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Novel Promotion Rewards Coolmore Breeders with Justify Season

Coolmore's Ashford Stud will enter breeders who have booked mares to Corniche, Epicenter, Jack Christopher, or Tiz the Law into drawings to award four no-guarantee nominations to Justify in a promotion called “THE JUSTIFY 4.” There will be a separate drawing for each of the four stallions, with one no-guarantee nomination awarded among each pool, for a total of four.

The drawing will be held on Apr. 26.

The farm said that the event was being held “to celebrate Justify's phenomenal year in 2023.”

Justify is the cumulative leading third-crop sire by earnings in a group that includes strong competition from sires including Good Magic, Bolt d'Oro, Mendelssohn, and City of Light. He was the leading second-crop sire of 2023, not only by earnings, but in every black-type category. His six individual Grade I winners equaled the annual combined total of the rest of his crop year.

His appeal is global; in 2023 alone, he was the sire of dual Grade I winner Just F Y I, the favorite to be named Champion Juvenile Filly; Hard to Justify, the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; Opera Singer, winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac; Aspen Grove (Ire), winner of the GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational S.; Arabian Lion, winner of the GI Woody Stephens S.; and City of Troy, winner of the G1 Dewhurst S. Already in 2024, his Storm Boy (Aus) has won the A$3-million The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic in Australia.

“In a very competitive market, we hoped that this promotion would remind breeders of the incredible potential and upside of our younger stallions,” said Coolmore's Charlie O'Connor. “And who better to remind them of that than Justify? This is an amazing opportunity for breeders to use these stallions who are all Grade I winners on dirt.

“Justify has enjoyed a sensational year,” continued O'Connor. “He's the first sire in North America since Mr Prospector to sire four Grade I-winning juveniles in a single season. His two Breeders' Cup winners are amongst the three finalists for Champion 2-Year-Old Filly at the upcoming Eclipse Awards, City of Troy and Opera Singer have been crowned European Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and European Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, while Ramatuelle was crowned French Champion 2-Year-Old. And if all that's not enough, he was also Champion First-Crop Sire in Australia. We think 'THE JUSTIFY 4' concept is a novel idea which is sure to catch the imagination of breeders given four seasons to this great stallion are up for grabs.”

Justify's 2024 stud fee was initially listed at $200,000, but was later switched to private.

The terms and conditions of the event are as follows:

For each qualifying mare contracted to any of the four stallions by Apr. 26, 2024, a ticket will be entered with no limit on the number of tickets per client.
One ticket will be drawn for each of the four stallions with the prize being a no-guarantee 2024 season to Justify in each case.
The mare nominated must be approved and fit for breeding purposes. Mares over 17 or barren for the last two years are excluded.
The qualifying mare must be bred before the nominated mare can be bred by Justify.
All Coolmore employees and related parties are ineligible for these draws as are any of the partners in the participating stallions. In the event of a dispute, Coolmore is the final arbitrator.

Corniche, Epicenter, and Jack Christopher are all standing their second season at stud with first weanlings arriving now. Corniche is the Breeders' Cup-winning Champion Juvenile; Epicenter is the Eclipse Award winning Champion 3-Year-Old and Travers winner; and Jack Christopher is a three-time Grade I winner. Tiz the Law was a Grade I-winning 2-year-old who went on to win the GI Florida Derby, Belmont S., and Travers S. He has first 2-year-olds this year.

To participate in this draw, breeders may call the following Coolmore connections: M.V. Magnier, 011-353-86-821-6827; Dermot Ryan, 859-333-2562; Aisling Duignan, 859-333-2566; Charlie O'Connor, 859-333-2066; Adrian Wallace, 859-327-8302; Robyn Murray, 859-619-8770; Michael Norris, 859-753-1521; Blaise Benjamin, 859-333-2591; Charles Hynes, 859-753-3736; David O'Loughlin, 011-353-86-249-0821; or Christy Grassick, 001-353-86-255-1126.

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Premier Racedays To Kick Off at Cheltenham Jan. 1

Premier Racedays, an undertaking by British Racing to market and promote racing's best racedays, will launch with the New Year's Day fixture at Cheltenham, the first of some 170 such programs to be staged in 2024.

Premier Racedays is part of a two-year series of changes with the aim of growing British racing by 'increasing engagement among new and existing customers, improving revenues across all areas of the industry, promoting investment in the sport through the recruitment and retention of owners, and encouraging the best horses to be bred, trained and raced in Britain.'

Premier Racedays will be supported by marketing and promotional suppoer, racecourse marketing spend and plans for a national promotional campaign, pending the submission of an application to the Horserace Betting Levy Board in line with the body's funding criteria.

Premier Racedays through 2024 will also see the introduction of innovation in the fan experience on an ongoing basis, for those attending on racecourses, betting, and watching on broadcast. Over 90% of Premier Racedays are to be broadcast across ITV and encompass the majority of racing's best and most popular racedays.

The key areas of innovation include customer promotion, broadcast innovation, customer experience, a digital content strategy, promotion of horse racing's equine and human athletes and betting, to offer a variety of incentives around Premier Racedays. Significant work is also in development to improve the ownership experience both on and off-course, with initiatives to be rolled out in 2024.

“British racing's stakeholders unanimously agreed the way to grow our sport is to better showcase and sell our best racing. The pilot of Premier Racedays is the start of this process,” said Joe Saumarez Smith, chair of the British Horseracing Authority. “Due to the way that our sport is structured, the first priority for the sport was to put the building blocks in place in the form of the changes to the fixture list and race programme and secure the improved funding of prize money. There is little point trying to sell Premier Racedays if the product is not, in fact, Premier. “I am grateful to everyone who has been involved in the ongoing development of these plans, including those directly involved in the sport and our partners in broadcast, the media and betting”.

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Michael Copeland and Tom Via Promoted at Woodbine

Woodbine Entertainment has made some changes to its senior leadership team, promoting Michael Copeland to President, Commercial and Tom Via to President, Operations. Both will report to CEO Jim Lawson.

“We have a tremendous amount of opportunity before us to grow our business and the horse racing industry in Ontario,” said Lawson. “I strongly believe we have the right leadership and people in place–and now we have the right structure that will enable us to maximize and fully leverage those opportunities.”

Copeland, who joined Woodbine Entertainment in 2021 as Chief Commercial Officer, will lead revenue and brand-driving functions including horse racing, wagering, technology, marketing, broadcast, customer experience, and events. He has previously run his own consulting business in the sports and entertainment sector and has been president and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts, as well as the president and COO of the Canadian Football League.

Via joined Woodbine Entertainment in 2016 as COO and will now lead operations at both Woodbine Racetrack and Woodbine Mohawk Park, while also overseeing hospitality, finance, human resources, legal, and project management. He has previously served as president and CEO of the retail chain Brookstone, been president of the Australian operations of Toys R Us, and held senior management positions at Babies R Us in both the U.S. and Canada.

Property Development at Woodbine Entertainment will continue to be led by Chief Development Officer Will Fleissig.

“While horse racing will always be at the core of everything we do, our business is becoming more and more complex and having strong leadership at the helm of operations and revenue positions us for the future growth we have in our sights,” said Lawson.

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Orla McKenna Appointed Head of Bloodstock For Tattersalls Ireland

Orla McKenna, who has been a member of the Tattersalls Ireland bloodstock team for 16 years, has been promoted to the position of Head of Bloodstock. Previously McKenna was the Tattersalls Ireland Bloodstock Manager. A keen pony racing competitor when she was young, McKenna also rode as an amateur for the late Dessie Hughes for a couple of years prior to joining Tattersalls Ireland in 2006. She returned to the saddle in 2018 to ride out for Gavin Cromwell in preparation for participating in the Corinthian Challenge.

Tattersalls Ireland CEO Simon Kerins said, “I am delighted to announce Orla as Head of Bloodstock for Tattersalls Ireland. Orla is not only highly respected by all her colleagues but also Tattersalls Ireland clients and she has been a real asset to the company for the past sixteen years. Orla's experience, knowledge and expertise make her ideal for the position as Head of Bloodstock.”

McKenna added, “I am thrilled to be appointed as Head of Bloodstock for Tattersalls Ireland, I am very enthusiastic about my new role which will help deliver on Tattersalls Ireland strategies and ambitions. I am proud to be associated with such a strong brand within the industry and I look forward to working closely with our unrivalled inspection panel as we turn our attention to securing top quality horses for the Derby Sale and May Store Sale as well as the Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale.”

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