Fri, 06/08/2012 - 17:05

Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland to adjust dates for November sales

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland auction houses announced Friday that they will delay their usual November breeding stock auction dates in an effort to help buyers arriving from the Nov. 2-3 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.

The two auction houses also have amended their conditions of sale to make veterinary X-ray reports part of their repository and subject them to “the limited warranty that the reports are accurate, valid, and authentic,” according to the companies’ Friday announcement.

Thu, 06/07/2012 - 14:37

Media Puzzle, dam of Refuse to Bend, dies after foaling

Moyglare Stud’s outstanding producer Market Slide, dam of Irish champion and English classic winner Refuse to Bend and Melbourne Cup winner Media Puzzle, has died at age 21, Racing Post reported Thursday.

The Gulch mare died earlier this week after producing a Montjeu filly, according to the report.

Market Slide was named Ireland’s Broodmare of the Year in 2002 after Media Puzzle’s Melbourne Cup win and Refuse to Bend’s win in Ireland’s Group 1 National Stakes.

Wed, 06/06/2012 - 16:13

Pinhookers saw profit, not future star in I'll Have Another

Barbara D. Livingston
Unlike athletes in other sports, I'll Have Another will have only one shot at horse racing's Triple Crown.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – It took Victor Davila about a half-hour and $11,000 to earn his place in history as the man who broke Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another. Davila, a 34-year-old exercise rider for Barry and Shari Eisaman’s Florida yearling-to-juvenile resale operation, first saw I’ll Have Another in the back walking ring at Keeneland’s 2010 September yearling sale. Davila doesn’t pretend he caught a glimpse of greatness when the colt born on April Fool’s Day stepped into his view. But Davila did see something that few others saw that day, and that was a horse who could turn a profit.

Wed, 06/06/2012 - 13:38

Irish champion and graded-stakes producer Minstrella dead at 28

Minstrella, the 1986 Irish champion juvenile filly and a graded stakes producer for the late Robert Evans, died earlier this year and was buried at Evans’s Spring Hill Farm, The Blood-Horse has reported.

The daughter of The Minstrel was 28.

Minstrella, an Evans homebred, won England’s Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes and Ireland’s Group 1 Phoenix and Moyglare Stud Stakes en route to her Irish divisional title. She also placed in a pair of Group 3 stakes in England, the 1986 Cherry Hinton and the 1987 Cork and Orrery before retiring.

Mon, 06/04/2012 - 16:58

Madcap Escapade dies at age 11 after colicking

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Grade 1 winner and Grade 1 producer Madcap Escapade died Saturday after colicking, Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms announced Monday. The millionaire Hennessy mare was the dam of Grade 1 winner Mi Sueno. She was 11.

Fri, 06/01/2012 - 16:03

John Scott getting his second act

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – There was a time in the fall of 2009 that trainer Carla Gaines thought she could reach the top of racing with the California-bred John Scott.

In his graded stakes debut, John Scott finished fourth behind the well-regarded Lookin At Lucky in the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita.

“I thought I was going to the Kentucky Derby with him,” she said.

Instead, John Scott went to the sidelines, first with a fractured cannon bone, and again in 2010 and last year with minor ailments. “It was one thing after another,” Gaines said.

Thu, 05/31/2012 - 13:48

Successful Appeal to stand Southern Hemisphere breeding season in Argentina

Argentina’s Haras La Pasion has signed a lease agreement to stand Walmac Farm stallion Successful Appeal during the Southern Hemisphere season.

Successful Appeal, a 16-year-old Valid Appeal horse, is the sire of Grade 1 winners J P’s Gusto and Appealing Zophie, Grade 1-placed Dawn After Dawn, and 2004 Kentucky Derby runner-up Closing Argument. He’s also the sire of Argentine Group 1 winner Successful Affair and Group 1-placed Galan de Cine. Haras La Pasion bred Galan de Cine.

Haras La Pasion’s managing director Nico Benedicto previously worked at Walmac.

Tue, 05/29/2012 - 11:48

Australia: Magic Millions sells two seven-figure broodmares, posts big gains

Australia’s Magic Millions select broodmare sale saw two seven-figure mares and strong increases in gross and average.

The two-day auction’s leading buyer was Tom Magnier of Coolmore Stud, who picked up the sale-topper for about $1,627,065 ($1.65 million Australian). That was Melito, a two-time Group 1 winner by Redoute’s Choice who was carrying an Encosta de Lago foal. Reavill Farm was the consignor.

“She will be served this spring by So You Think, and I can’t wait to see the resultant progeny,” Magnier said. Coolmore bought 10 mares for a total of about $4,476,150.

Thu, 05/24/2012 - 14:09

Anti-slaughter policies proving tough to enforce

Where did Canuki and Cactus Cafe go? That question has been occupying racing officials in Ohio and West Virginia since the week before the Kentucky Derby, when a group of anti-slaughter advocates who had arranged foster homes for those two racehorses discovered both effectively disappeared May  1 when trainer and horse hauler Mark Wedig picked them up from Beulah Park’s barn area in Grove City, Ohio. A two-week search for the horses was ultimately successful, but the case highlights how difficult it can be to trace horses once they’ve left racetrack property.

Tue, 05/22/2012 - 17:18

Fasig-Tipton sale shows gains across the board

Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic May 2-year-old sale ended Tuesday afternoon in Timonium, Md., with increases across the board.

The auction posted gains in gross receipts and average,and medianices with 313 horses bringing a combined $16,871,000 for a $53,901 average price and a $28,000 median. The gross revenue was 4 percent higher than last year's total for 343 juveniles, while the average increased by 14 precent and median was up by 12 percent. Buy-backs were 24 percent, compared with 18 percent last year.