Kevin Blake | Horse Racing Free Tips

ITBA Flat Seminar Spurs Lively Distance Discussion

The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (ITBA)'s Flat Seminar, The Distance Debate, was held in conjunction with the Derby Festival at the Curragh on June 30.

The seminar featured a panel of top experts–Kevin Blake, Stuart Boman, Ado McGuinness, Jason Morris and John Oxx, with ITBA Chairman Cathy Grassick taking on hosting duties.

The discussion–Sprinters, Stayers and Everything in Between–analyzed breeding for different distances to suit market demands, as well as changes in trends over the past number of years and what the future might look like. The panel's lively discussion included points on varying trends within the Flat breeding and racing sector, international markets, balancing speed versus stamina and market demand.

“Distance horses are still speedy horses,” champion trainer and Staffordstown Stud Director John Oxx said. “Carrying speed for longer is what we are trying to produce. The superior athletic specimen.”

ITBA Chief Executive Una Tormey said, ”A huge thanks to the Curragh Racecourse for facilitating ITBA's Flat Seminar and to our great panel for giving up their time ahead of a busy Derby Festival weekend. The discussion provided some valued insights into all matters pertaining to the current trends around breeding for markets demands. Those in attendance provided plenty of comments and questions throughout the afternoon and the debate was well balanced and informative. There were lots of food for thought and plenty of key items were discussed. I would encourage those who missed the event to watch it back via ITBA website.”

The Seminar can be viewed in full by visiting the ITBA website or YouTube Channel.

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Diverse Panel To Feature At ITBA Flat Seminar

Featuring panelists Kevin Blake, Stuart Boman, Ado McGuinness, Jason Morris, and John Oxx and hosted by Sally Ann Grassick, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Flat Seminar will be held on Friday, June 30.

Set for the Curragh Racecourse, the seminar will begin at 2:30 p.m. To register, please email hmarks@itba.ie. The event is free to attend for ITBA, AIRO, and IRTA members, please quote your membership number or organisation when registering. For non-members who wish to attend there is a €15 entrance fee which includes raceday admission.

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Stand Up For Racing Formed To Represent Racing And Breeding Industries

In light of criticism from animal rights activists in the build-up to the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday, Stand Up For Racing, a gathering of passionate horse racing professionals that will seek to represent the racing and breeding industries, has been formed.

The concept arose out of a widely-held frustration that the racing and breeding industries are not always well represented when questioned in the mainstream media and on social media, often allowing damaging misinformation and misconceptions to prevail.

The aim of the group is to unite all of the various organisations and representative groups within the racing and breeding industries in Europe in the interests of the greater good of the image and reputation of our great game. Fueled by a database of information and facts providing by the various interest groups in European racing, it will draw on a group of experienced members of the racing and breeding media that will be made available to any media outlet to provide balanced comment on the subject matter when required.

The founding group of Sally Ann Grassick, Kevin Blake, Caoimhe Doherty and Cathy Grassick are all council members of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association and are professionally involved in various sectors of the industry, with the latter being the current Chairperson of the ITBA.

In the coming weeks they will form a committee of members drawn from the major racing nations of Europe as well as putting together the aforementioned panel of media representatives.

In less than 48 hours, Stand Up For Racing has already resonated with a wide section of social media, attracting over 4,000 followers on Twitter, including numerous high-profile figures in the industry, and the hashtag #StandUpForRacing has been used over 1,700 times and reached 1.2 million people.

Stand Up For Racing had their first opportunity to contribute to the mainstream conversation when one of our representatives Kevin Blake appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV on Thursday evening. The interview, which has had more than 400,000 views online since broadcast, can be viewed on the Stand Up For Racing YouTube channel here.

Vicky Leonard and the team at Kick Collective in Australia established Kick Up in 2022. The initiative has generated considerable traction since its inception, with its goal of presenting accurate horse racing information on controversial topics in an engaging, educational and interesting format. Click here to learn more.

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12 Questions: Kevin Blake

First job in the Thoroughbred industry?

Working a breeze-up season with Con Marnane in Bansha House when I was 18. It wasn't my first rodeo there though, as I had learned how to ride on ponies up in Con's (before he became the King) when I was a child.

Biggest influence on your career?

Naming one individual would be tough as I've had a bunch of editors, colleagues, and friends from when I started in racing up to the present day that have been a huge help. It probably sounds a bit odd but opening a Twitter account 12 or so years ago turned out to be a very important decision for me. Since then, the vast majority of the work I do has been posted on there to be scrutinised and analysed by what is a very informed audience, many of whom specialise in very specific areas of the sport/industry and can offer a very high level of comment. The criticism and feedback I've got over the years has been a big factor in driving my standards forward. Every day is a learning day in this game.

Favourite racehorse of all time, and why?

The obvious answer is Frankel, as I'll be surprised if I ever see a horse that approaches his greatness in my lifetime. More personally, I have a mare here called Midnight Oasis that was bought very cheaply and delivered a series of very important results in the sales ring and on the track that allowed me to expand my breeding operation. She'll always be very special here.

Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023?

I'm much happier evaluating racecourse performance than engaging in First-Season Sire Bingo, but I had a couple of Ten Sovereigns's colts through my hands and saw as many of them as I could in the last year. An awful lot of them have very good hind legs, plenty of action and the ones I dealt with had notably good minds.

Greatest race in the world?

The Derby has still got a hold on me. Perversely, I think the passing of the great Galileo might well lead to the most exciting and competitive middle-distance scene for quite some time in the years ahead.

If you could be someone else in the industry for a day, who would it be, and why?

Any jockey with a fancied ride in the Grand National would be a fair day to experience, win or lose.

Emerging talent in the industry (human)?

I don't really like talking up young jockeys as making the transition from promising apprentice to top-class jockey is really difficult, but I have a great amount of belief in Dylan Browne McMonagle.

Name a horse TDN should have made a Rising Star, and didn't?

Al Riffa. Considering how rangy he is, I thought what he did last season in winning the National S. in such style off the back of a maiden win was genuinely remarkable. He could be special, and I don't say that lightly.

Under-the-radar stallion?

Coulsty.

Friday night treat?

Dominos and Dundalk!

Guilty pleasure outside racing?

True crime podcasts and long runs.

Race I wish I'd been there for…

State of Rest winning the Cox Plate, as none of us could travel due to Covid-19 restrictions at the time. No horse has ever been made to jump through as many invasive veterinary requirements and logistical hoops to be allowed a run in a Group 1 as he had to in the months leading up to it. For him to go down there and beat the best in Australia after all that was just incredible. The stewards' inquiry threatened to take it from him, and it was as close to a 50/50 decision as you'll see, but I'd say the whole of Tipperary heard the roar when the result was announced as unaltered!

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