Exosphere dies of colic
Oaklands Stud’s G1 Golden Rose winner Exosphere has died following complications from colic surgery. “He (Exosphere) was in a lot of pain after colic surgery and the decision was made to let the big boy go to God,” said Neville Stewart.
Exosphere
“We’re all devastated at Oaklands as he was the best-behaved boy that any stud could ask for… he had a big personality and was always happy. We all love him and he will be forever missed.”
Exosphere retired to stud in 2016 and has sired 10 stakes winners from his 285 named foals, led by Group 2 winners Easter (Fr), Skybird, and Thermosphere. The son of Lonhro was raced by Godolphin and covered 58 mares in 2023.
Thoroughbred Breeders Next Crop tour
TBA Next Crop members have an exclusive opportunity to inspect some of the country's leading sires at some of the top stud farms in Scone this Saturday.
TBA Next Crop was created to provide people aged 36 and under working in breeding with the chance to network and socialise with their peers in the industry and continue their professional development and education.
Berry stood down by doctors
Tommy Berry was stood down by the ATC doctors early in the day at Randwick-Kensington due to an arm injury. He sustained the injury at the trials on Monday but won the first on Theblade (Toronado {Ire}). After the second, he was unable to bear weight on that arm and was stood down.
Tommy Berry | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It happened on Monday but it flared up when riding Theblade. The doctor thinks I may have damaged one of the tricep muscles above the elbow,” Berry told racenet.com.au. He will have an MRI scan on Thursday to determine the extent of the injury and will not be riding at Newcastle.
Brown Jnr’s winning return from terrible injury
Jockey Stephen Brown Jnr won his first metro race at Wednesday at Sandown on My Brothers Keeper (Fiorente {Ire}). In September 2019 Brown Jnr almost died after suffering serious injuries in a jump-out fall. He was airlifted to hospital, placed in an induced coma and spent six weeks there as he tried to recover from his injuries, which included neck and rib fractures, punctures to both lungs and significant brain trauma.
Stephen Brown Jnr returns to scale aboard My Brothers Keeper after winning at Sandown | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“It feels pretty good. I can't explain it. You wouldn't read about it, would you?” Brown Jnr told racing.com. “It was a big relief (to win). Thanks to Dad and the owners for putting me back on (the horse),” said Brown Jnr. “I try not to think about it too much (my journey). It's a big relief. I can't thank my family enough, my mum, my partner Stacey. It's a really big thing to go through, so I'm just happy everyone stuck by me and toughed it out. Everyone told me I shouldn't or I can't. But we proved them wrong, didn't we?”
Gatsby’s returns on Saturday
Chris Waller’s promising 3-year-old colt Gatsby’s (Snitzel) will return at Rosehill on Saturday in the Listed Rosebud S. “It all came a bit too soon for him in the autumn and he’s had a decent break and come back really well,” Waller told racingnsw.com.au.
“He’s one of our better 3-year-olds for sure. We’re hoping he’s come back a little bit better. We’ll get Saturday out of the way and (the Run to the Rose) will be the logical step if he stays in Sydney. He looks like a sprinter, he’s a nice medium-sized horse.”
A winner on debut at two in February, he ran fourth in the G3 Pago Pago S. at his second start.
Racing WA announced education program
Applications are open for the latest Racing WA Stable Fundamentals program which will run from September 16-20. The course is based at the Off the Track WA Estate in North Dandalup.
Well-travelled Aegon lands in Melbourne
Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) has landed in Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s G2 P.B. Lawrence S. at Caulfield for trainer Andrew Forsman. “He flew over on Sunday, so he had a good gallop on Saturday morning before he left, and he will just have one tomorrow (Thursday) morning and Vlad Duric (jockey) will come in and gallop him at Flemington,” Forsman told Loveracing.nz.
Aegon (NZ) | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
A Group 1 winner at three, Aegon has won six of his 26 starts and over $1.8 million and comes into this after running second in the G1 Otaki Māori WFA S. in February.
Two nice 3-year-old winners in New Zealand
The synthetic meeting at Cambridge saw two nice 3-year-old winners and both were trained by Andrew Forsman. The gelding Magnastar (NZ) (Magna Grecia {Ire}) won on debut to become the second Southern Hemisphere winner for his first season sire, who has sired Listed winner Myconian (Ire) in the north.
The filly Ghadah (Exceed And Excel) was having her second start, having run fifth on debut earlier this month.
Aga Khan relocates Rouget-trained horses to Graffard
Less than a week after it was announced that Jean-Claude Rouget was set to join forces with Jerome Reynier, the Aga Khan Studs revealed that it has relocated horses trained by Rouget to Francis-Henri Graffard.
A statement released on Tuesday said, “The team at Aga Khan Studs extend their heartfelt thanks to Jean-Claude Rouget for his dedication over the past 19 years, during which time he has won seven Group 1 races for H.H. the Aga Khan, including Valyra (Fr) (Prix de Diane), Ervedya (Fr) (Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Coronation Stakes and Prix du Moulin de Longchamp) and more recently Vadeni (Fr) (Prix du Jockey Club and Eclipse Stakes).”
UK Thoroughbred Breeders discuss future of racing
The 107th annual general meeting of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA), held on Tuesday, August 13, saw members and trustees gather at Newbury racecourse to discuss the ongoing challenges in British racing's future.
“We believe that additional money needs to be set aside to reward breeders and owners that adopt policies and behaviours that deliver and influence positive change and participation for the whole health of the sport,” said chair Philip Newton.
“To rely upon the structure and funding model that has existed since 1962, and with media rights from 1986, is to plan to fail and I am not being dramatic or overstating the potential crisis that we are facing.
“We have the foundations of a structure with RoR (Retraining of Racehorses) to deliver aftercare, we have the HWB (Horse Welfare Board) to set the strategies and police delivery. We urgently need a funding proposal, and I am grateful to my Deputy Chair Kate Sigsworth, who has taken this responsibility on, and is close to a proposal that already has much industry stakeholder support.”
Fillies dominate latest Timeform ratings for juveniles in UK
Bedtime Story (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) leads the Timeform juveniles as the highest rated this season with a 116p, and the fillies are dominating the pecking order. Her stablemate multiple Group-winning Fairy Godmother (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) picks up the joint second spot with a rating of 112p. She shares the ranking with G1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes heroine Babouche (GB) (Kodiac {GB}).
Bedtime Story (Ire) | Image courtesy of Racingfotos.com
A filly has only finished the season in Timeform's top spot as highest-rated juvenile once in the last century – Lady Aurelia (USA) (Scat Daddy {USA}) in 2016.
Listed Railway S. winner Henri Matisse (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), coming in at 110p to be the highest rated colt and Ancient Truth (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is only narrowly behind at 109p, but the colts are lagging behind thus far in the season.
Seize The Grey to skip Travers
On Tuesday, according to Daily Racing Form's David Grening, trainer D Wayne Lukas confirmed Seize the Grey (USA) (Arrogate {USA}) will skip the G1 Travers S. and instead be pointed to the September 21 G1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx.
Seize the Grey will stand at Gainesway upon his retirement. The MyRacehorse runner worked on Monday over the Oklahoma surface, covering five furlongs in 1:01.55.
More competition in digital sales platforms
Silk Road LLC has launched its digital Thoroughbred auction platform BidXSell.com, with its dedicated concierge consignment division, eCONSIGN-IT set to host its inaugural flash sale on August 28. The inaugural auction will feature Salute The Stars (USA) (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of last year's Pegasus S.
“This platform was created to be revolutionary,” said Saeed Almaddah, President and CEO of Silk Road. “In a legacy industry like the horse industry, the BidXSell auction platform will prove to be an economic driver in the new and vastly growing digital marketplace. It will allow breeders, owners, and consignors to capitalize on their investments at the most ideal moments, put full control in their hands, grow their industry relationships, and improve their bottom lines.
“This will be a pivotal moment in the industry and the platform will prove to be the “Shopify” of horse sales. The platform will also connect international markets, such as the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and the United States, with the Middle East being a strong burgeoning market that will thrive on this connectivity and access.”
