The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
Stallion great Pivotal dies at 28
Europe: Cheveley Park Stud has confirmed that the outstanding sire Pivotal has passed away peacefully in his paddock at the age of 28.
The son of Polar Falcon had been retired from stud duties after the 2020 covering season and saw out the rest of his days enjoying a happy retirement at Cheveley Park, where he had stood since his retirement to stud in 1997.
Bred and raced by Cheveley Park, he was trained by Sir Mark Prescott. He was champion sprinter as a 3-year-old, with the highlight coming in the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
Pivotal took up stallion duties for an initial fee of £6,000. He was a leading British-based first-season sire, and soon sired his first British G1 winner in Kyllachy, who followed in his father’s footsteps in winning the Nunthorpe. He was leading British-based sire by individual winners on eight occasions and was twice leading British-based sire by earnings.
To date, he has sired 32 individual G1 winners, including the Classic winners Sariska, Halfway To Heaven, Falco, Buzzword and Saoire, as well as Dubai World Cup winner African Story and Champion Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Addeybb.
Broken nose puts back Jamie Kah’s return
Oceania: No sooner had Victoria champion jockey Jamie Kah won her Supreme Court appeal against a 2-month ban for allegedly giving false and/or misleading evidence to stewards than her return to action had to be delayed – after she broke her nose in a trackwork incident.
The world’s highest-ranked female jockey (she’s currently #34 in the TRC standings) hasn't ridden since August after receiving a three-month ban for a Covid-19 breach.
Her penalty was initially extended by two months but this was overturned last week by the Supreme Court.
Kah’s ban expires at midnight on November 25. It was hoped she’d return at Caulfield on Saturday. Pakenham Cup day on December 4 is now her likely comeback date.
Saudi Cup plan for Sealiway
Middle East: Connections of Sealiway, winner of the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, have outlined an ambitious 2022 international campaign that could start with the Saudi Cup and culminate with a second attempt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe next October. The son of Galiway finished fifth in the Arc this year.
The dual G1 winner is trained by Cedric Rossi in Marseille and owned by the Chehboub family’s Haras de le Gousserie as well as breeder Guy Pariente. While the colt’s win at Champions Day was seen as a shock to some, racing manager Pauline Chehboub “always believed he was a top-class horse” and warned his global rivals that the “best is yet to come with him”.
After that “crazy day” at Ascot, Chehboub decided not to send Sealiway for the Hong Kong International Races next month. Connections say, “The first thing [he will contest] is Saudi. We’ll make a plan after that. We think 2022 is going to be a very big year for Sealiway.”
Sealiway could be joined in Riyadh by stablemate Skazino, a dual G2 winner and a fine second in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak last month, as well as listed winner Kenway.
Jockey challenge line-up completed
Far East: Alexis Badel and Vincent Ho will join Zac Purton and Joao Moreira as Hong Kong’s representatives for the 2021 Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday, December 8.
Frenchman Badel’s 19 wins this campaign earned him the coveted spot, which is available to the highest ranked rider in Hong Kong (excluding those already selected to compete)..
Ho - a graduate of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Apprentice Jockeys’ School - takes the final spot available as the leading homegrown rider. He snared the slot with 16 wins this.
The event is a four-race competition for 12 elite jockeys, all battling for the HK$500,000 top prize, the most lucrative jockeys’ challenge winner’s cheque in the world.
Against Hong Kong’s team of four is an overseas cast featuring Ryan Moore, James McDonald, Yuga Kawada, Tom Marquand, Hollie Doyle, Damian Lane, Mickael Barzalona and Lyle Hewitson.
Publicists honour Brad Cox
North America: The Turf Publicists of America (TPA) has named Brad Cox as the 2021 recipient of the Big Sport of Turfdom award, which recognises a person or group of people who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media and racing publicists.
The award will be presented to Cox, 41, at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s annual awards luncheon on December 7. TPA President Wendy Davis congratulated Cox on his “incredible 2021 racing season” and reasoned that the “generosity with his time, allowing his story, as well as his horses’ stories to be shared with the fans of our sport is the epitome of what the award stands for”.
Cox said he felt honoured to receive an award that was “especially meaningful [to him] given the list of previous winners”, which includes Mike Smith, Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Bill Shoemaker; Art Sherman, D Wayne Lukas, Jack Van Berg, Penny Chenery, Tom Durkin, Laura Hillenbrand, Jim McKay, Joe Hirsch, Tim Conway and Jack Klugman.
Cox won the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer for 2020 and followed it up this year with wins in the Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality and the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Knicks Go. The Louisville native, who is world-ranked 5 in the TRC standings, leads all North American trainers in earnings with nearly $30 million in purses.
RMG and Flutter in partnership deal
Europe: Media and data rights holding company Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has agreed a long-term strategic partnership with Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet.
The wide-ranging partnership runs through 2028. RMG and its 34 racecourses will work with Flutter to leverage its marketing and promotional assets to grow turnover, engagement and interest on RMG’s racing. CEO Martin Stevenson said he believes this will have “far-reaching benefits” for the tracks and the industry.
Conor Grant, CEO of Flutter UK and Ireland, said, “We have an important and longstanding relationship with the racing industry, investing a total of £100 million through media rights, sponsorship, hospitality, marketing and the levy in the last year. We are continually looking for ways to collaborate directly with partners like RMG and the rest of the racing industry to enable British horseracing to achieve its great potential and secure the long-term sustainability of the sport.”
Search begins for Jen Roytz’s replacement
North America: After serving for four years as the Retired Racehorse Project’s (RRP) executive director and five years prior to that as a board member, Jen Roytz has announced that she will be stepping down from her leadership role at the end of the year.
Kirsten Green will serve as interim executive director while the organization conducts a national search for a replacement.
Under Roytz’s leadership, the RRP has expanded in both size and scope. The organization’s flagship event, the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, has grown into the largest and most lucrative retraining competition for off-track Thoroughbreds in the world, hosting hundreds of equestrians competing on Thoroughbreds in their first year of retraining after racing for well over $100,000 in prize money.
Roytz, said, “It has been one of my life’s greatest honours to head up an organization that is making such a profound difference in how Thoroughbreds are received and repurposed by the equestrian community.
“In my opinion, the RRP’s focus on expanding the market of equestrians who are willing and able to transition racehorses to sport horses is a critical part of the aftercare equation.”
Elsewhere in racing …
Europe: A Sea The Stars full-brother to Arc runner-up Sea Of Class sold for 240,000 guineas during record-breaking trade at the Tattersalls’ December Yearling Sale. More here
North America: Churchill Downs has released the 2022 ‘Official Art of the Kentucky Derby’ by Kentucky artist Aimee Griffith. More here
Europe: Dornan Engineering has been announced as the new sponsor of Leopardstown’s G1 Christmas Hurdle. More here