Pollard ready for first Group 1 winner
Trainer Todd Pollard will run last start Listed winner Midnight In Tokyo (Kobayashi) in Saturday’s G1 Tatt’s Tiara as he hunts his first Group 1 winner. “If Ryan had the whip the other day and he went for it, the mare might have only run third or fourth,” Pollard told racenet.com.au.
“You just don't know, but him not having the whip might have been the difference between winning and the losing of the race. He will probably just carry the whip with him only as an aid on Saturday. Midnight In Tokyo is a bit of a cantankerous mare, she has got a tough attitude and she just doesn't seem to get on well with the whip.
Todd Pollard | Image courtesy of Racing Queensland
“Ryan is just so smooth and just hands and heels with the way he rides. It's a huge thing for her, having Ryan Maloney on board, because he has got such as affinity with her.
“Off the back of winning it gives us a lot more confidence to be able to go to the Tatt's Tiara there and at least have a crack. We know she is better at a shorter distance but she has won over 1350m, so it's not something that we think she can't do. It's just that she is more effective over 1200 (metres).
“She is a pin-up horse for me, early on in my training career. The owners have been bloody good to me, if she was running well they could even consider racing her on for another year. There is the option there to look at Sydney early in the spring, freshen her up and look at a few races.”
New winner for Home Affairs
Brad Widdup-trained 2-year-old colt Internal Affairs (Home Affairs) won his maiden at Hawkesbury on Tuesday when resuming. A pre-Christmas juvenile, he ran fourth on debut then second in the R.Listed Inglis Nursery behind Where’s The Circus (Trapeze Artist).
First season sire Home Affairs now has 14 winners, led by G1 Golden Slipper winner Guest House.
Internal Affairs as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Mulberry Racing purchased him for $440,000 from Morning Rise Stud’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale draft. He is one of four winners for Champion 2YO Filly in Argentina and dual Group 1 winner Kononkop (Arg) (Pure Prize {USA}). Kononkop’s Listed winning dam Korea (Arg) (Southern Halo {USA}) also produced Group 2 winner Koller (Arg) (Orpen {USA}).
Group 2 winner headlines Inglis Digital
Group 2 winner Double Market (Castelvecchio) and Takemine (Hellbent), a close relation to $5.6 million Chayan (I Am Invincible), are the headline lots in the latest Inglis Digital Sale which is open now and closes on Wednesday.
Godolphin have a draft of 10, Waikato Stud have seven entries, and a Cape Schanck Stud mare reduction are all part of the 439 lots of offer. All up there are 171 racehorses (99 race fillies), 138 broodmares, 59 racehorse shares, and assorted young stock.
Creswick Stakes for Imperatriz brother
Imperatriz (I Am Invincible)’s baby half-brother I’mateez (Capitalist) won last start to earn himself a crack at black type with trainer Alex Rae aiming him at the Listed Creswick Sprint Final on July 4. “He’s pretty talented, but unfortunately he’s just got a few little niggles that catch up with him every now and then,” Rae told racing.com.
“We thought he was a good thing at Warrnambool second-up, but it took him a month to get over that run, and I said to connections, ‘I don’t want to take him back to the races until he’s one hundred per cent. It was no surprise to see him win on Saturday. He’s always shown that ability, the biggest concern has just been making sure he’s in one piece.
Alex Rae | Image courtesy of Alex Rae Racing
“We’re fortunate enough to have some great facilities here, he’s been in the ice-bath a couple of times since he’s run and trotted up as good as he can this morning. So that Creswick becomes a high priority.”
Hard Kick aimed at Coolmore
The Hayes brothers recently trialled 2-year-old gelding Hard Kick (All Too Hard) as the Listed winner gets set for the spring. “He’ll probably run down the straight at the end of the season at Flemington and he’ll be aiming at those early 3-year-old sprint races,” co-trainer Ben Hayes told racing.com.
“He could be a Coolmore horse. He trialled last week and we’re very happy with where he’s at. He’s had quite a long holiday but seems to have returned really well. We resisted the temptation of running (in the Blue Diamond) so we’re looking forward to seeing him come back. He had a very busy time getting to the races and he’s worth so much, we opted just to put him away and see what the spring holds.”
Madiyya looking for improvement in luck
Beaten by tiny margins in her last two starts, Lindsay Park-trained Madiyya (NZ) (Super Seth) won’t need to improve much to gain her fourth career victory on Saturday at Caulfield. “She definitely is due, I think her last couple of runs she's been beaten less than 0.2 (lengths),” co-trainer Ben Hayes told racenet.com.au.
“The (Benchmark) 78 1700 should be ideal for her, and she's building fourth-up and hopefully we can get a result. She's an older mare now and hopefully we can get the result because when she gets it all together she's got the ability.”
Charlton thinks Pin Up Sheila can do it again
Debutant winning 2-year-old filly Pin Up Sheila (Pinatubo {Ire}) has trainer Tom Charlton thinking she can win again on Wednesday at Warwick Farm. “It doesn’t look like it was a bad race,” Charlton told racingnsw.com.au.
“She’s still learning and I don’t think we’ll see the best of her until she’s three or so. She trialled really well the other day despite getting caught a bit deep, it was a little bit messy, but she looks to be going nicely.”
Pin Up Sheila as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Juvenile winner for Almanzor
Patrick Payne-trained 2-year-old gelding Give It A Year (NZ) (Almanzor {Fr}) won on debut at Echuca on Tuesday, beating the older horses. Payne purchased him for NZ$90,000 from Prima Park’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale draft.
Cleverly named, he is the first winner, from four to race, for Buy Me A Rock (Fastnet Rock) who won three times and is a half-sister to stakes placed Gone With The Wind (NZ) (Sebring).
Busy Blitzem wins again
Georgie Holt-trained 2-year-old gelding Better Blitzem (Better Than Ready) took his record to five wins from eight starts when victorious at Mackay on Tuesday. He has also placed in all his other three starts, and has earnings over $200,000.
Holt Racing spent $5000 to acquire him from Kenmore Lodge’s Capricornia Yearling Sale draft. He is the second foal of Belitsa (Rubick) who won twice, and is a daughter of unplaced Fastnet Rock mare Beaver Rocks, a half-sister to Listed winner Care To Think (So You Think {NZ}).
Churchill (Ire) sired a double at the meeting with General Gordon and Determination who took his record to five wins.
Parish announces retirement
Tasmanian jockey Dianne Parish has announced her retirement after 40 years in the saddle. “I got my licence toward the end of 1986; my first winner was Derring Fleet, who was also the first horse I ever rode in a race,” Parish told tasracing.com.au.
“I was in Victoria for just on a year. There was no way females were going to get rides over there; only a few girls were riding then. I came back to Bill Ryan at Longford, did a lot of riding for George Blacker as well.”
According to racing.com, Parish won 233 races in her career. “She’s been a jumps jockey, a good flat rider; she has kept on and on. I think it’s phenomenal what she’s done,” Kevin Ring said.
“I remember riding against Di; there were her and Robyn Clarke, Kim Dixon, Ros Last and a few more and Di has outlasted them all. She has been a huge asset to the Tasmanian industry; her horse skills were second to none.”
Meetings lost to heat in Britain and France
Four race meetings set to have taken place in Britain this coming Wednesday have been abandoned and timings to two Thursday fixtures have been adjusted as the country faces a heatwave which could see temperatures rise to 37C.
A statement released by the BHA on Monday read, “The BHA's hot weather policy states that where racecourses fall within a red warning zone, the fixture will be abandoned. In addition, horses must not be travelled from or through areas that have red warnings in place.
“The decision to abandon the fixtures has been taken in conjunction with the racecourses with a view to mitigating any risk to the health and wellbeing of equine and human participants. The BHA will continue to liaise with racecourses hosting fixtures in amber warning zones this week to consider any further mitigations that may be needed, in line with the BHA's hot weather policy.
“Each fixture will be managed on a case-by-case basis, with several factors considered according to the local weather forecast and environmental conditions. Trainers are reminded that horses should not be moved from or through any areas where red heat warnings are in place.”
The heat is also affecting racing in France, where the action was called off on Sunday at Mont-de-Marsan and Monday's meeting at Lyon-Parilly was staged in the morning instead of the afternoon.
Belmont to reopen in September
The announcement last week that the main track and the Tapeta course at Belmont will soon be opened for limited training was just one more reminder that the unveiling of the new building is less than three months away.
The new Belmont will open on Sept. 18 with the running of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Only the first two floors will be open in September. NYRA officials have said that the entire five-floor structure should be open by the time of the GII Wood Memorial. The new 275,000-square-foot (25,500 square metres) building will be one-third the size of the old stands.
In an era where corporate hospitality and pricey big events seem to be what everyone holding a sporting event is focusing on, NYRA has made sure that the new Belmont will cater to the deep-pocketed costumer, who might show up for the GI Belmont stakes and the Breeders' Cup only.
David O'Rourke | Image courtesy of NYRA
“There are a lot of similarities when it comes to those two events, the Belmont and the Breeders' Cup, that give you a baseline of hospitality that will be require. and we have the ability too scale up for those events,” NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke said.
“Getting more families involved is pivotal to the sport's future. (The new Belmont) will definitely get people back to the racetrack because it gives us the opportunity to try new things around them,” he said. “That is a demographic that has been missing and something I have been very focused on. That's part of the magic formula at Saratoga. Can you bring families back out? Here, as opposed to Saratoga, we will have to work a little bit harder to give someone a reason to bring the kids out on Saturday.
“This is our opportunity. With NYRA's structure as a non-profit, we get to play a really long game, and we should be playing a long game. How are you going to build the sport? You start at the most fundamental level and give people good childhood memories of something and that stays with people for a long time. The people who are really lifelong fans, you hear from their stories that they started out as a kid at the track.”
Vale Derrick Edwards
The longtime Laurel Park and Pimlico assistant starter Derrick Edwards, who handled both Triple Crown winners in the GI Preakness Stakes during their historic bids, passed away June 20.
Including the aforementioned American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in 2015 and Justify (Scat Daddy) in 2018, Edwards had also been assigned to handle two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) in his 2014 victory in the middle jewel. He'd most recently handled GI Kentucky Derby hero Golden Tempo (Curlin) this past May at Churchill Downs.
Edwards had also been a frequent face at Saratoga for many years and at Charles Town, having started over 100 races at the latter. He missed the New York marquee meeting this year due to being injured while handling a horse in the gate at Laurel Park.
