In a new program designed to boost owners' earnings, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Inc., the body that runs racing in New Zealand, will pay jockeys' fees for more 70 percent of all races run in that country beginning on Friday, Feb. 1.

Johnny Murtagh has landed the plum job of first-string rider for Coolmore, the powerful John Magnier-led operation that operates out of Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle yard in Ireland.

The hiring, announced Tuesday in a release by Coolmore, comes in the wake of the 18-month suspension imposed last week by French racing authorities on Coolmore's previous first-string rider, Kieren Fallon, for cocaine use.

The local road to the $5 million Dubai Duty Free begins at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night with the Group 3 Al Rashidiya, a 1 1/8-mile turf race worth $200,000.

Jay Peg, the South African-bred winner of both the Cape Guineas and the Cape Derby in his homeland, has been attracting a lot of attention in the morning of late, but he must carry a penalty for those two Group 1 victories. He will be spotting his nine rivals six pounds while coming off losses in his last three tries against older horses.

Admire Moon, winner of the Dubai Duty Free, Takarazuka Kinen, and Japan Cup, was named Japan's Horse of the Year by the Japan Racing Association on Monday.

A son of End Sweep trained by Hiroyoshi Matsuda, Admire Moon was owned by Riichi Kondo until his June 24 win in the Takarazuka Kinen, after which he was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai. After his triumph in the Japan Cup on Nov. 25, he was retired to stand at the sheikh's Darley Stud in Hokkaido.

Absolute Champion turned the tables on Sacred Kingdom, the world's top-rated sprinter, at Sha Tin on Sunday, defeating him by a short head in the $576,000 Centenary Sprint Cup, a Hong Kong Group 1 contest and the first leg of Hong Kong's Champion Sprint Series.

Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson is moving her tack to Hong Kong, at least for the remainder of the winter. The 26-year-old Canadian has been granted a license by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to ride in Hong Kong from Feb. 1 through April 2. She is slated to return to Canada for the opening of the Woodbine meeting on April 5.

Sacred Kingdom should have little trouble maintaining his position as the world's top-rated sprinter at Sha Tin on Sunday when he faces seven rivals in the five-furlong $576,000 Centenary Sprint Cup, a Hong Kong Group 1 contest that is the first leg of the Champion Sprint Series.

Jockey Kieren Fallon was given an 18-month suspension by French racing authorities on Friday for his second cocaine offense within a year. The worldwide ban will begin on Feb. 2 and last until Aug, 2, 2009, when the Irish rider will be 44 years old.

The Newmarket, England-based auction house Tattersalls has privately purchased a minority stake in Australia's William Inglis and Son sale company.

The companies did not disclose the price or the percentage of the Tattersalls share, calling it "a significant minority stake" in a joint announcement. The two companies would continue to operate autonomously but would join forces in market development.

Asiatic Boy will start out on the road to the Dubai World Cup in Thursday night's Group 3, $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint at Nad Al Sheba, where he will face A.G. Vanderbilt winner Diabolical, one of the many stakes winners Godolphin has added to its stable in the past year.

The six-furlong Al Shindagha seems an unlikely stepping-stone for the 1 1/4-mile World Cup on March 29, but Asiatic Boy's trainer, Mike de Kock, is unfazed by the cut back in distance for his Argentine-bred, who is slated for an American campaign later this year.