The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
WinStar in mourning after shock death of Laoban
North America: WinStar Farm’s leading second-crop sire Laoban has died unexpectedly at the age of 8. The son of Uncle Mo was standing his initial season at the Lexington operation after relocating from Sequel Stallions in New York last year.
“It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that we lost Laoban this morning,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s president, CEO and racing manager. “He had quickly become one of our favourite stallions, and it’s sad that we will not have the opportunity to see how influential he could have been as a sire. His passing will leave a tremendous void for all of us, and he will be greatly missed.”
Laoban is currently #82 in the TRC Global Sires Dirt Rankings.
AU$2.6m price tag for Melody Belle
Oceania: New Zealand superstar mare Melody Belle was auctioned for AU$2.6 million at Tuesday’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast.
Bidding opened at AU$1 million for the daughter of Commands before Victoria-based Yulong Investments finally secured the 14-time G1 winner, who finished fifth behind Zaaki in the G1 Doomben Cup on Saturday in her farewell racetrack appearance.
CEO Sam Fairgray confirmed that she would be sent to Written Tycoon. “She was an obvious mare we would be looking at and we think she will suit him ideally.”
Verry Elleegant to miss the Arc
Oceania: Multiple G1 winner Verry Elleegant will remain in Australia this year, with her primary target the Cox Plate, after part-owner Brae Sokolski conceded that the Arc had been “high on the agenda” but the logistics with Covid “had made it difficult”.
He added, “It is not beyond her to attempt it [the Arc] in 12 months’ time as a 7-year-old with Covid hopefully behind us, so we will keep it potentially on the radar.”
The specifics of the world #9’s domestic campaign are yet to be confirmed by the ownership group and trainer Chris Waller, the world #3, who won four Cox Plate’s with the brilliant Winx.
“I think she has proven herself as the best horse in the country, without question,” Sokolski said. “It is frightening to think she will only improve as a 6-year-old mare.”
Gambling trainer Barney Curley dies at 81
Europe: Renowned professional gambler, philanthropist and former Newmarket trainer Barney Curley has died at the age of 81.
Curley was famous for his audacious betting coups, which saw the Irishman make millions from the bookmakers. Perhaps his most well-known - and first - scam came at Bellewstown in June 1975, when he took advantage of the grossly under-handicapped Yellow Sam and the lack of easy communications between the racecourse and off-course bookmakers.
Yellow Sam won in a canter at 20/1, and the charismatic Irishman is believed to have made a profit of over IR£300,000 (€1.7 million adjusted for inflation) – one of the largest betting coups in Irish history.
He is thought to have repeated the trick many times since, notably in 2014 when four horses linked to him won and were estimated to have cost bookmakers something in the region of £2 million.
As Frankie Dettori noted, “He was a one-man band. He owned the horses, he trained them, and he backed them, and nobody knew what was going on.”
He was also a great nurturer of human talent and was integral in the nascent periods of many jockeys - current world #1 Dettori, G1-winning jump jockey Declan Murphy, champion jockey in both Ireland and Britain, Jamie Spencer, and Frankel’s rider, Tom Queally.
After the death of his 18-year-old son, Charlie, in 1995, in an traffic accident, Curley set up Direct Aid For Africa (Dafa). Under the charity’s banner, Curley devoted much of his life over the past two decades to building and maintaining schools and hospitals in Zambia.
Putting Royal Ascot in the party mood
Europe: Ascot Racecourse, the British Horseracing Authority and the Racecourse Association have announced that Royal Ascot has been selected to be part of the UK government’s Events Research Programme on behalf of the sport.
The details of the project are still unclear but it has been confirmed that 12,000 people will be admitted to each of the five days, beginning on June 15.
This announcement means that all those who rolled over their 2020 bookings can now be accommodated and an allocation of Royal Enclosure Badges tickets will go on sale this May 28.
Ascot’s director of communications, Nick Smith, said, “This is by far and away the biggest crowd to attend a racing event for well over a year [in Britain] and we’ll be running it as the royal meeting should be run, with the dress codes in operation, and the site will be dressed and beautiful.
“It’ll look and feel like Royal Ascot, and, because people will be so used to smaller crowds, 12,000 will probably feel like the party it’s meant to be. The eyes on the world and the country will be on the event.”
Death of leading Fasig-Tipton auctioneer
North America: Steve Dance, a senior member of Fasig-Tipton’s auction team for five decades, died suddenly on Tuesday at his home in Jarrettsville, Maryland.
The 78-year-old remained an integral part of the Kentucky-based sales operation, and the many sellers and buyers at last week’s Fasig-Tipton’s 2-year-old sale, in Timonium, Maryland, would have seen him plying his lifelong trade in the auction stand in his home state.
Dance became a full-time auctioneer and bid spotter for the company in 1972, and is believed not to have missed a single Fasig-Tipton auction in a career that lasted almost 50 years.
Elsewhere In racing …
North America: The California Horse Racing Board has issued a complaint against trainer John Sadler after his G1-winning sprinter, Flagstaff , tested positive for a bisphosphonate. More here
Europe: The Jockey Club announced that Coral-Eclipse day and the Cazoo Derby Festival will both receive prize money injections for 2021. More here
North America: Connagh’s Quay topped the Keeneland May Digital Sale. More here
Europe: France Galop and Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club announced a partnership for the Prix du Jockey Club. More here