The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
Coolmore sire Air Force Blue off to South Korea
Far East: Former European champion juvenile Air Force Blue is leaving Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky to be relocated to South Korea. The 3-time G1-winning son of War Front will stand at Pegasus Farm for the 2022 breeding season, the farm’s owner, Peter Hill, has announced.
Air Force Blue, winner of the Phoenix, National and Dewhurst Stakes at 2, is the highest-rated horse to be brought to South Korea, Hill said.
“Air Force Blue’s pedigree and race record are a perfect fit for Korean racing and breeding and the versatility of his early crops is very encouraging,” he is quoted as saying in The Blood-Horse.
“Nearly 70 percent of his runners win on the dirt or synthetic, and they win over a wide range of distances. Precocious horses have done very well in Korea as stallions, and we desperately need an outcross for the plethora of A P Indy-line stallions and broodmares currently in Korea, for which Air Force Blue is perfect.”
Air Force Blue, who turns 9 on January 1, was a second-crop sire in the U.S. in 2021, responsible for 48 winners.
Spendthrift ending operations down under
Oceania: Spendthrift Farm is pulling out of Australia, where it has been operating since 2015 at the former Yallambee Stud in Victoria.
Owner Eric Gustavson said, “This has been a very difficult decision for us. We have a wonderful team in Australia and will be working closely with them to help make this as smooth a transition for them as possible.”
U.S. general manager Ned Toffey added, “We want to thank all of our staff in Australia for their hard work over the years. We have made it a point at Spendthrift to branch out and try new things. Naturally, not every idea is going to work but I will guarantee you we will continue to take that approach."
The Kentucky-based operation has around 50 broodmares at the farm, where the stallions include Dirty Work and the U.S. shuttlers Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso.
Efforia soars in the rankings after Arima Kinen success
Far East: Star 3-year-old Efforia became the highest-ranked horse in Japan this year - and the third highest in the world - with his victory in the $6 million Arima Kinen at Nakayama last Sunday.
The son of Ephiphaneia had threequarters of a length to spare over Prix Foy winner Deep Bond, with multiple G1 scorer Chrono Genesis half a length back in third (see video below).
The victory followed his G1 wins in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in April and the Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo at the end of October, when he beat 2020 Triple Crown hero and former TRC world #1 Contrail and 6-time G1 winner Gran Alegria.
TRC Computer Race Ratings now rates his run that day as the joint best piece of form anywhere in the world this year, with a mark of 131 - the same as that achieved by Knicks Go in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in November. Knicks Go is now confirmed as the TRC end-of-year world #1. The only other horse ahead of Efforia in the world rankings is the Irish colt St Mark’s Basilica.
Efforia, who is clear favourite to become Japan’s Horse of the Year, stays in training next year, unlike the next two highest-ranked Japanese runners, the mare Gran Alegria (world #4) and Japan Cup winner Contrail (#9), who are both off to stud.
Another highly ranked runner in action last Sunday, Pennsylvania Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie, suffered a shock defeat in the G2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita. The 1/5 favourite went down by a nose to Express Train and loses nine TRC ranking points as a result, dropping two places to #22. He finishes the year as the fifth highest-ranked 3-year-old in North America.
Awards for Roytz and broodmare aftercare group
North America: Thoroughbred Charities of America will honor Jen Roytz with the Allaire du Pont Leadership Award and Our Mims Retirement Haven with the Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award at the 32nd Annual Stallion Season Auction ’Tis the Season Celebration on Sunday, January 9, in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Allaire du Pont Leadership Award is presented annually to an organization or individual whose philanthropic endeavors are consistent with TCA’s mission. Past winners include LNJ Foxwoods, Dan Rosenberg, Barbara Banke, Bourbon Lane Stable, Graham and Anita Motion, Frank Stronach, Fasig-Tipton, Darley, Todd Pletcher, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, and Madeline Auerbach.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Roytz is a marketing and communications specialist based in Central Kentucky with a professional background in Thoroughbred racing, breeding and aftercare. Over the past ten years, she served in the capacities of board member, marketing consultant, and executive director of the Retired Racehorse Project. She is a partner in Topline Communications and was previously marketing director for Three Chimneys Farm.
Roytz is a passionate advocate for Thoroughbred aftercare and regularly speaks on the topic at both the national and local levels. She and her husband, Dr Stuart Brown, own and operate Brownstead Farm, a breeding, sales, racing and sport horse facility in Versailles, Kentucky.
The Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award is presented annually to an organization that works to uphold TCA’s mission. Past award winners include the TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program, Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.), the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program, CANTER USA, Retired Racehorse Project, Belmont Child Care Association, Old Friends, and New York Race Track Chaplaincy.
Founded in 2007 by Jeanne Mirabito, Our Mims Retirement Haven is the only Thoroughbred aftercare organization in the U.S. dedicated solely to caring for retired broodmares. The organization’s namesake is the 1977 champion 3-year-old filly who Mirabito adopted in 1997. As a tribute to the mare, Our Mims Retirement Haven was created to help many more broodmares at the conclusion of their breeding careers. Sadly, in 2020, Mirabito passed away. However her husband, Pete Mirabito, and the organization’s board of directors proudly carry on the organization’s vision and mission.
The Stallion Season Auction opens with an online auction of stallion seasons at 9 am on Wednesday, January 5, and continues through 4.30 pm EST on Friday, January 7. Over 150 seasons will be available in the online auction, including Audible, Basin, Candy Ride, McKinzie, More Than Ready, Speightstown, and Volatile. A full list of seasons is available here.
Most of the seasons will sell during the online auction however select seasons to Bolt d’Oro, Charlatan, City of Light, Constitution, Liam’s Map, Maxfield (with 2023 breed back), Nyquist (with 2023 breed back), Quality Road, and Yaupon (with 2023 breed back) will be sold at the ‘Tis the Seasons Celebration on Sunday, January 9. Bidders or their authorized agents may bid on select seasons by attending the event in-person or they may email ecrady@tca.org to register to bid online.
Elsewhere in racing …
Europe: Arc runner-up Tarnawa, who won the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in 2020, is to be mated with new British champion sire Frankel early next year, a representative of her owner, the Aga Khan, has announced. More here
Oceania: Sydney-based Briton Rachel King, at #116 the fourth-highest ranked female flat jockey in the world, begins the new year in isolation after testing positive for Covid. More here
Far East: The Hong Kong Jockey Club returned a record HK$29.4 billion to the community in 2020-21, it has announced. More here