SOCIETY ROCK will have two more races before retiring to stud with trainer James Fanshawe targeting the Qipco British Champions Sprint for the six-year-old's final outing. Owned by Simon Gibson, Society Rock will first head for the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock next weekend, a race he won last year and for which he is a general 6-1 chance for this year.
Favourite for Haydock is Lethal Force, who Society Rock defeated at York in May before finishing second to the same horse at Royal Ascot and in the July Cup.
Fanshawe praised the consistency of his stable star on Sunday and believes his consistency will give him a good chance of success at Haydock.
"We've got two more races with him before he goes off to stud. He's been so sound and tough and is still running well as a six-year-old entire," Fanshawe said is this week's Big Read in RP Sunday.
"He won the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock last year, so we know the race suits him, and I just hope we can keep him on song until October 19 for Ascot as he loves the place."
Fanshawe plots two more outings for Society Rock | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
Race horse owner and trainer Malcolm MacPhail sat in the bleachers cheering horses approaching the finish line at the Dresden Raceway Monday, much like he's done for decades.
Then the unimaginable a driver pulled his horse to avoid a collision in a turn, only to dump his sulky and lie in the path of an oncoming horse.
MacPhail said Brad Forward was trodden on by a horse in the second race and taken to hospital by ambulance.
While MacPhail expected Forward to make a full recovery, Labour Day's card could be the last for this racetrack, if the province goes ahead with only five tracks next year, he said.
MacPhail is left hoping that won't happen.
"Look at all the people here today," MacPhail told The Chatham Daily News.
"The races sure bring them out," he added.
Race fan Gary Webster of Bothwell said people who frequent the racetrack are trying to remain optimistic.
Webster has visited the venue occasionally for years, and wants it to keep its racing program for many more years to come.
"There are Ontario Sire Stakes races today, that's big money for some," Webster said.
The local agricultural society has given the existing horse owners an agreement in writing they are welcome to keep their horses in the barns until the end of September.
The company that leases the space from the agricultural society had wanted the horsemen to vacate by Thursday, MacPhail said.
"But that's not going to happen now. We got a one-month reprieve," he added.
The horse racing industry in Ontario is under review by the provincial government, with some tracks already shut down at the beginning of the 2013 season.
The final race day for the year at Dresden saw 13 races on the program.
Many here were left hoping that will be a "lucky 13" for the horsemen and the industry.
Highs and lows of harness horse racing | Chatham Daily News
DIRECT ROUTE, forever remembered for his epic tussle with Edredon Bleu in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2000, has been put down at the age of 22.
A winner of five Grade 1 chases, including the Tingle Creek and the Melling Chase twice, Direct Route broke a leg in the paddocks on Monday at his owner Chris Heron's farm in Yorkshire where he had enjoyed a long and happy retirement since finishing racing in 2002.
Although he registered 15 wins from 40 starts in a career stretching seven years, it was his short-head defeat at the festival in 2000 which etched the Howard Johnson-trained bay's place in the memory of racing fans.
Going head-to-head with Edredon Bleu from the final fence to the finishing line, the gallant Direct Route stuck his head out under Norman Williamson and actually edged into the lead only to be headed in the stride which mattered most by the willing Edredon Bleu under Tony McCoy. The race was voted the 20th best of all-time by Racing Post readers in 2005.
In total, Direct Route earned £384,687, winning three of his four starts in bumpers, five over hurdles and seven over fences, finishing in the front three in a further eight of his 22 chase starts.
Popular chaser Direct Route dies at 22 | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
FLEDGLING trainer Hugo Palmer is hoping recent York winner Short Squeeze can give him his biggest success to date in the Betfred Cambridgeshire at Newmarket on September 28.
With the weights announced for both the Cambridgeshire and Betfred Cesarewitch on Wednesday, Palmer has one of the sponsor's seven 16-1 co-favourites for the first leg of the autumn double in Short Squeeze.
An authoritative three and a half length winner on the Knavesmire off 82, Short Squeeze was raised 12lb by the handicapper, and has been given a weight of 8st 3lb for the Cambridgeshire.
Palmer said: "The plan is to aim Short Squeeze towards the Cambridgeshire and I am quite grateful to the handicapper for putting him up twelve pounds for his latest win at York although even off his new mark he is not absolutely guaranteed to get into the race.
"He is versatile when it comes to the ground but I would be nervous to run him on soft or firm. "
Palmer also has another option for the 1m1f handicap with Ascription (8st 12lb), and the trainer added: "He would run in the Cambridgeshire if it came up soft but we have options for him on every Saturday for the rest of the season and he will go wherever he gets his ground."
Last year's winner Bronze Angel has been given 9st 1lb, having won off 8st 8lb last year, and the Marcus Tregoning-trained four-year-old is 16-1 co-favourite along with Chancery, Educate, Graphic, Nine Realms and Seek Again.
Mike de Kock's David Livingston has been given topweight of 10st.
Palmer hoping Short squeezes into Cambridgeshire | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
Track officials have deemed this year’s The Horses At Evergreen Park to be another successful season.
The 2013 25-race season wrapped up on Aug. 25 and Dan Gorman, manager of Evergreen Park, says attendance from racers and horses, as well as spectators, were the highest it’s been in years.
“Our attendance was up probably about 20-22% and we figured about eight years younger on average (demographics),” he said.
This season, Gorman says racers came from as far as Jamaica, the United States and from across Canada. He noted that the track also surpassed their goal of housing more than 420 horses.
“We actually had to build extra stalls. We were full – we were completely full this year. We had anywhere between 120 and 145 horses more this year than last year, which was a wonderful thing – first time in many years.”
Gorman attributes an increase in racers, in part, to a recruitment trip to the Rocky Mountain Turf Club in Lethbridge.
“Pat Hill, the racing manager, and myself went down to Lethbridge at the beginning of their season with a stakes book, something we haven’t done in a number of years and made a personal invite to all of the horse people to come up,” he explained.
“So, we were actually able to have a number of horse people come up who either hadn’t been here before, or hadn’t been here in a number of years and made it because of some of the changes that we had indicated that we would commit to this year.”
Gorman says there were off-season changes made that contributed to a successful race season: The formation of a horse racing committee, increasing the purse amount for horse races, new jockey furnished dorms, renovations to the grandstands and paddock area, as well as expanding the horse race events with other attractions such as midways and bouncy castles for kids.
The summer racing schedule kicked off on July 5 with opening race day and from that point on, every weekend featured horse racing. Gorman says a positive this season was that there were no rain-outs and an increase in participants added to the competitiveness on the track.
“The competition was good. Again, with the additional horses and some of the quality of horses – I know some of the people that came out to watch that knows horses, that knows racing well and those that were first-timer, I think all enjoyed the quality and the competitiveness of the races that we were able to provide.”
Although the horse racing season may be over at Evergreen Park, Gorman says the work doesn’t stop. In preparation for next season, he says there will be improvements to the paddock area, stalls, jockey dorm and potential enhancements to the inside track, exploring increased purse amounts, creating a potential link with Northlands Park in Edmonton, more fan interaction in the grandstands area and expanding horse racing events beyond just horse racing (i.e. midways, bouncy castles). Gorman also credited the staff at Evergreen Park for making the 2013 horse racing season a success.
Successful season of horse racing | Daily Herald Tribune
He’s been in the winner’s circle of Quebec racetracks more than any other person over the past two decades.
But 46-year-old racetrack photographer Sylvain Gagnon will be absent, and missed, at Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivières on Sunday afternoon when the Quebec horse racing industry presents its richest card of live racing in five years, with purse money in excess of $350,000.
Gagnon is in the Montreal General Hospital, recovering from a horrific accident a month ago at a country track in the Charlevoix community of St-Aimé-des-Lacs.
He was standing on the track’s outer edge, adjusting his camera, when he was struck in the face and chest by the metal wings of the starting gate as the truck carrying it sped past.
“That’s what they tell me. I don’t remember anything,” said Gagnon, an experienced photographer who plied his trade everywhere from Hippodrome de Montréal (while it was open) to rural pony tracks.
The impact left him with a severe concussion and facial injuries. His jaw was shattered in three places. His right wrist and two toes were broken. He lost the vision in his right eye.
“I don’t know why it happened,” said Gagnon, a father of three who lives on the South Shore. “I’m safety-conscious and I’d already shot two races there that day.”
He was a long way from home, but had been invited by organizers to be the event photographer and “I was happy to do it because it would give me and my girlfriend (Cécile Bardon) had some time off together in Charlevoix. We were supposed to go to Boston with the kids the next week to see the Red Sox and Yankees play, then go to a house we’d rented a house in Maine for a week.”
None of that happened.
Instead, Gagnon has spent the last month in hospital.
Rushed initially to La Malbaie, Gagnon was immediately transferred to another in Quebec City, where he underwent two lengthy surgeries for facial reconstruction.
He was transferred to the Montreal General last week and will go next to a rehabilitation centre on the South Shore.
As difficult as the last month has been for him medically, there’s also been financial stress. Because he’s a freelancer, his income stream was cut off when he was sidelined.
Friends and family have pitched in, completing assignments on his behalf. And the horse racing community also has rallied around one of its own. An Ontario breeder that Gagnon doesn’t know pledged the proceeds of a breeding to his standardbred stallion. A photographer from the Maritimes, also a stranger, sent money.
Sunday, there’ll be collection boxes at Hippodrome 3R for those who want to help.
“We don’t want to deflect attention from the big races on Sunday,” said friend Lysanne St. Pierre. “We just hope people will have a thought for Sylvain as well. He’d love to be there.”
Horse racing community rallies around injured photographer
HAVING been found guilty in the biggest doping scandal to rock racing, Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin team hope to salvage some credibility by winning Saturday's St Leger with Libertarian. Godolphin will be seeking to capture the oldest Classic for a remarkable seventh time.
Encke, winner of the Doncaster prize last year, was one of Godolphin's 22 horses that tested positive for anabolic steroids. Fortunately it was not on the day the colt won the season's final Classic.
This will be Libertarian's first outing from the Godolphin stable, following his purchase out of the Elaine Burke's stable.
He was huge disappointment on his latest outing, in the Godolphin silks, when eighth of nine in the Irish Derby won by Trading Leather. But prior to that he was only beaten a length-and-half when a fast finishing second to Ruler Of The World in the Epsom Derby. At 8-1 with Ladbrokes, the race sponsor, he offers excellent value. At Leopardstown yesterday, The Fugue beat the boys in the Irish Champion Stakes.
With the soft ground thought to be against her, favouring Al Kazeem to get his career back on track, he was made to look very pedestrian when William Buick sent the The Fugue into the lead rounding the home bend.
Al Kazeem held on for second place with Trading Leather finishing third.
Kingsbarns, the one time Derby favourite, was a big disappointment on his return to the track. He failed to complete the race.
The rain was the undoing for Lethal Force in the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock. Victory went to Gordon Lord Bryon ridden by Johnny "Magic" Murtagh.
Luca Cumani hit the target in Istanbul with Danadana.
Godolphin team hope for noble victory at Leger | Horse Racing | Sport | Daily Express
PHILIP HOBBS was celebrating a plan well executed after Balthazar King and Richard Johnson struck in one of France's most celebrated cross-country races.
A winner over the banks and ditches at the Cheltenham Festival in 2012, Balthazar King needed to find a leg a couple of times early on over the unique Craon course.
But coming back towards the stands for the last time the nine-year-old was full of running under Johnson and, having joined the leader Quick Baby at the last, class told as the pair ran out two and a half length winners.
“He was a bit novicey at one or two but he found his feet and, the further we went, the better he got,” said Johnson who, like his boss, was recording a first win in France. “Normally he's a front-runner but with these fences we wanted to get a lead.”
Hobbs picked out the race as a target after Balthazar King failed to show his true form in better company last spring.
He said: “He was a bit disappointing in the Whitbread while we probably went too fast in front in the National and didn't get home. He's always a better horse fresh and I came here about seven years ago.
“I suppose he'll go to the cross-country race at Cheltenham in November but, this having worked, we'll look at other cross-country races in France.”
The Nick Williams-trained Shalimar Fromentro stayed on for fifth, one place behind the hat-trick seeking Chriseti.
France Balthazar King reigns for Hobbs | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
LAST YEAR'S Galway Hurdle hero Rebel Fitz has had it easy over fences, but that is likely to change in the Deacy Gilligan Novice Chase back at the same course, according to trainer Mick Winters.
The eight-year-old has won three of his four chase outings and been odds-on favourite for all those runs, but he now carries two winners' penalties as he takes on recent Killarney scorers Saint Gervais and Shadow Eile. The 7lb he carries for those victories means he has to give fellow course winners Saint Gervais 6lb and Shadow Eile 13lb.
Winters said: "Rebel Fitz is in great form. He is healthy and well in himself and has loads of experience, but he has had it easy up to now and this is a good field of solid horses. Shadow Eile is a good mare, who we know well as she has met with Missunited a few times, and Saint Gervais did it well at Killarney. It's competitive but mine is very well."
Shadow Eile was ninth in last month's Galway Hurdle behind Rebel Fitz's stablemate Missunited and won her first chase by seven lengths four weeks later.
Trainer Dot Love said yesterday: "She has a lovely light weight. Her owner walked the course today and it looks like it should suit her.
"There is a good covering of grass and it has been well looked after so we're looking forward to a big run."
And she added: "Rebel Fitz is a Galway specialist but we do carry almost a stone less."
The novice hurdle won last season by Missunited is staged earlier on the card and this year's race features another talented mare in Que Pasa, the mount of Barry Geraghty.
Trainer Harry Kelly was yesterday hopeful of a good run, but wary of likely favourite Indevan and fellow dual hurdle winners Giant's Quest and The Black Russian.
He said: "There are a couple in it who look really decent but hopefully she can run a big race. She's in good form and, although she's fairly versatile with regards to ground, she is probably better on better going."
Willie Mullins saddles Indevan and he said: "He won on an undulating track at Sligo and I think he'll handle the ground as he has won on good."
Going
Galway good to firm, good places (hurdle) and good, good to firm places (chase)
Leicester good to firm good in places
Redcar soft
Worcester good
Beverley good to firm
Today's key pointer
Richard Fahey and Ryan Moore are 6-14 when joining forces since 2010 for a £1 level-stake profit of £17.50. They team up with Tatlisu (2.50 Leicester)
Bondi Beach Boy has form figures of 1111 at Beverley and 4111313111 over 5f. His appeal is obvious there in the 5.40
The sire Dansili has a 25 per cent strike-rate with his two-year-olds at Leicester in the past five seasons. Dorset Cream represents him in the 4.20
Roger Varian is in hot form right now, but it might be worth remembering that his record at Beverley is 0-9, so be wary of his Kohlaan in the 6.10
Shadow and Saint provide stern test for Rebel Fitz | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
MAUREEN steps out of Group 1 company for the first time since April in the Group 3 Japan Racing Association Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster on Thursday.
Richard Hannon also saddles Zurigha in a bid to win the race for a second time, following Medley’s victory in 2007.
Maureen has had some tough assignments this summer, finishing sixth in the British and Irish 1,000 Guineas, and was not beaten far behind Elusive Kate when mixing it with her elders for the first time in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville on her last start.
Hannon said: “Maureen was beaten a little over three lengths by Elusive Kate in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville last time.
"Dropping back to seven furlongs for the first time since she won the Fred Darling at Newbury in April won’t be a problem as she has a good finishing kick."
Maureen carries a 3lb penalty, as does the Jonny Portman-trained Annecdote, surprise winner of the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood.
Portman said: “It was a nice surprise when she won at Goodwood and we were going to go on our travels, but we have decided to put that off until next year. She has a penalty but I’m more worried about the ground as she ideally needs a sound surface.”
The going at Doncaster on Thursday morning was good to soft with no rain forecast until after racing. However, 4-8mm of rain is predicted overnight into Friday.
Today's key pointers
1.40 Doncaster
The opening nursery at Doncaster has been won by something carrying 8st 11lb or more eight of the last nine years, so it’s hasn’t proved beneficial to look for something towards the bottom of the weights.
2.10 Doncaster
You have to go with the Classic generation in the 2.10 at Doncaster, as only Favourable Terms in 2005 has won it for anything aged above three since 2003. Winning Express can be expected to go close.
Going
Chepstow Good, good to soft in places
Doncaster Good to soft
Epsom Good to soft
Wolverhampton Standard to slow
Sights lowered as classy Maureen lines up at Doncaster | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
Wise Dan has put together eight consecutive victories, collected $4.4-million in purses, and at the same time, inspired a dogged legion of critics to challenge his greatness.
Via social media, newspaper comments and thoroughbred chat rooms, horse racing fans are daring the horse’s owner, 83-year-old Mort Fink, and trainer Charlie LoPresti to enter the horse in the ultimate race, the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A six-year-old gelding, Wise Dan is the prohibitive favourite to defend his 2012 title in the $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile on Sunday at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto.
The race is an automatic, all-expenses-paid qualifier for the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita Park in California in November. That race is run on turf, compared with the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic, on dirt over a 11/4-mile stretch.
A win in the Mile rather than the Classic is something akin to taking the 110-metre hurdles at the Summer Olympics, versus the 100-metre sprint. Wise Dan may be the reigning American Horse of the Year but in the minds of critics, he’s no Usain Bolt.
“I am not going to let anybody persuade me to do anything that that horse, and Mr. Fink, don’t want to do,” LoPresti said by conference call at Thursday’s draw. “He is very good on synthetic, he’s very good on dirt, he’s won a Grade-1 on dirt [the Clark Handicap], but the biggest goal for us this year is to keep him undefeated. I think that is the most logical approach.”
A Classic victory would put Wise Dan’s legacy into Zenyatta’s upper class. His owner is undeterred. Fink has run Wise Dan successfully in a couple of lesser, Grade-2 races considered to be beneath his status.
“No one is going to sway what I think,” Fink told Daily Racing Form recently. “I laugh like crazy when I read they think we’re taking advantage by running in a Grade-2 race.”
The field for the Ricoh Woodbine Mile is an undersized six horses, testament to the intimidating presence of the race’s defending champion.
“Realistically, the other five are running for second behind Wise Dan because he hasn’t looked close to being beat this year,” said Conor Murphy, the trainer of Dimension, at 10-to-1, compared to the 2-to-5 odds given Wise Dan. “It will be tough against him but you can’t be afraid of one horse because horses are like people, they’re prone to have a bad day some time.”
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez gets the ride Sunday, as he did last year at this time. Velazquez won the 2011 Kentucky Derby aboard long-shot Animal Kingdom, the 2012 Belmont Stakes with Union Rags, and the Breeders’ Mile with Wise Dan.
“We’re just trying to do the best job we can with him and go race by race,” LoPresti said. “I don’t feel that much pressure. He’s accomplished a lot. We don’t want him to lose but he’s doing really well right now, and I think he’s going to run a real good race.”
Real good, maybe. But great?
Wise Dan continues the quest for horse racing greatness - The Globe and Mail
This city's colorful past is filled with gambling and gangsters, but even locals were shocked by a brazen theft of five gold and silver trophies that police said happened late Thursday at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
A black-clad thief broke into the museum just after 11:30 p.m. and stole horse racing trophies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, police said. The trophies were made from 1903 to 1923 and were kept in two separate galleries, according to a museum official.
The burglar staked out the museum on Union Avenue over a "significant" amount of time, and carried out the crime in less than three minutes, Lt. John Catone said Friday at City Hall. The thief smashed glass cases to get the trophies, and may have used a backpack to haul them away, the lieutenant said, citing evidence from the museum's 16 surveillance cameras.
"Whoever did this had spent some time looking around," Catone said. He called the crime "a traditional smash-and-grab."
Police wouldn't say how the crook entered the building, but a glass door that opens into an outdoor courtyard at the museum was covered with plastic, and later boarded up, on Friday. No alarm sounded when the thief forced his way in, Catone said.
The burglar exited through a glass door on the Ludlow Street side of the building. He tried to leave without setting off motion sensor alarms, police said, and may have sliced part of a glass door with a cutter. The robber escaped, but set off an alarm that led the museum's security company to alert police to a possible break-in at 11:36 p.m.
The museum is working with its curator and insurance company to determine an exact value of the missing exhibits.
Museum Director Christopher Dragone called the trophies "irreplaceable."
The stolen items were identified as the Belmont Stakes Trophy won by Africander at Belmont Park and the Brighton Cup won by Hermis at Aintree in England, both from 1903; the 1905 Saratoga Special Trophy won at Saratoga Race Course by Mohawk II; the 1914 Brook Cup Handicap Steeplechase Trophy won at Belmont by Compliment; and the 1923 Grand National Steeplechase Trophy won at Aintree by Sergeant Murphy.
Tiffany & Co. designed two of the trophies, the 18 karat gold Brighton Cup (14.375" tall, 35 oz.) and the silver Belmont Stakes Trophy, which also features semiprecious stones (measurements not available). Two others are made of gold: the Saratoga Special (15.25", 76 oz.) by Gorham and Co., and the Brook Cup (16.5", 88.9 oz.) by Howard and Co. The Grand National trophy is the largest, standing 30.5 inches tall and weighing 248 ounces.
"It's a horrible loss for the museum; it's a horrible loss for the sport," museum spokesman Brien Bouyea said. "To have someone steal a 108-year-old trophy from Saratoga is very disturbing."
The pieces were kept in protective glass cases with an elaborate alarm system and door locks, he said. There had never been a theft at the museum prior to Thursday, Bouyea said. The building sustained significant damage and will reopen Thursday, he said. City police officer Daniel Mullan Jr. was patrolling East Avenue at the time of the burglary and showed up at the museum within a minute of being notified, Catone said, but the thief had already fled.
Police were reviewing video footage and other evidence from the scene of the crime, Catone said. The trophies were stolen from two glass cases in the museum that contained six trophies each. Two were taken from one and three from the other, Catone said. He said police also had contacted the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen, Orange County, for information about the burglary of 14 antique trophies from there in December.
Police ask that anyone with information about the Saratoga break-in call them at 584-1800.
LEADING LIGHT landed the St Leger in phenomenal style when slamming his opponents under the guidance of Joseph O'Brien to win the final Classic of the season and in the process provide his rider with a first St Leger success. The well backed 7-2 favourite jostled for second place throughout the early stages and always looked to be travelling best before producing a devastating turn of foot and staying on well to win in fine style.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained son of Montjeu was victorious in the Group 3 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot last time out and this victory makes it five wins from his last five starts and his first at Group 1 level.
"I'm absolutely delighted," said his trainer, who was celebrating his fourth St Leger victory. "He is such a solid horse and there is plenty of class there.
"They obviously think a lot of him back home but he is very versitile. We could drop him back to a mile and a half for the Arc but we will have to discuss that back home."
Leading Light scored by one-and-a-half lengths from Talent who produced a rejuvinated run following her disappointing run in the Irish Oaks.
The Ralph Beckett-trained daughter of New Approach, who was the only filly in the race, was held at the rear by jockey Jim Crowley. She found a little trouble before making up ground in the final stages, but made no real impression on the impressive winner.
"We would have loved to get a clean run today for sure, but the winner has run well and she has run well," said Beckett. "I'm thrilled to bits for her and I feel like I've won because it was so bad in Ireland and to bring her back and do that is terrific.
"I would think all being well and if the ground comes up similar to today we'll run at Ascot in the champion fillies [Fillies' and Mares' Stakes] race and that'll suit her."
Crowley added about the Oaks winner: "She's ran very well. You have to switch off a little bit.
"I got a bit of a bounce about a furlong and a half out going between horses, but she's run a good race. It's nice to have her back to show Epsom wasn't a fluke."
As well as the first two past the post, other leading fancies Galileo Rock and Libertarian also finished inside the top four with the former getting the better by half a length and trainer David Wachman was pleased with run of his Galileo Rock.
"He ran very well on ground he can't really handle," said Wachman. "It was probably the right decision to run."
"The winner won very well so no excuses but he'd like a sounder surface. He ran a good, honest, tough race. It is more than satisfactory, I am happy we came."
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin, was pleased with the run of Libertarian but less so with Secret Number - who finished sixth - and Cap O'Rushes who finished last of the eleven runners.
"Libertarian has run a big race but the ground might have been slightly against him, said Crisford. "He prefers good ground."
"Secret Number doesn't really stay the trip. Cap O'Rushes wasn't good enough."
Doncaster Leading Light storms to St Leger success | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
The horses were off and running again Saturday at Wyoming Downs, thrilling and disappointing bettors here for the first time in four years.
Hundreds of quarter horse and thoroughbred enthusiasts turned out for Evanston’s racing revival, and as many or more are expected Sunday when pari-mutuel bets can be placed on eight more races, starting at 1:30 p.m. Based on license plates in the track’s gravel parking lot, the crowd was split almost evenly between Utahns and Wyomingites, with a few people thrown in from Idaho, Nevada and Colorado. That wasn’t at all a surprise, given Evanston’s proximity to the Wasatch Front with its known collection of horse breeders, trainers and bettors.
"The Utah folks are big horse-racing fanatics, and this is the closest place they can come for pari-mutuel betting," said Jorge Estrada Jr., who made a 14-hour drive from Arizona to serve as a steward at the weekend races, the first since Wyoming Downs shut down in 2009 after 25 years of racing. John and Kris Schulist drove from their home in Draper, Utah, to get in on the action. A retail manager for Petco Animal Supplies, he has loved horse racing since his days as a boy in suburban Chicago, where he rode his bike to the Arlington Heights, Ill., track.
"Horse racing is horse racing. There’s a winner in every race," said Schulist, dressed like his wife in bright red University of Utah colors. "You get rewarded if you pick right. If you’re wrong, you get another chance in 20 minutes."
Like the Schulists, Taylorsville resident Shauna Raso’s enthusiasm for horse racing has been stoked by opportunities to see big-time races like the Kentucky Derby. Wyoming Downs isn’t Churchill Downs, Raso admitted during her first trip to the Evans******ton track, but it has a distinct charm.
"It’s a lot more laid back, a lot more family friendly," she noted, laughing about hearing little kids recommending picks for their parents based on a horse’s colors. "I really hope they make a go of it here."
Track announcer John Petty repeatedly said a full season of racing is projected for 2014, now that new track owner Eric Nelson has gotten Wyoming Downs operating again.
"I’m pleased with the way things are coming together. It shows there is a future for horse racing,"
Horse racing is out of the gate again at Wyoming Downs | The Salt Lake Tribune
Anabolic steroids are to be banned in Australian horse racing, with officials pledging zero tolerance of performance-enhancing drugs.
The move comes five months after a drugs scandal in the UK highlighted anomalies in worldwide rules.
Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni was banned for eight years in April for doping horses.
Al Zarooni claimed to be unaware that use of anabolic steroids was prohibited out of competition in Britain. At that time, horses could be given the drugs in some countries including the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Australia provided they were out of their system on raceday.
Godolphin founder Sheikh Mohammed later banned the use of all performance-enhancing steroids in equine sports in the UAE.
The Australian Racing Board (AR😎 says its ban will take effect from 1 May 2014 and apply to all thoroughbreds from the age of six months.
"The ban on anabolic steroids goes far beyond any other racing jurisdiction outside of Europe and was decided by the ARB Board after lengthy consideration of veterinary and scientific advice and consultation with trainers' and owners' associations," said chief executive Peter McGauran.
"The ARB has adopted a zero-tolerance policy to the use of anabolic steroids and will institute heavy penalties for breaches of the ban."
"Foremost in the board's consideration was the need for absolute integrity and public confidence in racing. Although the use of steroids has greatly diminished over the years to the point where they are rarely relied upon by trainers, the ARB believes it is in the best interests of the industry that they no longer be available for any purpose other than as a therapeutic treatment for young foals.
"Racing is a sport and as such must be a test of the ability of the individual horse, its trainer and rider and not of the pharmacologist, veterinarian or sports scientist. The true spirit of competition means that no-one gets an unfair advantage which anabolic steroids can confer in certain situations."
Paul Bittar, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, welcomed the move.
He said: "The Australian Racing Board's decision is very good news and represents a significant step towards our goal of seeing the use of anabolic steroids for racehorses banned across the globe."
BBC Sport - Australian horse racing bans anabolic steroid use
Premier Kathleen Wynne acknowledges her mostly urban party has a tough row to hoe to win back the hearts, minds and votes of rural Ontario but insists all is not lost.
“I don’t think there is any irreparable rift between our party and rural Ontario,” Wynne, who is also her government’s agriculture minister, told reporters at the annual International Plowing Match.
“There are all sorts of good reasons that we need to find ways of working together and I am committed to that and have been since I came into this job,” she said.
If Wynne’s plowing prowess is any indication, her task may be tougher than she thinks. While literally trying to plow fertile ground Tuesday’s opening of the match — which is celebrating its 100th year — her first furrow started out straight enough but then veered off course slightly to the left.
Rural issues, especially the opposition to the imposition of wind turbines, dog her at many stops outside Toronto and the plowing match was no exception as protesters lined the back of the crowd with placards.
“The fact is there are some issues, and a couple of them have been raised today, that created a bit of a lightning rod for some discontent and some concerns and I don’t deny that. I understand that wind turbines and the horse racing industry are two that created very high profile concerns in the rural communities,” Wynne said.
“We have acknowledged that there were decisions made that were not necessarily in the best interest of the industry or rural communities and we are putting changes in place.” The decision made by the Dalton McGuinty Liberal government to choke off provincial funding to the horse racing industry is another thorn in her political side as she attempts to find a middle ground.
“I want it to be sustainable,” said Wynne, who is waiting for a three-person panel to report to her with a five-year strategy for the industry.
Tory Leader Tim Hudak, whose party dominates rural Ontario for the most part, said Wynne says all the right things but doesn’t follow through.
“She talks a good game but she keeps putting in these wind farms and forcing them on rural Ontario. That means neighbours are pitted against neighbours, communities are divided right down the middle. It is really an economic policy that really is suicide for our province. It’s time to bring it to an end,” Hudak said.
Hudak said agriculture is a major economic driver in Ontario “but they are force fed so much red tape, it drives up the cost of production and it is making farming even more difficult.”
The Progressive Conservatives have promised to cut agricultural regulation by at least a third. “And if we don’t do it I am going to dock my cabinet’s pay and I dock my pay as premier as well,” Hudak said
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said her party has maintained all along “that the way the government implemented the Green Energy Act was wrong-headed. It shut people out of the process, which created anger, frustration and a backlash,”
“It is a legacy that I think the Liberal will regret for many years because it has created so many problems in rural Ontario,” she told reporters.
Horwath said it is obvious to her that rural Ontario is an after-thought for the Liberals.
“I have heard from folks over the last number of months that they are not convinced that the Liberals have not changed their ways,” she said.
Kathleen Wynne knows Liberals have tough job in rural Ontario | Toronto Star
WENTWORTH, who has been a magnet for punters in big-field handicaps this season, graduates into Listed company, but the step up in class is unlikely to deter his many supporters.
The son of Acclamation finally gained reward for a string of eyecatching efforts in defeat when landing the valuable Betfred Mile at Glorious Goodwood last month with a fluent three-quarters of a length dismissal of Cape Peron.
Previously fourth in Royal Ascot’s Britannia Handicap and third in Sandown’s Coral Challenge on Eclipse day, Wentworth now boasts an official rating of 106 and most will expect him to make a smooth transition to this higher grade.
Richard Hannon jnr said: “Wentworth is in good form and seems likely to get his ground at Sandown. He wants a nice bit of ease and that’s how it is looking at the moment.”
Wentworth’s six rivals are headed by the David O’Meara-trained Penitent, who takes a drop in class having contested Group races on each of his last 12 starts.
The ground was eased this morning, with clerk of the course Andrew Cooper tweeting: "12mm in total y'day @Sandownpark and ground very soft - officially heavy, soft places round, and soft, heavy places sprint. Dry today - phew."
Listowel host its Kerry National card with the big race - due off at 5.10 - supported by the Listed Listowel Stakes, while Yarmouth also stages a Listed race in the form of the John Musker Fillies’ Stakes.
Going report
Beverley: Good
Sandown: Sprint course - soft, heavy in places; round course - heavy, soft in places
Yarmouth: Good to soft, good in places in the back straight
Listowel: Flat course - Heavy; Jumps course - Soft
Kempton: Standard
Key stats
John Gosden has a 31 per cent strike-rate (5-16) with juvenile debutants at Sandown since the start of 2009. Zephyr makes his debut for the champion trainer in the mile maiden (2.50).
Sir Michael Stoute is 7-12 in maidens at Beverley since 2008 and that improves to 3-3 in maidens for juveniles. He runs Adore in the 2.30
Wentworth ready for step up to Listed level | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
MARK JOHNSTON is out to bag the £25,000 William Hill-backed Kilkerran Cup (4.40) - the opening day highlight of Ayr’s Gold Cup meeting - for the first time with the progressive King Of The Danes.
The three-year-old seeks to overcome ten rivals as well as a 17-week absence since his victory at Goodwood in May and is up 12lb for that success.
“We’re not sure about the soft ground as he hasn’t run on it for a while, but it looks an ideal race,” Johnston said.
Well Painted is the sole runner from Newmarket in the race – headquarters last supplied the winner in 2009 by way of subsequent Group scorer Allied Powers.
Going report
Ayr: Soft
Pontefract: Good to firm, good in places
Yarmouth: Good, Good to Soft in places
Listowel: Jumps - Soft; Flat - Heavy
Kempton: Standard
Key stats
Ed Walker has a 53 per cent strike-rate (8-15) at Yarmouth for a £1 level-stake profit of £54.04. He runs You’re The Boss in the 5.20
Colinca’s Lad’s form figures at Yarmouth read 1331211 for a £1 level-stake profit of £20. He runs in the 1m6f handicap (4.20)
Johnston hopes to reign with King Of The Danes | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
A bill signed by Gov. Chris Christie will allow for up to two days of horse racing next month on the beach in Atlantic City.
The legislation clears the way for the city to host the American Palio Celebration, an event modeled after races run in Siena, Italy, for hundreds of years.
State Sens. Donald Norcross and Jim Whelan said Friday they hope the event will provide another boost to Atlantic City’s revitalization efforts.
The bill authorizes the New Jersey Racing Commission to grant special permits for the races, to be run at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.
Champion Flat jockey Richard Hughes talks you through his best rides at Newbury and Wolverhampton on Saturday
IT IS another busy Saturday and it is essential for me to keep my foot on the gas to hold on to the title after Ryan rode four winners on his birthday on Wednesday.
If I can get into October with my current lead intact then that might be enough if injuries can be avoided.
At the start of the season 200 winners was my goal and there’s still a chance of reaching it – especially after yesterday’s two winners.
Today’s is a busy one with 14 rides –eight at Newbury and then six at Wolverhampton, which is more than I’ve had at that track so far this year. One winner there would also make it the 26th course where I have ridden a winner this year.
The first thing to say about Newbury is winners there today are going to have to love soft going after the rain this week. It is soft and tiring ground.
Luckily the are a good few that do like soft ground so hopefully there’ll be another winner or two to follow last Saturday’s better than expected five from the 12 rides I had at Lingfield and Kempton.
While Richard Hannon has won the feature Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes (2.20) four times – including its first running with Mons Fils in 1972 – it is a race that has avoided me, but I hope to put that right with the stable’s Anticipated, who loves soft ground.
He won his maiden in the soft at Windsor and, while his best runs have been over five furlongs in the Windsor Castle and Molecomb, we have always thought he would get six furlongs. The Morny last time was a Group 1 and he wasn’t quite good enough.
Richard also runs Shamshon, who is a nice horse but has got to overcome the softer conditions and I can’t say which one would be better.
Viewpoint, in the Dubai Duty Free Handicap (2.55), is another who will love the ground. He ran very well at Doncaster where I held him up off a slow pace and I knew turning for home we were in the wrong place. He needs to be ridden like that and won impressively before so I will ride him the same again and hopefully the Newbury ground will pull them back to me this time.
Ed Dunlop’s Contributor is a good ride for me in the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup (1.50) that used to be the Arc Trial.
It will be my first ride on him, but he is a hold-up horse, which will suit me, and the tactic will be to get there as late as possible.
Malachim Mist and Pivotal Movement are two others who will enjoy the ground.
Malachim Mist is carrying a lot of weight in his nursery (4.05), but ran well in the big sales race at Doncaster last week and wasn’t beaten that far.
Pivotal Movement (5.10) has been a bit in and out, but after his last run he came back with a bad scope and won on soft ground last year to give some optimism.
Let’s hope the trip on to Wolverhampton is worth it, but even one winner would leave me happy.
I have ridden Ceelo (8.50) twice before and won on him last year – Sylvester’s horses are running well.
Hard Divorce (8.20), who I ride for David Brown, made his debut in the maiden I won on Pupil at Doncaster last week.
Saturday rides the champion jockey on his best chances | Horse Racing News | Racing Post
Favourite for Haydock is Lethal Force, who Society Rock defeated at York in May before finishing second to the same horse at Royal Ascot and in the July Cup.
Fanshawe praised the consistency of his stable star on Sunday and believes his consistency will give him a good chance of success at Haydock.
"We've got two more races with him before he goes off to stud. He's been so sound and tough and is still running well as a six-year-old entire," Fanshawe said is this week's Big Read in RP Sunday.
"He won the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock last year, so we know the race suits him, and I just hope we can keep him on song until October 19 for Ascot as he loves the place."
Fanshawe plots two more outings for Society Rock | Horse Racing News | Racing Post