Top News | Horse Racing Free Tips

Breeders’ Cup Contenders Arrive at WinStar Farm

LEXINGTON,KY– Just over 12 hours after the trio’s contention for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Improbable (City Zip), Global Campaign (Curlin) and Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) made the short trip from Keeneland to WinStar Farm, where they will soon take up stud duty for the 2021 breeding season.

“We’re really excited with Improbable, Global Campaign and Tom’s d’Etat coming to the stallion barn,” said WinStar’s Elliott Walden. “They all look good-their color was good, they didn’t look too drawn up and they got off the van and acted like they’d been here their whole life.”

One member of the trio-Global Campaign-may not yet be done with his racetrack career, as Walden hinted he could be pointed for the January 23 $3 million GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

“We’re considering running him back in the Pegasus,” he said. “We’re going to leave him here for 10 days and evaluate him. I felt like he ran well enough in the Classic to merit that and add a bit more to his resume. So we’re going to watch for 10 days and we might send him back to [trainer] Stanley [Hough] and run him in the Pegasus.”

Global Campaign is a homebred for WinStar Farm out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot. He’s been campaigned by WinStar in partnership with Sagamore Farm over his two-year career, and scored graded stakes wins in the GIII Monmouth Cup S. and the GI Woodward H.

“He’s a horse that we raised out of a great mare that is also the dam of Grade I winner Bolt d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro) and stakes winner Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor),” Walden said. “His race record has a high winning percentage, and to win the Woodward this year is really exciting as well.”

Global Campaign ran third in the Breeders’ Cup grand finale, while Improbable ran second behind his Bob Baffert stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief). Tom’s d’Etat could not overcome a troubled start and finished ninth.

“It didn’t quite turn out the way we wanted, but we’re very proud of Improbable and Global Campaign’s efforts,” Walden said. “I think Tom’s d’Etat may have been just a little bit over the top at age seven, but we’re excited about the next chapter for all of them.”

The seven-year-old Tom’s d’Etat has been a winner each year of his five-year career for trainer Al Stall, and this season the veteran won the Oaklawn Mile S. and the GII Stephen Foster S.

“Tom’s d’Etat is a very high-class horse by Smart Strike out of the family of Candy Ride (Arg). His numbers over the last three years, every time we looked at stallion prospects, his numbers would stand out. He is a phenomenal specimen, good length and great movement. I loved the way he moved on the racetrack, loved the way he is so level and could change gears and get there in a hurry. When we made the offer to buy him, [current WinStar stallions] Distorted Humor and Speightstown came to mind. Distorted Humor came to stud at age six and Speightstown was seven. So if he can turn out to be half of what they are, we’ll be in great shape.”

Improbable had a stand-out four-year-old season in 2020, collecting three consecutive Grade I races in the Hollywood Gold Cup S., Whitney S., and Awesome Again S.

“We’re really excited about Improbable,” Walden said. “The balance and size that he has is going to make him a really great fit for a lot of mares. He’s full of quality and he has great motion. All of those things that I think are important as we think about soundness and consistency, Improbable had all of that.”

Improbable’s stud fee is currently set at $40,000, although subject to change, while Tom’s d’Etat and Global Campaign’s stud fees have not yet been announced.

The trio will join Grade I-winning millionaire Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) as WinStar’s freshman sires for the upcoming season.

“We’re really excited with all three of them,” Walden said. “To add them to Promises Fulfilled, who we retired earlier in the year, we couldn’t be more excited by our stallions we’re bringing to WinStar this year.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Contenders Arrive at WinStar Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Vekoma Retired, to Stand for $20K at Spendthrift

Multiple Grade I-winning millionaire Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}–Mona de Momma, by Speightstown) has been retired from racing and arrived at B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm where the 4-year-old will take up stud duty in 2021. His fee has been set at $20,000 S&N.

This year’s impressive winner of the GI Carter H. and GI Runhappy Metropolitan H., Vekoma was scratched as the morning-line favorite in Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint after spiking a fever upon arrival at Keeneland. He will be given a few days to settle in at Spendthrift before being available for inspection.

“Precocious, brilliantly fast, carried his speed around two turns–you name it, Vekoma could do it,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “On top of that, he is a Grade I winner by a Grade I winner and out of a Grade I winner, so he’s truly a rare package in the breeding world. You won’t find a more brilliant or better-bred son of Candy Ride. We are extremely excited about his future at stud and look forward to showing him off to breeders after he’s been allowed a few days to settle in here … Any time a horse as good and as deserving as Vekoma does not get the opportunity to run in the Breeders’ Cup, you are obviously disappointed for the horse and for the connections. There’s so much hard work that gets put in. Ultimately, you have to credit George Weaver and his team for having an incredible season and always doing right by Vekoma through some hard luck at the end.”

Trained by George Weaver for owners R. A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables, Vekoma captured graded stakes wins at two, three and four. The chestnut took the GIII Nashua S. at Aqueduct to complete an undefeated juvenile campaign, then went on to score a dominant 3 1/2-length win in the 1 1/8-mile GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland as a 3-year-old.

This year, Vekoma was perfect with wins at three different racetracks, kicking off his 4-year-old season with a 3 3/4-length victory in Gulfstream’s Sir Shackleton S. in March, adding a dazzling 7 1/4-length win in the Carter at Aqueduct, earning a career-high 110 Beyer Speed Figure, and scoring a front-running win in the prestigious Met Mile while stopping the clock in 1:32 4/5–just .15 seconds off the stakes record for the 129-year-old New York fixture.

An earner of $1,245,525, Vekoma was bred in Kentucky by Alpha Delta Stables. His dam’s career high came with a victory in the GI Humana Distaff H. Vekoma’s second dam, Society Gal, is a half-sister to successful sire Mr. Greeley.

Vekoma becomes the third Met Mile winner in the last four years to take up stud duty at Spendthrift. Mor Spirit, the 2017 winner, and Mitole, the 2019 winner, both stand at the historic Lexington-based farm.

For more information about Vekoma or to schedule an inspection, contact Des, Mark or Brian at 859-294-0030, or visit SpendthriftFarm.com.

The post Vekoma Retired, to Stand for $20K at Spendthrift appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Keeneland November Sale Starts Monday

LEXINGTON, KY – The action moves from the racetrack to the sales ring at Keeneland Monday with the first session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The 10-day auction kicks off with a single select Book 1 section that begins at noon and continues through Nov. 18 with subsequent sessions beginning at 10 a.m.

“I think the sale will be good,” Marshall Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency said on an unseasonably warm November morning at the Keeneland sales grounds Sunday. “We have a lot of good horses and there are a lot of good horses on the sales grounds this year. I am hoping the momentum from the September sale and the yearling sales will carry over into November and things will keep getting better.”

Keeneland played host to the two-day Breeders’ Cup championships for the second time over the weekend and Taylor agreed the championship meet provided extra excitement heading into the sale.

“You can almost get that magical feeling where all of these stars are coming right across the road from the racehorse barns into the sales barn,” Taylor said. “It brings a whole vibe to it that you don’t get when the Breeders’ Cup is out of state.”

While the September yearling sales were conducted largely without on-site participation of foreign buyers due to the global pandemic, international shoppers were out in force at the sales grounds Sunday.

“I have seen a lot of foreign buyers,” Taylor said. “I’ve seen a lot of Europeans and a lot of Japanese. In September, I didn’t feel like there were as many Japanese buyers as there are here at the November sale. So it seems like there are a lot of foreign buyers here, which is great.”

In addition to the international buyers on the grounds, foreign interests are expected to continue to make their presence felt with on-line and phone bidding.

“I am very pleased with the traffic here so far,” James Keogh said in front of his Grovendale consignment Sunday morning. “There is a strong domestic influence right now, but we’ve been receiving overseas calls and people asking questions and for photos, especially from Japan. I expect they will very likely be bidding on-line.”

The Breeders’ Cup championships provided several updates to horses in the Keeneland catalogue and Keogh is hoping to take advantage of Into Mischief’s two wins at Keeneland Saturday.

“We are feeling very fortunate because we have a very nice mare in foal to Into Mischief (hip 10) with a real family behind her. So that was very exciting.”

Other Breeders’ Cup updates in Book 1 include a half-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf runner-up Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) in foal to Catholic Boy (hip 99); a full-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up C Z Rocket (City Zip), in foal to Distorted Humor (hip 244E); as well as the dam of GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), in foal to Into Mischief (hip 32). A weanling half-sister to GII Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Cowan (Kantharos) will be offered as hip 146 and Veronique (Mizzen Mast), the dam of track-record setting Nashville (Speightstown) will be offered as hip 244D.

During the recently concluded yearling sales season, demand remained for the perceived quality offerings, but interest fell off markedly from there. Expectations are for that trend to continue at the November sale.

“If they were on your horse, you got good money, maybe even a little more than you thought you’d get,” said Hidden Brook’s Sergio de Sousa. “I don’t see anyone saying it was a healthy market. When the median was $15,000, that doesn’t pay your board bill for the most part.”

Expectations are for that polarization to continue into the November sale.

“You’ve got to be optimistic about it, especially for Book 1, but you also have to be realistic about the market,” said de Sousa. “The market has shown this year to be down between 20% and 30%. So you have to be aware of that. But as a breeder, we are dreamers and you always hope for the best in this business. So it will be interesting to see what happens. It was a fantastic two days with the Breeders’ Cup and a lot of excitement. People are starting to come and look at the mares and foals more now, so we have to see what the traffic is going to be.”

De Sousa thinks there will be bargains to be found by astute buyers.

“There will be a lot of mares sold who are bubble mares,” de Sousa said. “I think this time next year there will be a lot of mares who will have 3- or 4-year-olds running now who sold for not a lot of money at this sale and they will be producing nice horses. I think that creates opportunities. I think if you have cash, it is a buyer’s market.”

Last year’s November sale was topped by the $3.2-million Take Charge Brandi (Giant’s Causeway). The mare was one of 14 to sell for seven figures. Larry Best’s OXO Equine paid top price for a weanling, going to $775,000 for a daughter of Curlin.

In all, 2,671 head sold for $200,135,200 at the 2019 sale. The average was $74,929 and the median was $25,000.

The post Keeneland November Sale Starts Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Authentic’s Dam to Be Offered at Fasig-Tipton

Flawless, the dam of GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic (Into Mischief), will be offered at Sunday night’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Catalogued as Hip 288, she will be consigned by Bridie Harrison, agent for Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds.

A daughter of Mr. Greeley, Flawless is in foal to Into Mischief on a February 18 cover carrying a full sibling to Authentic.

Authentic has captured six of eight career starts to date at two and three, including three Grade 1 wins in 2020–the Haskell S., the Kentucky Derby, and Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic over one of the deepest fields in the history of the race. He went gate-to-wire to defeat Grade I winners Improbable, Global Campaign, Maximum Security, Tiz the Law, Tom’s D’Etat and Higher Power by 2 1/4 lengths in a track record time of 1:59.19 for the mile-and-a-quarter. He is a five-time graded stakes winner of $6,191,200.

Flawless, a TDN Rising Star, hails from a deep female family of top producers, including Holiday Runner, the dam or granddam of Grade I winners Seventh Street, Reynaldothewizard, and American Gal.

“Flawless is an exciting late addition to our November Sale,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “Authentic is just the fourth horse ever to win the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year, and she is carrying his full sibling. To be able to add a mare of Flawless’s qualifications to our sale on the eve of the auction is unprecedented and provides buyers one of the more unique buying opportunities in recent memory.”

The Fasig-Tipton November Sale will be conducted tomorrow, November 8 beginning at 2 pm in Lexington, Kentucky. Online bidding and phone bidding are available.

The catalogue may be viewed online at fasigtipton.com.

The post Authentic’s Dam to Be Offered at Fasig-Tipton appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post