the dirt, Lea was GISP on turf and earned over $2.35-million before retiring to Claiborne’s stud barn. Their MSP dam Greenery (Galileo {Ire}) is also the dam of SW Acre (Blame) and GSP Heath (Pulpit). Greenery is a half to MGSW Grassy (El Prado {Ire}), GSW & G1SP Lady in Waiting (GB) (Kylian) and GSW Savannah Bay (GB) (In the Wings {GB}). This is also the family of GISW Stroll (Pulpit). Todd Pletcher unveils a son of the red hot young stallion Constitution in Honorable, whose dam is a half to GSW & MGISP Comical (Into Mischief). This is also the family of MGISW sire Colonel John (Tiznow). TJCIS PPs

BROWN UNVEILS SIBLING TO GUINEAS WINNER

5th-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 3:28p.m.

Chad Brown saddles a well-related European making his career bow here in SIFTING SANDS (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Purchased by Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm for 500,000gns at TATOCT, the bay is a half to three-time Group 1 winner Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Their dam is a full-sister to European champion and five-time Group 1 scorer Fame and Glory (GB) (Montjeau {Ire}). Graham Motion unveils Excursion (Curlin), a $325,000 KEESEP purchase. The bay is a half to GI Preakness S. winner Oxbow (Awesome Again) and SW & GSP Awesome Patriot (Awesome Again). Their unraced dam Tizamazing (Cee’s Tizzy), is a full-sister to three-time Eclipse winner and top sire Tiznow, MGSW Budroyale and GSW Tizdubai. This is also the family of MGISW Paynter (Awesome Again). TJCIS PPs

CANADIAN ROYALTY MAKES CAREER BOW AT WOODBINE

6th-WO, $126.8K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7fT, 3:45 p.m.

Blue Heaven Farm homebred ANGELOU (Curlin), a daughter of dual Sovereign Award winner Roxy Gap (Indian Charlie), makes her debut in this test. The Canadian champion and MGSW is also the dam of GSW Café Americano (Medaglia d’Oro). Chuck Fipke homebred Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) also makes her first trip to the post here. Her MGSW dam Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical {Ire}) is out of Grade I winner Lady Shirl (That’s Nice), who also produced GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf heroine Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}) and MGISW Shakespeare (Theatrical {Ire}). Mark Casse sends out an intriguing firster in Jungle Cat (Animal Kingdom), a son of Brazilian Group 1 winner Sutil (Brz) (Redattore {Brz}) with a page littered with top Brazilian runners. TJCIS PPs

OBSAPR TOPPER HIGHLIGHTS LOADED FIELD OF DEBUTANTES

1st-DMR, $55K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 5:00 p.m.

PRINCESS NOOR (Not This Time) topped the OBS April Sale, which was held in June this year, at $1.35-million and she makes her first trip to the post in this test for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Breezing in :20 1/5 at the sale, the dark bay is out of Grade III winner Sheza Smoke Show (Wilko). Baffert also saddles another exciting first timer in Flash Magic (Pioneerof the Nile), a half-brother to champion juvenile and young sire Good Magic (Curlin). Their MSW dam Glinda the Good (Hard Spun) is a half to GSW Take the Ribbon (Chester House). This is also the family of GISW Miss Houdini (Belong to Me), dam of MGISW Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) and MGSW & GISP Papa Clem (Smart Strike). Peter Blum Thoroughbreds’ homebred Peachtree Road (Quality Road) also debuts here for Richard Mandella. The bay is a half to undefeated stakes winner Princess Arabella (Any Given Saturday), dam of MGSP Ulele (Candy Ride {Arg}); and SW & MGSP Dyna’s Lassie (Dynaformer). TJCIS PPs

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Thoroughbred Idea Foundation: Horsemen Deserve Fair Compensation

Horsemen should be properly compensated for content. A major source of funding for the sport and its stakeholders, is in jeopardy.

Horsemen have been pawns in the operation of racing for decades, not receiving their fair share of compensation for the content that their horses provide. The effects of the global pandemic have only made this clearer. Through the first six months of 2020, wagering on American races is down nearly 11 percent. Purses, however, are down 40 percent.

When the doors to casinos closed, and racing was put on hold, horsemen suffered. The owners and operators of advanced deposit wagering outlets like TwinSpires and Xpressbet did not. In fact, profits from Churchill Downs Incorporated's online wagering business rose 39 percent in Q2 2020 from the previous year despite not hosting its flagship event!

These two entities, among other ADWs, were pressed into service like never before because of the pandemic's impact which effectively closed on-track betting. While undoubtedly helpful, the customers forced to switch online may never return to betting through the sport's most lucrative channels – on-track wagering. This will hasten the imbalance in contributions to purses.

As most horsemen realize, online, out-of-state bets on racing are often the least valuable to purses. Now, ADW betting is the vast majority of wagering and unlikely to change soon. Even worse, the ADWs continue to retain an outsized portion of the commissions from wagering takeout. Without racing, the ADWs have little to offer customers. They should not take advantage of the horsemen who enable their very existence.

In its latest publication (click the link to read more), the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation (TIF) calls on horsemen, and their representative groups, to begin asking critical questions about the composition of wagering on its races, increasing attentiveness to approvals of wagering contracts and to better understand the delicate balance needed to continue sustaining racing purses. Racing operators act purely from a position of self-interest.

Horsepeople need to start doing the same.

The time to fix the broken model is now.

Roughly 65 percent of all wagering on racing in Q2 2020 came from the major ADWs, like TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet and NYRA Bets. So if doors were closed to tracks, where did the rest originate?

TIF estimates that approximately one-third of all wagering on American racing comes from entities we characterize as “high-volume betting shops,” or HVBS, which are the equivalent of private, high-end wagering platforms which do not need separate ADWs. As HVBS wagering increases, a series of disadvantages are created, increasing costs on all other bettors, and having the effect of reducing participation from, or outright eliminating, non-HVBS players.

The impact for all racing stakeholders, particularly horsemen, will be felt over time because HVBS players (which number in the dozens) are often the least profitable towards purses. HVBS wagering has increased over time, from only 8 percent of U.S. betting in 2003 to the estimated 30 to 35 percent now. When you adjust for inflation, racing's least valuable customers (relative to their contribution to purses) have increased by 114 percent in the last 16 years.

Meanwhile, participation from racing's most valuable customers – recreational players wagering under $100,000 annually – is declining at alarming rates. Make no mistake – our sport needs ALL of its customers, both from HVBS and non-HVBS sources. TIF estimates that all non-HVBS play has declined by a staggering 63 percent, adjusted for inflation, since 2003.

The most valuable source of prize money has dropped by a significant amount while the least valuable source has increased substantially.

This situation threatens purse levels in the intermediate and long-term across all racing jurisdictions, but particularly in light of the evolution of competitive wagering products – legal sports betting, daily fantasy sports and the growth of online casinos, which do not contribute revenue to purses even if the online license is granted to a track operator.

As racing faces declining contributions from casino-related revenues towards purses, or worse – loses all casino-based contributions to purses – along with a steady rise in wagering competition, horsemen must get involved in these contracts and start asking questions, increasing attention on the racing wagering business.

If you would like more information, please reach out to TIF Executive Director Patrick Cummings or one of the TIF board members.

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Battaash Brings Up Amazing Four-Timer For Shadwell

Shadwell had watched the first three races fall their way at York’s Ebor Festival on Friday and so there were more than the usual share of nerves as their flagship Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) went to post for the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. In the event, he gave the team their most anxious moments of all the races they conquered on the card as he had to graft to subdue yet another flying filly from Michael Dods’s Darlington yard in Que Amoro (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}). Finally managing to shake off her attentions in the last 100 yards, the 1-2 favourite earned a length success as Moss Gill (Ire) (No Nay Never) also excelled himself two lengths away in third. The landmark win followed that in the opening handicap of Alfaatik (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), of Enbihaar (Ire) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) in the G2 Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup and of Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack S. “Relief is the right word,” trainer Charlie Hills commented. “It’s great to see the team do so well–they are all so professional in everything they do and it’s been well rewarded.”

On Battaash’s best days, Jim Crowley has been merely a passenger on Battaash and in all four of his successes in Goodwood’s G2 King George S., his track record-breaking win here 12 months ago, his 2017 G1 Prix de l’Abbaye romp and emotional victory in the June 16 G1 King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot he has only had to stay in the saddle. This affair, on the softest ground that the 6-year-old has encountered since his tame effort in October’s Abbaye at ParisLongchamp, he was made to engage a long way out by the stand’s rail runner Que Amoro who had previously finished third behind Moss Gill in the course-and-distance Listed City Walls S. Dods conjured two Nunthorpe wins out of Mecca’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and an Abbaye victory out of Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) who was also narrowly denied in this in 2018 and for a brief period heading to the furlong pole it looked as if he had produced another giant-killer from his yard.

Battaash had started out up the centre of the track, but Crowley explained afterwards that his less-than-direct passage from halfway was partly due to the prevailing high wind and partly due to the respect shown to the filly. “We went one hell of a gallop and there’s a tailwind, which is blowing across the track towards the stands rail,” he explained. “I tried not to let the leader go too far ahead and fair play to the second, she ran a mighty race and was hard to pass. He doesn’t normally have to battle–he usually has his races won at halfway, but he really had to be a man today and stuck his neck out. He really galloped and tried really hard, so we got it just right. He’s really changed this horse–he took a nice bite going down but he was good at the start and everything was like clockwork. He’s a horse of a lifetime and to get one like this you are lucky.”

Charlie Hills has in mind a return to ParisLongchamp, but does not want the ground to be as soft as last year. “That was tough out there today and experience has probably been what has counted,” he said. “He’s been beaten twice in the past here on ground like that, but he’s grown up mentally and has matured with age. He behaved the best ever today and with conditions like that–the high wind–it can’t be easy for any those horses down there at the start. The obvious route to take is the Abbaye, but if the ground is like it was last year we’d probably avoid it and look elsewhere. I’ll speak to Sheikh Hamdan and we’ll make a plan.”

Whether Battaash is there on Arc day or not, Dods is keen to go there with the runner-up and he said, “She would have preferred faster ground and I didn’t think we’d get that close, so she’s run a blinder. To get that close to a horse like that is a hell of a performance. She’s seriously quick–when she ran here the other month, because the ground had gone a bit, we half-saved her to get home. I said to [jockey] Paul [Mulrennan] to take no prisoners today, to just go, because that’s the only way to ride her. She burns horses off. She’s not in the Abbaye–we decided we wouldn’t put her in and if she ran a big race here we’d supplement her. With what’s going on, we didn’t know what would happen, but that is probably where she’d go.”

Battaash is the first foal out of Anna Law (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who is a half-sister to four black-type performers including this operation’s Etlaala (GB) (Selkirk) who captured the G2 Champagne S. and was third in the G1 July Cup. Her other half-sibling Bird Key (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) produced another leading sprinter in these silks in the G2 Duke of York S. winner and G1 Diamond Jubilee S. and G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S.-placed Tasleet (GB) (Showcasing {GB}). Anna Law also has Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ unraced 3-year-old filly Valletta Gold (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) who is in training with John Quinn, and also the 2-year-old full-sister to Battaash who was bought by Shadwell for 800,000gns at last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1. She is named Altaayshah (Ire) and is also in training with Charlie Hills.

Friday, York, Britain
COOLMORE NUNTHORPE S.-G1, £250,000, York, 8-21, 2yo/up, 5fT, :57.38, gd.
1–BATTAASH (IRE), 137, g, 6, by Dark Angel (Ire)
1st Dam: Anna Law (Ire), by Lawman (Fr)
2nd Dam: Portelet (GB), by Night Shift
3rd Dam: Noirmant (Ire), by Dominion (GB)
(200,000gns Ylg ’15 TAOCT). O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum; B-Ballyphilip Stud (IRE); T-Charles Hills; J-Jim Crowley. £141,775. Lifetime Record: 2x Hwt. Older Horse-Eur at 5-7f, Hwt. 3yo-Fr at 5-7f & G1SW-Fr, 23-13-2-3, $2,260,148. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Que Amoro (Ire), 134, f, 4, Es Que Love (Ire)–Onomatomania, by Mr. Greeley. (28,000gns Ylg ’17 TAOCT). O-P Appleton & Mrs Anne Elliott; B-Rathasker Stud (IRE); T-Michael Dods. £53,750.
3–Moss Gill (Ire), 137, g, 4, No Nay Never–Sharaarah (Ire), by Oasis Dream (GB). (£30,000 RNA Ylg ’17 GOUKPR). O-G Van Cutsem, J Bethell & S Bethell; B-Camas Park & Lynch Bages (IRE); T-James Bethell. £26,900.
Margins: 1, 2, HF. Odds: 0.50, 22.00, 22.00.
Also Ran: A’Ali (Ire), Kurious (GB), Art Power (Ire), Ornate (GB), Emaraaty Ana (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Uni and Got Stormy Meet Again in Fourstardave

Champion Uni (More Than Ready) and MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy) continue their rivalry Saturday as they look to continue dominating their male counterparts in Saratoga’s GI Fourstardave H.

The two chestnuts met for the first time in last year’s renewal of this event, in which Got Stormy was a 2 1/2-length victress over the re-opposing Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) with Uni in third. After that Got Stormy went to the GI Woodbine Mile, hoping to follow in the famous hoofprints of fellow Mark Casse trainee Tepin (Bernstein), but came up a half-length short. Meanwhile, Uni went to Keeneland, where she scored a decisive victory in the GI First Lady S. in October.

The pair met again at Santa Anita in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile Nov. 2 and this time Uni got the better of her rival, storming home to a 1 1/2-length triumph over Got Stormy with stablemate Without Parole (Frankel {GB}) in third. Clinching the Eclipse Award for top turf female with that win, Uni made her first start of the season at Belmont June 27, completing the trifecta behind her talented younger stablemate Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}).

“She missed some time with a splint issue, and we stopped breezing for five or six weeks,” said Bradley Weisbord of BSW/Crow Bloodstock, who manages Uni on behalf of her owners. “The ground might have been a little soften the Just a Game and Joel didn’t think she got through it great, but she was short, and she really needed the race. She just had her best breeze of the year last week and we weren’t completely sure about this race. We were 50-50 between the Fourstardave and the [GII] Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill, but the breeze is what gave Chad the confidence to run her, so she’s sitting on go.”

Got Stormy, on the other hand has made five starts since the Breeders’ Cup, closing 2019 with a win in the GI Matriarch S. Dec. 1. Fourth in the GIII Endeavour S. at Tampa Feb. 8, her best effort so far this season was a close second in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile Mar. 7. The Gary Barber colorbearer checked in fourth in her last two outings at Belmont in the June 3 GIII Beaugay S. and the July 4 GIII Poker S.

“She’s training well and she’s back to Saratoga, which is where she did her best running last year, so we’re hoping for the best,” Casse said. “We know she likes that course, we know that she likes firm turf. She’s got to come with her A game. She’s the same horse, she looks great and trains great. She’s just been a little bit unlucky. She ran over some good turf courses and she wants it to be really firm.”

Raging Bull kicked off this term with a win in the GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita May 25 and was a close third behind Classic winner War of Will (War Front) in Keeneland’s rescheduled GI Maker’s Mark Mile July 10.

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