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Prize Money Boost for French 2yo Races in 2021

Following a board meeting on Monday, Oct. 12, a stimulus package with the goal of boosting the number of juveniles in training was approved by France Galop. This stimulus package is aimed primarily at reversing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on French racing and to support owners and breeders who wish to invest in France in the future. The main decisions decided upon by the France Galop board are as follows:

Increase the owners’ premiums for French-bred 2-year-olds from 60% to 70% in 2021, and for French-bred 3-year-olds in 2022.
Add 25 new maiden races for 2-year-olds in 2021.
A new programme for 2-year-old maidens, sired by stallions based in France or abroad, whose covering fee did not exceed €10,000 at the time of conception.
Waiving of training centre fees for yearlings and 2-year-olds until the month of March.
Work started earlier this month on a one-mile long, 15-foot wide woodchip uphill track at the Chantilly training centre, which will be finished in the spring of 2021.

Currently, the French juvenile programme contains 557 races, of which two-thirds are either maiden, unraced or early conditions races (Class 2), which collectively carry prize money of €15.4 million. For more information on these decisions, please visit www.france-galop.com.

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Ghaiyyath Half-Brother Anchors Goffs November Foal Sale

The Goffs November Foal Sale catalogue, which includes a Kingman (GB) half-brother to €1.1 million Goffs November alum and MG1SW Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), is now online.

Scheduled for Nov. 16-18, the three-day sale features 759 foals going under the hammer at Kildare Paddocks in Ireland. The sale will be conducted using the “rising tide” format.

The Ghaiyyath half (lot 683), also a half to GI Man O’War S. heroine Zhukova (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and out of Classic scorer Nightime (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), hails from the draft of The Castlebridge Consignment.

Other Goffs November graduates that have gone on to top level success in 2020 are Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) and River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), with a supporting cast featuring Group 2 winners Dark Vision (Ire) (Dream Ahead), Lemista (Ire) (Raven’s Pass), Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), Aloha Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Dandalla (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and GSW & G1SP Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}).

Quality pedigrees abound in the catalogue, among them a full-brother (lot 636) to Classic heroine and champion Sea of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from Oak Lodge & Springfield House Stud; and lot 707, an Footstepsinthesand (GB) half-brother to G1 Phoenix S. hero and Goffs November grad Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) offered by Baroda Stud. Also flying the flag for Kingman is a Moyglare Stud-consigned colt out of a SP full-sister to GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. winner Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as lot 748. Ballintry Stud sells a full-sister to GII Mrs. Revere S. victress Nay Lady Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never), and GSW & G1SP Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never) as lot 659; and Swordlestown Little brings a Frankel (GB) sister (lot 673) to MGSW & G1SP Terebellum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Finally, a Make Believe (GB) colt (lot 750) out of MGSW Uncharted Haven (GB) (Turtle Island {Ire}) will sell from the draft of Ballylinch Stud. He is a half-brother to MGSW & G1 Oaks third High Heeled (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and the dam of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner and GI E.P. Taylor S. heroine Just the Judge (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}).

Established sires are also well represented, among them Kodiac (GB), Dark Angel (Ire), Invincible Spirit (Ire), Lope De Vega (Ire), Zoffany (Ire) and Night Of Thunder (Ire), as well as younger sires Mehmas (Ire) and New Bay (GB). There are also plenty of stallions bringing their first foals to the sales ring including Saxon Warrior (Jpn), Roaring Lion, Zoustar (Aus), US Navy Flag, Havana Grey (GB) and Expert Eye (GB).

During the first part of last year’s sale, 524 weanlings grossed €25,721,800, with an average of €49,087 and a median of €30,000. Topping the sale was a full-brother to Ghaiyyath, who went to Godolphin on a bid of €1.2 million.

“We are delighted with the consistent level of quality throughout this year’s November Foal Sale catalogue which is simply unmissable for buyers seeking world class foals to resell or race,” said Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby. “Goffs November is one of our true success stories and has enjoyed a level of trade that has been unrivalled in recent years. We pride ourselves on providing excellence for all buyers whatever their budget. In this year like no other, we have taken great heart from the fact that Irish foal vendors have overwhelmingly maintained their support of the November Foal Sale with drafts of real depth, diversity and quality.

“We look forward to welcoming vendors and purchasers back to Kildare Paddocks. The November Foal Sale is dominated by Irish buyers while we are also working to ensure the attendance of valued foal purchasers from the UK and further afield along with key international end-users. In addition, Goffs Online will allow participation from all corners of the globe as international buyers link in with agents on the ground to chase the best foals on offer.”

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IFHA Conference Concludes With Racing Administrators’ Session

The virtual International Conference of Horseracing Authorities, organized by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, came to a close on Wednesday with the release of its fourth and final session, where racing administrators around the world looked at how COVID-19 has impacted racing, the positives and negatives that have come out of the pandemic and what must be done to ensure racing thrives moving forward.

The IFHA Conference is typically held in-person in Paris, France the day after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but in light of the pandemic this year it was conducted as a series of videos released throughout the first part of October.

Rishi Persad moderated Wednesday’s fourth session, which was split into two panels comprising Victoria Carter (New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing), Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (Hong Kong Jockey Club and IFHA), Annamarie Phelps (British Horseracing Authority), Horacio Esposito (Organizacion Sudamericana de Fomento del Pura Sangre de Carrera), Drew Fleming (Breeders’ Cup) and IFHA Vice-Chairman Brian Kavanagh (Horse Racing Ireland).

The panelists discussed the ways in which racing has increased its focus on digitalization, the importance of strong relationships with government and how a likely decrease in foal crops will affect racing products.

Engelbrecht-Bresges and Fleming provided updates on the work being undertaken in the lead-up to two key international racedays: the Hong Kong International meeting in December and the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland in three weeks’ time.

“We’ve had a very good response from major trainers around the world who would like to come, and we have special quarantine facilities now in place for grooms who will come,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “They’ll fly over two weeks earlier, then their horse will fly over and they’ll take it over. And we’re talking about introducing a special health protocol for jockeys that they maybe only have to do one week [of quarantine]. All our jockeys are tested four times a week for COVID and we want to introduce with overseas jockeys coming that they’re tested twice before they leave. When they arrive in Hong Kong they’ll go into a special dedicated Hong Kong Jockey Club facility to quarantine for a week.

“We have five or six top international jockeys who have committed to come for our international races if the [pandemic] circumstances don’t change.”

Fleming said Breeders’ Cup continues to work with the government and homeland security to secure the necessary paperwork to allow horsepeople to travel with their Breeders’ Cup runners. He also touched on some of the ways his team will be bringing the Breeders’ Cup to those watching at home.

“At the Breeders’ Cup this year we’re planning to have what’s called a back camera, which is a camera that’s on two cranes that swings across,” he said. “We’ll have more television cameras than we’ve ever had so we can get all angles of every horse as much as possible. We’re going to have a virtual reality camera in the walking ring. Some of that will be on television but a lot of that will be through the second screen, your mobile device.

“Someone told me, and it’s resonated with me for a long time, that the average person scrolls on their screen the height of the Empire State Building every single day. So you need to make sure what’s on the screen is really creative and innovative to really capture the audience’s attention.”

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Kameko To Miss Champions Day, Point To Breeders’ Cup

Classic winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) has been ruled out of Saturday’s G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on British Champions Day at Ascot due to the likelihood of soft ground. The Qatar Racing colourbearer will instead head straight to the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

“Given the ground at Ascot is going to be testing, Kameko will go straight to the Breeders’ Cup and will not run on Saturday,” said David Redvers, racing manager to Qatar Racing.

The Kentucky-bred Kameko, who won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at two, won the G1 2000 Guineas on June 6 and, after a string of fourth-place finishes at the highest level this summer, returned to the winner’s enclosure in the Sept. 25 G2 Joel S. at Newmarket.

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