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Sales-Topping Darain Transferred To Brad Cox In The United States

The most expensive yearling of 2018, Qatar Racing's Darain has been transferred from trainer John Gosden's yard to the barn of trainer Brad Cox in the United States, reports racingpost.com. Sold for 3.5 million guineas at Tattersalls (approximately US$4.8 million), the full brother to champion 2-year-old Too Darn Hot has won two of his four starts and most recently finished seventh in the Group 2 Darley Stakes at Newmarket on Oct. 10.

“Sheikh Fahad and John Gosden decided the US style of racing may suit Darain a bit better than over here and he's joined Brad Cox who is based at Keeneland,” said David Redvers, racing manager to Qatar Racing. “I'd think Darain would have the option of racing on turf or dirt as his sire has a decent record with runners on the latter. The US operation is something Sheikh Fahad is keen on and hopefully the horse can prosper over there.”

Sired by Dubawi and out of the three-time Group 1-winning Singspiel mare Dar Re Mi, Darain has two additional full siblings, including Group 1-placed Lah Ti Dar and Group 3 winner So Mi Dar.

Four Stakes Races Highlight Closing Week At Indiana Grand

Indiana Grand is heading into the homestretch of its abbreviated 96-day racing season in 2020. With three days of action left, four stakes will be highlighted beginning Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The 23rd running of the $75,000 Miss Indiana Stakes and the 21st running of the $75,000 Indiana Futurity are slated for races eight and nine, respectively, on the Tuesday card. Featured in the Miss Indiana Stakes is the standout freshman filly Hungarian Princess from the Kim Hammond barn. The Pataky Kid filly, owned and bred by Swifty Farms, is three for four in 2020 with two stakes wins. She will begin from post seven with Sammy Bermudez aboard at odds of 7-5.

To the outside of Hungarian Princess is Timeless Glory and Geena Lucille, second choice on the morning line. The Harry's Holiday filly, trained by Anthony Granitz, steps into stakes action for the first time off an impressive maiden-breaking victory in early October. Owned by John Wallace and Granitz, Timeless Glory starts from post eight at odds of 7-2.

In the freshman colt and gelding ranks, Dillsboro Devil is favored in the Indiana Futurity. A son of Skylord, the John Langemeier-trained gelding is two for two, scoring the win in his last start in the Crown Ambassador Stakes. Marcelino Pedroza will ride from post 11 for Langemeier's Spooky Hollow Racing Inc. at odds of 3-1.

Joining Dillsboro Devil as an early favorite in the Indiana Futurity is Hard Luck Justice from the other end of the gate in post two. The Harry's Holiday gelding, owned by Joselyn Salazar and trained by Lonnie Hines, steps up into stakes action for the first time off a maiden breaking win Nov. 1. Sammy Bermudez has the call aboard Hard Luck Justice at odds of 7-2.

The older Indiana breds will be featured on the Wednesday, Nov. 18 racing card in the 24th running of the $100,000 Frances Slocum Stakes and the 23rd running of the $100,000 To Much Coffee, set as races eight and nine, respectively.

Piedi Bianchi gets the call as the early morning line favorite in the Frances Slocum at odds of 5-2 with Fernando De La Cruz aboard for trainer Cipriano Contreras. The five-year-old Overanalyze mare is among the state's top five all-time leading female Thoroughbreds in earnings with just over $522,000 accumulated. She will begin from post 10 in the full field of 12.

Unbridled Beast, the three-year-old standout from the Randy Matthews Stable, will tackle the older horses in the To Much Coffee Stakes. The Unbridled Express gelding had won four in a row prior to his last start over a sloppy track in the Unreachable Star Stakes. Unbridled Beast begins from post nine with Indiana's all-time leading jockey Rodney Prescott aboard at odds of 5-2.

The 2020 racing season will conclude Thursday, Nov. 19 with a 12-race card. The track is currently watching the progress of the Straight Fire Six (Jackpot Pick 6) which has a carryover of more than $92,000 heading into the Tuesday, Nov. 17 racing program. There is a mandatory payout for the wager if it goes untouched until Thursday's racing program.

First post for the final week of racing is 2:05 p.m. Dates for the 2021 racing season at Indiana Grand will be announced in December.

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Breeders’ Cup Winner Tarnawa Remains In Training, To Target 2021 Arc De Triomphe

The Aga Khan's 4-year-old Breeders' Cup Turf winner Tarnawa will remaining in training through her 5-year-old season, according to the Irish Times. The daughter of Shamardal gave trainer Dermot Weld his first Cup winner this year, and the trainer hopes to target the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2021.

“The plan is for Tarnawa to stay in training next year, which is good news,” Weld told the Irish Times. “We will look forward to training her for [an] autumn campaign again which will hopefully include the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.”

An eight-time winner from 14 career starts, Tarnawa has three G1 wins to her name.

Lucky Lilac Becomes Fourth Mare To Win Back-To-Back Queen Elizabeth II Cup In Japan

Race favorite Lucky Lilac defended her title in Sunday's Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Japan to become the fourth mare to accomplish the feat following Mejiro Dober (1998-99), Admire Groove (2003-04) and Snow Fairy (2010-11) from Great Britain. She is the first horse to capture three G1 titles at Hanshin Racecourse, which include the 2017 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (1,600m) and this year's Osaka Hai (2,000m).

After her Osaka Hai victory in April, the 2017 Best Two-Year-Old Filly finished sixth in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1, 2,200m) in June and third in the following Sapporo Kinen (G2, 2,000m) in August before claiming her fourth G1 title in this race. This win marked trainer Mikio Matsunaga's sixth career JRA-G1 title (including steeplechases) following Lucky Lilac's Osaka Hai victory. Jockey Christophe Lemaire who partnered with the mare for the first time captured his 33rd JRA-G1 win following his Tenno Sho (Autumn) title with Almond Eye just two weeks ago and his second Queen Elizabeth II Cup title following his win in 2008 with Little Amapola.

Breaking smoothly from the outermost draw, Lucky Lilac settled in mid-division behind Loves Only You, around 12th from the front, edged forward toward the end of the backstretch and continued to advance turning the corners wide. The defending champion immediately made bid entering the corner, assumed command 300 meters out and held off the strong charges from behind in the last 100 meters to cross the wire a neck in front.

“The outermost draw was a concern but we were able to race smoothly and advance our position from the third corner. She was very composed and gave her usual turn of speed. We took the front early in the stretch but she held on well until the end. She's a strong horse. She has been racing at the top level since her two-year-old season and I had confidence in her,” commented Christophe Lemaire

Fifth choice Salacia traveled wide toward the rear, around 14th, while eyeing the race favorite on the outside. The Deep Impact mare took a wide route rounding the final corner and dislodged a powerful late charge that timed the fastest last three furlongs to nail Loves Only You before the wire but was a neck short to finish second.

Third favorite Loves Only You traveled around 11th, made headway after being overtaken by the eventual winner and angled wide for the stretch run. The four-year-old bay showed the second fastest late charge to close in on the winner but had too much to make up while surrendering the runner-up seat to Salacia before the wire for third.

Other Horses:
4th: (12) Win Marilyn—tracked leaders in 3rd, ran willingly along rails, weakened in final strides
5th: (8) Centelleo—settled 3rd from rear, angled out, showed belated charge
6th: (4) Soft Fruit—sat in 5th, ran gamely until 200m pole, failed to sustain bid
7th: (5) Ria Amelia—tracked distant leader in 2nd, chased winner but weakened in last 200m
8th: (1) Shadow Diva—traveled around 7th along rails, outrun between 3rd and final corner, passed tired rivals
9th: (2) Something Just—took economic trip in 4th, boxed in turning last corners, even paced
10th: (16) Miss New York—ran around 9th, showed brief effort until 200m pole
11th: (14) Satono Garnet—settled in 2nd from rear, circled wide, never fired
12th: (3) Lune Rouge—saved ground around 9th, lacked needed kick while met traffic at 200m pole
13th: (15) Uranus Charm—sat 3-wide around 14th, advanced and entered in 3rd to lane, ran out of steam
14th: (9) Win Mighty—raced around 7th, met traffic 300m out, showed little
15th: (7) Rosa Glauca—broke poorly, hugged rails around 12th, found little room rounding last corners
16th: (6) Normcore—set pace, 5-6 lengths in front of rest of field in backstretch, faded after 200m pole
17th: (17) Espoir—traveled around 5th early, improved position, outrun after final corner
18th: (10) Caro Bambina—disadvantage at break, trailed in rear, no factor

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