The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
Another accolade for Hollie Doyle
Europe: Barely a week on from being named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year, Hollie Doyle has become the first jockey since A P McCoy to be nominated for to be BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the most prestigious award in British sport, after her record-breaking season.
The 24-year-old finished fourth in the British title race, rode her first G1 winner, had a winner at Royal Ascot, rose from nowhere to be the second-highest-ranked women rider in the world (currently at #105) and has ridden 139 winners already in 2020. She joins a shortlist of six for the award alongside seven-times Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury, England cricketer Stuart Broad, evergreen snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan and Liverpool FC captain Jordan Henderson.
“It is a huge privilege to be nominated for such an illustrious award,” said Doyle, who is in Hong Kong for the star-studded Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley next Wednesday. "It’s hard to get my head around being nominated alongside the likes of Lewis Hamilton, but I’m really pleased that horseracing has been recognised alongside these sports.
"Racing can be in its own little bubble as such, so hopefully this might help to open the door to a wider audience.”
Curlin liaison for Midnight Bisou
North America: Eclipse Champion Midnight Bisou, whose battling runner-up finish in the world’s richest race, the Saudi Cup, in February helped make her the highest-earnng North American Distaffer of all time, has arrived at Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa Farm in Kentucky, where she will be bred to the world’s second-highest ranked dirt sire, Curlin.
Never out of the money in any of her 22 career starts for co-owners Bloom Racing, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing, the Steve Asmussen-trained mare raced at ten tracks and was awarded an Eclipse Award in 2019 as champion older dirt female. Her G1 victories came in the Santa Anita Oaks, the Cotillion Stakes, the Apple Blossom Handicap, the Ogden Phipps Stakes, and the Personal Ensign Stakes. She retired with career earnings of $7,471,520.
Her sire, two time Breeders’ Cup champion Midnight Lute, currently ranks #11 in the TRC Global Dirt Sire Rankings.
Palace Pier’s dam goes to Coolmore
Europe: Beach Frolic, the dam of Cartier Champion European 3-year-old Colt Palace Pier, was the star turn on the second day of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in Newmarket, selling for 2,200,000 guineas to Coolmore’s MV Magnier.
Turnover fell just shy of 25mgns during the session, with seven lots selling for 500,000gns or more.
“She is a lovely mare, and she has already bred an exceptional racehorse,” said Magnier of Beach Frolic, who was sold by part-owners Highclere Stud and Floors Farming and was offered in foal to champion sprinter Blue Point.
“She is a special mare; they don't come up very often,” he added. “Palace Pier is a very special horse, an exceptional horse. She is a good producer. I would say that we will cover her with Galileo.”
Tapizar to stand in Japan
Asia: Yushun Stallion Station in Japan has announced the acquisition of Gainesway Farm’s Tapizar, a son of Tapit, who has sired Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup heroine Monomoy Girl, as well as G2 Bessarabian Stakes winner Amalfi Coast.
Tapizar is currently #15 in the TRC Global Dirt Sire Rankings. The 12-year-old had been standing at the Kentucky farm since his retirement in 2013, commanding a fee of $10,000, and will arrive in Japan in mid-January.
All systems go for Gulfstream
North America: Gulfstream Park’s 84-day Championship Meet, which began on Wednesday, will offer a schedule of 75 stakes, with 36 Graded, worth $13.06 million in purses, it has been announced. The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, both G1s, will be run on January 23.
Racing will be conducted primarily on a Wednesday-Sunday under strict Covid-19 protocols and without spectators, although races will be streamed live at 1/STBet.com, Xpressbet.com and gulfstreampark.com.
Irad Ortiz will be back to defend the riding title he has held since the 2018-19 season, while Todd Pletcher, who regained his training title last season, will seek his 17th Championship Meet title.
“We're extremely optimistic for a fantastic Championship Meet,” said Mike Lakow, Vice President of Racing at Gulfstream. “The barns are full with many of the top trainers, including some wintering here for the first time. We’re also happy with the way our turf course has thrived during the extreme rainy season here this fall.”
Time to apply for Flying Start places
Europe: Applications for the 2021-23 intake of Godolphin/Darley Flying Start trainees are open, with prospective candidates having until February 8 to stake their claim for a place on the course.
The online portal is open a month earlier than normal to allow potential applicants more time to engage in a process that has been made more streamlined than before.
Learn more at godolphinflyingstart.com.
Jockey Club goes into three-day eventing
Europe: The UK Jockey Club has been awarded a five-year contract organise the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, one of the major three-day event competitions in Europe.
It takes place at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in September, but was cancelled this year because of coronavirus.
Ian Renton, the Jockey Club’s regional managing director, whose role includes the running of nearby Cheltenham Racecourse, said, “With the home of jump racing just 40 miles away, I’m confident there are economies of scale and cross-promotional opportunities from this partnership.
It has not been all good news for the Jockey Club this week, however, Magners has opted not to renew its sponsorship of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
This now leaves British racing’s blue riband races across both codes without headline sponsors after Investec ended its commercial partnership with the Derby, which began in 2009.
Call for Clenbuterol ruling
North America: The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council (KEDRC) has recommended a proposal to the Kentucky Horse Commission (KHRC) that would call for horses prescribed Clenbuterol to be withdrawn from competition for 21 days.
The KEDRC is an advisory board that makes medication rule recommendations to the full Kentucky commission, which then votes on the passage of the proposal.
The New York State Gaming Commission passed a similar proposal a day earlier and several Mid-Atlantic states have also recently begun restricting the use of clenbuterol.
“The KHRC office has received concerns and comments from numerous trainers and owners who feel that Clenbuterol is being misused,” KHRC equine medical director Dr Bruce Howard said. “They're concerned that Clenbuterol is being used for the anabolic-like effect rather than the therapeutic effect prescribed.
“There have been instances where veterinary records show Clenbuterol being dispensed to numerous horses in a barn, and in some cases the entire stable.”
Lord Kanaloa’s fee is reduced
Asia: Japan’s leading stallion farm, Shadai Stallion Station, has revealed its 30-strong roster for the 2021 season, which will again be topped by world #3 Lord Kanaloa, sire of Almond Eye, who became TRC’s highest-ranked horse on the planet after winning Sunday’s Japan Cup.
Lord Kanaloa will be available for ¥15 million, the equivalent to £108,000 or $117,750, which is reduced from this year's ¥20 million.
Three sires are available at ¥10 million: Kizuna, Duramente and Epiphaneia. The latter’s fee has doubled after the Triple Crown heroics of the 3-year-old filly Daring Tact and he is expected to be the first horse to cover Almond Eye.
Irish Guineas hero Siskin, a new recruit, will be starting out at ¥3.5 million, while 2019 U.S. Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar is unchanged for his second season at ¥6 million.
Elsewhere in racing …
Europe: The six shortlists for the 2021 Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards have been revealed, with 206 nominations from across the industry whittled down to 60. More here.
North America: Turf sprinter Pay Any Price’s career has been cut short because Gulfstream does not allow horses older than ten to race there. More here
Asia: New York homebred Voodoo Song, a G1-winning son of English Channel, has been sold to begin his stud career in Turkey. More here
Europe: World #1 Frankie Dettori has been named Longines World’s Best Jockey for a third consecutive year. More here