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Racing’s Crystal Ball: How TDN Europe Predicts 2023 To Play Out

A large part of the fun that comes with following racing and the bloodstock game is predicting the future. Who will win the Derby? Who might top the Orby Sale? What freshman sires are here to stay and which ones will drift into the abyss?

Well, we've looked deep into the TDN Europe crystal ball for 2023 to see if we can come up with the answers to the burning questions for the year ahead. Enjoy!

January

If you think he had a good Christmas, wait until you see how January goes for Willie Mullins. This is the month where Ireland's dominant jumps trainer ramps up a gear, highlighted by Energumene's deadly performance in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot. Can anyone stop Energumene–or Mullins for that matter–at Cheltenham?

Meanwhile, Gordon Elliott appears to have his own festival banker in the shape of Mares' Novice Hurdle hotpot Halka Du Tabert, who makes light work of her rivals in the Solerina Mares' Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

Guess who features among this race's roll of honour? None other than Honeysuckle and Minella Melody. Could the torch be passed to fellow Kenny Alexander-owned Halka Du Tabert?

February

Reassuring figures are recorded at one of the first big Flat sales of the new year, the February Sale, where multiple lots sell for six figures. Maybe 2022 wasn't a dream after all.

Willie Mullins once again dominates at the Dublin Racing Festival where Honeysuckle's bid for a four-timer in the Irish Champion Hurdle is foiled by State Man, who now appears the chief Irish challenger to Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle.

Galopin Des Champs dazzles in the Irish Gold Cup, but will he stay the extra two furlongs up the punishing hill at Cheltenham?

March

Did somebody say Flat racing? Aidan O'Brien opens the gates at Ballydoyle to the Irish press and Brendan O'Rourke is back in search of the next two-year-old star to follow this season. “He's by No Nay Never, Brendan. Big Little something, I think he's called,” says Aidan. “A fiver or a tenner,” asks Brendan.

Constitution Hill proves worthy of all of the hype in the Champion Hurdle by beating Honeysuckle, who runs a tremendous race in the first-time cheekpieces.

It's easy-as-you-like for Energumene in the Champion Chase but there's a surprise in the Stayers' Hurdle as Ahoy Senor, re-routed from the Gold Cup, denies Flooring Porter a third straight triumph.

It's a one-two-three for team Mullins in the Gold Cup, but it's Emmet who takes the top honours, not his uncle Willie, as Noble Yeats out-battles Galopin Des Champs with Stattler running an eye-catching race with a view towards the Grand National back in third.

The recently-returned Oisin Murphy shines at the Dubai World Cup meeting. Meanwhile, industry stakeholders begin to get a foothold on what's required for the Dubai Breeze-up Sale as solid trade is recorded.

April

Don't say you weren't told. Stattler does a Hedgehunter by building on a cracking effort in the Gold Cup to secure Grand National glory at the main expense of Lifetime Ambition.

Oh yes. We're back, baby. The breeze-up circus gets going with a bang as the international buyers turn out in force for the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale. Tally-Ho Stud sells the top lot, a Kodiac colt, to Peter and Ross Doyle for high six figures.

Will he or won't he? The build-up to the Craven S. revolves around whether leading 2000 Guineas contender Chaldean will take in a prep or head straight to the Classic. In the end, Andrew Balding elects to sidestep the Craven, describing himself as delighted with Chaldean's condition at home on the gallops.

May

No prep run? No problem. Balding's decision to go straight to the 2000 Guineas with Chaldean pays off in spades as he romps home at Newmarket. Little Big Bear fails to get involved but Auguste Rodin finishes a fine second for Aidan O'Brien, who goes on to win the 1000 Guineas with Meditate.

In Chaldean's absence, Little Big Bear justifies O'Brien's faith in the colt's ability to see out the mile as he makes light work of the opposition in the Irish 2,000 Guineas while Dermot Weld's Tahiyra shows a blistering turn of foot to win the Irish 1,000 Guineas.

It's that man again. Willie Browne tops the Arqana breeze-up sale with a colt sourced in America the previous autumn.

June

Aidan O'Brien wins the Oaks with a filly who failed to win as a two-year-old while the Guineas runner-up Auguste Rodin takes the step up to 1m4f in his stride by running out one of the most impressive Derby winners for some time.

It's a week for the first-season sires at Royal Ascot as colts by Ten Sovereigns and Soldier's Call win the Coventry and Norfolk S. respectively while an Inns Of Court filly lands the Queen Mary S.

Kyprios runs out one of the most impressive winners of the week to take his second Gold Cup. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Sakheer dazzles in the Commonwealth Cup, once again advertising the prowess of breeze-up handler Willie Browne.

Back at the Curragh, Aidan O'Brien records a record-extending 15th Irish Derby triumph.

July

Auguste Rodin had the option of bidding for the Derby double at the Curragh but he proves himself to be equally as adept back over 10f in bolstering the good record that three-year-olds have in the Coral-Eclipse S. at Sandown.

Remember him? Desert Crown makes his long awaited return to the track in the King George at Ascot but he is no match for Vadeni who appears a much stronger horse this year and sees the trip out well.

The demand for horses with good ratings remains strong at the July Sale at Tattersalls while, on the track, Sakheer follows up his brilliant display at Royal Ascot with a red-hot performance in the July Cup.

August

After running a number of classy races against the boys, Dramatised causes something of a surprise for local owner Steve Parkin and trainer Karl Burke in the Nunthorpe S. at York.

September

He never managed to win the St Leger as a jockey but he does it as a trainer. Step forward Donnacha O'Brien. Proud And Regal, indeed.

Goffs captures the imagination with its latest incentive to attract buyers and vendors alike to the Orby, which continues to go from strength to strength. A number of New Bay and Mehmas colts sell nicely while Saxon Warrior hardens his reputation as a coming force in the stallion ranks with his progeny selling for notable sums.

October

No match for Alpinista 12 months ago, Vadeni wins the Arc from stablemate Al Hakeem with Bay Bridge keeping on best for third.

Book 1 does not disappoint at Tattersalls with 10 lots breaking the million gns mark, including Philip Stauffenberg's Kingman half-brother to Skitter Scatter, who he picked up for €550,000 at Goffs the previous November.

But the top lot is a 3 million gns colt consigned by Watership Down and it sells to Mick Donohoe, bidding on his iPad for Yulong, with MV Magnier and Anthony Stroud pushing him all the way.

The weather Gods do not look kindly on British Champions Day as the meeting is a washout and the testing ground throws up a number of surprise results.

November

It's a first Melbourne Cup victory for Willie Mullins as Champion Hurdle also-ran Vauban builds on his Queen Alexandra S. victory at Royal Ascot to take the race that stops a nation.

Nothing can separate Aidan O'Brien and Charlie Appleby once again at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita as both men send out five winners apiece. Special mention to Modern Games, who secures his third Breeders' Cup triumph and second Breeders' Cup Mile success.

December

There must be something in the water. Tally-Ho Stud clinches its third first-season sire championship in four years as Inns Of Court does what Mehmas and Cotai Glory did before him by producing the goods with his first crop of runners. It was an incredibly-strong year for the freshman sires with Soldier's Call, Ten Sovereigns, Too Darn Hot, Advertise and Blue Point achieving plenty.

Some extra dates are added to the farewell tour as Frankie Dettori announces his decision to continue his riding career for another season.

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Book Review: Robert Braithwaite’s Places Reversed

Every novelist that engages the subject of horse racing is facing an odds-on favorite in Dick Francis. The all-time master, Francis effectively conjured racetrack heroes within the friendly confines of his umpteen mystery novels. With his passing, son Felix continues the family trade by employing the same tried-and-true formula.

Francis always presented the reader with protagonists like a chef with high culinary morals or a noble former jump jockey-turned-P.I. or a smart-looking specialist in kidnapping who moonlights as a philosopher-psychologist. The author had us at “Hullo, how are you?” In his tack room of pithy descriptors, you knew precisely who the good guys were. As for the black hats, they were always wielding a poker or employing henchmen that oozed bad manners and wore toe caps.

In Robert Braithwaite's independently published debut novel Places Reversed, the author who is clearly familiar with the yard, the ring and the racetrack pub, takes a totally different tack. Here we find a cast of characters that are all inherently flawed longshots. There is no Max Moreton, Sid Halley nor an Andrew Douglas afoot to save the day. A spine among this lot will only be found in the book itself. Braithwaite hands us the debt-ridden main character Freddie Lyons, a trainer named Birkett Coward who wants to bet everything with four legs in his stable, and Robert Hamley-Flowers, a former stud farm owner that is a poor judge of character, including his own. Braithwaite's Chunnel story is filled with rogues that are “a funeral away from ruin”. From the French countryside to Newmarket's famed racecourses, Lyons's well-trodden path is dogged by bills, creditors, the ubiquitous Russian mafia, and an ex-wife who did not let the grass grow under her feet.

When Lyons's bloodstock agent disappears and his business partner is poisoned in a racetrack bar and slips into a coma, chapter after chapter of scheming and degeneracy surrounds each scene. To make matters worse, Lyons, a former amateur jockey, teams up with his old boss Coward, in some train-wreck television at its best. With little in the way of cash, they decide that laying the money that they do have on the trainer's “sure bets” is the way to go. The goal? They are trying to raise enough to buy the dam of one of Coward's supposed prize runners. The mare, who happens to be owned by Hamley-Flowers is in foal, and the suitors believe she is a blue-ribbon ticket to the promised land.

The best and most compelling character in this whole book isn't any of these poor sods. Rather it is the shrewd business-minded Tara Fitzsimmons, whose diversified bloodstock and racing empire is always five chess moves ahead of this pathetic trio. She is complex, savvy and knows how to take advantage of weaknesses when she sees them in the male-dominated world of racing. Buying Hamley-Flowers's stud farm for a song, Fitzsimmons knows what her dunderheaded opponents want, and even though Lyons concocts bogus proof that he had a deal to buy the mare before the sale of the property, she smells a rat. If only we had more characters with her type of moxie!

Returning to Francis's world of racing, his antagonists let their greed and avarice rule. They seek an unfair advantage, they get caught, and in the end, the key gets thrown away. Another happy landing and comfort for all. In Brathwaite's tale, this bunch clearly doesn't understand the ramifications of their poor decision-making. Bearing witness to their ignoble behavior becomes a hair exhausting, and the reader longs for some of Francis's white knight chivalry. Whether set at Royal Ascot or Saint-Cloud, Places Reversed could use more stiff upper lip and less chocolate eclair. But anti-heroes are all the rage these days and there is nothing more exhilarating than a longshot made good.

Places Reversed, Printed in Great Britain by Amazon, 257 pages, October, 2022

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Sam Ross, Co-Owner of Breeze Easy, Passes Away

Sam Ross, co-owner with Mike Hall of Breeze Easy, LLC, passed Dec. 22, at the age of 79, in Jupiter, Florida.

Described as “a visionary behind many companies”–all of which were based in his hometown of Parkersburg, West Virginia–Ross sold his SBR group in 2006, but continued to own Woodcraft Supply, LLC, a chain of woodworking specialty related stores which operates in 34 states, and to participate in the oil and gas exploration and production industry. In addition to the sale of SBR, 2006 also marked the formation of the Ross Foundation, which supports charitable efforts in several West Virginia counties.

Ross entered the racing and breeding industry in 2016 when he and business partner, Mike Hall, founded Breeze Easy, LLC. Quickly becoming a force at the track and in the sale ring–where it is now well represented as both a buyer and seller–Breeze Easy scored a notable racing triumph two years later when the Wesley Ward-trained Shang Shang Shang shipped to Royal Ascot and captured the G2 Norfolk S. The following year, another Ward trainee, Four Wheel Drive, was undefeated in three juvenile outings, culminating in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Other standouts to carry the Breeze Easy colors have been multiple graded stakes wining sprint star, Imprimis; Late Night Pow Wow, a West Virginia-bred, who captured the GIII Barbara Fritchie S. and was Grade I-placed; GIII Marine S. scorer Easy Time; multiple stakes winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf third Outadore; and other stakes winners Curlin's Honor (owned in partnership with John Oxley), Devine Mischief, Curlin's Catch and Karak. Most recently, Boppy O (owned in partnership with John Oxley) captured the 2022 GIII With Anticipation S. at Saratoga.

Ross is survived by his wife, Susan Storck Ross, sons Samuel B. “Tres” Ross, III and Spencer Brownell Ross, and four grandchildren. A “Celebration of Life” ceremony will be held at a later date to be announced.

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Missed The Cut Possible for Dubai, America in 2023

Newmarket-based trainer George Boughey is mapping out a 2023 campaign for Royal Ascot winner Missed The Cut (Quality Road), which includes a potential trip to Dubai and possibly America.

“There's a chance that he could go to America,” Boughey said. “There's a race called the Santa Anita H. on Mar. 4, which is a Grade I on dirt. We'll see, but he's doing very well physically and I always said to [co-owner] Bill Farish and the guys at Lane's End that I didn't want to over-race him this year but I wanted to make him a stakes winner, which we have.”

Following Pontefract maiden and Salisbury novice wins, the 3-year-old captured the Golden Gates H. at the Royal Ascot meeting in June under New Zealand-born rider James McDonald. The Quality Road colt disappointed on his next appearance in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville, but bounced back to make a successful all-weather debut in last month's Listed Churchill S. at Lingfield.

“There's a lot of good horses that have flourished at four, he's still a big baby and all the options are open,” Boughey said. “He's on the list for Dubai and I think we've got to treat him like a good horse and all those top 10-furlong Grade 1s around the world next year will hopefully be where we're looking at.”

Another Boughey trainee set to have her passport stamped in the coming weeks is Perdika (GB) (Unfortunately {Ire}), who notched a fourth successive win in a Kempton nursery earlier this week. While All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Newcastle is an obvious target, the youngster is first bound for Meydan.

“She's probably going to go to Dubai for the winter,” Boughey added. “She could come back for Finals Day, but we'll see. She's already had enough qualifying runs to get her into the race on Finals Day if we wanted and a stiff six (furlongs) there [Newcastle] could suit her. She's due to fly to Dubai on the 29th of this month and can go for those 3-year-old fillies' races. I've never run her on turf, but she worked well on turf before she ran for us and I'd see her as a typical horse to take out there for the winter.”

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