Today's Edition

It has become commonplace to see Kitten's Joy's name not just atop the leading sires of turf runners, but in the top five on the general sire list. This year, he had to come from behind to win the title after Candy Ride's Gun Runner picked up a cool $7 million in the Pegasus World Cup. Lucas Marquardt sat down with Ken Ramsey, who moved Kitten's Joy from Ramsey Farm to Hill `n' Dale for the 2018 season, to talk about the big guy. TDN: Candy Ride gets a $7-million...

He's done it again. For the eighth consecutive year, Galileo (Ire) wrapped up 2018 as the leading general sire by European earnings. The dual Derby and King George winner-who had his first runners in 2005-earned his first sire championship in 2008. His then Coolmore barnmate Danehill Dancer (Ire) took the title the following year, but Galileo redeemed himself in 2010 and has not relinquished his crown since. According to the TDN's year-to-date general sire list (which includes worldwide black-type stats but earnings restricted to Europe), Galileo's 244 starters in 2018...

It was uncharacteristically windy at Santa Anita Park late last week. But it's unclear whether those gusts were caused by the rush of departing and incoming key employees (racing secretary, track superintendent, vice president of operations, and announcer all new since last meet) or if this was just the annual breath of fresh air that the Southern California circuit enjoys every Dec. 26 when the racing season opens anew with a stakes-laden program and high hopes for the coming year. There will be plenty of time in 2019 to ponder...

When it comes to good horses, Jorge Abreu knows a thing or two because he's seen a thing or two. The 44-year-old, who served as a nine-year assistant to the juggernaut operation of Eclipse-Award winning trainer Chad Brown, branched out on his own in 2016, and since that time, has fashioned an enviable record. With over 200 starts under his belt, the horseman has amassed over $2-million in earnings and claimed the first stakes victory of his career Saturday when Espresso Shot (Mission Impazible) rallied to victory in Aqueduct's East...

Your holiday shopping is complete for another year--now, how about a little treat for yourself? Can I suggest a booking to one of the best horses in the world of 2018 for £7,000--or, one of the best horses of the past decade for £25,000? This column begins TDN Europe's annual value sires series, where we sift through stallions by sire crop and pull out a few dark horses that could provide a return on investment. We'll start this week with stallions retiring to stud in 2019 and progress through horses...

Klaravich Stables Inc.'s Competitionofideas (Speighstown) didn't enter Saturday's GI American Oaks at Santa Anita with quite the profile of a typical Chad Brown trainee competing at the highest level, but the result was what it usually is as the 5-1 shot inhaled her competition to give her conditioner his 20th Grade I win of 2018. The $325,000 KEESEP yearling dropped back to last and tucked in for a ground-saving trip as huge longshot K P Pergoliscious (Ire) (Declaration of War) showed the way through splits of :24.02, :47.86 and 1:11.95...

At long last, today we get to consider some stallions who have actually undergone some kind of examination on the track. After surveying four subsequent intakes--collectively the medium for staggering investment, on what in most cases will turn out to have been the flimsiest grounds--we finally encounter the first group to have had half a chance (and still no more than that) to demonstrate whether or not they can produce a runner. Even by this stage some are already facing an uphill struggle as victims of a wholly unreliable consensus...

Following on the victories of Filly Triple Crown winner Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Japan Cup, of Le Vent Se Leve (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S.) in the G1 Champions Cup and of Blast Onepiece (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) in the G1 Arima Kinen, Omega Perfume (Jpn) (Swept Overboard) closed a strong year for Japan's sophomore set with a determined defeat of favoured Gold Dream (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) in Saturday's G1 Tokyo Daishoten at Ohi Racecourse. K T Brave (Jpn) (Admire Max {Jpn}), the second choice in...

We all like the idea of 'stallion-making races', even if such a concept is clearly nonsense. We rarely, if ever, hear of 'broodmare-making races.' If we did, it seems safe to assume that the 1990 G1 Prix de Diane would often be mentioned. With Rafha (GB) beating Moon Cactus (GB), that race produced not merely a quinella for their sire Kris (GB) (Sharpen Up) and their trainer Henry Cecil, but also for two fillies who would go on to become hugely influential broodmares (it should be noted that Moon Cactus...

If Christophe Lemaire was the human star of the final day of racing on the JRA circuit, Carrot Farm's Saturnalia (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) was his equine counterpart, as the impeccably bred colt ran his record to a perfect three-from-three and quite probably locked up the juvenile championship with a soft victory in the G1 Hopeful S. First to break the line beneath second-leading rider Mirco Demuro, the odds-on pop led by the stands for the first time, but was overtaken by 40-1 Cosmo Calendula (Jpn) (Novellist {Ire}) at the...

What a time to be alive! I've seen it said on Twitter and elsewhere that the Triple Crown races are nothing more than a series of "restricted" races for 3-year-olds, and, therefore, not as important as the "unrestricted" Grade I races for older horses. To diminish the accomplishments of Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) in this way is either ignorance or a line of historical revisionism used by some to make a case for Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) as Horse of the Year. Racing is a microcosm of society,...

An intriguing cast of locally based runners and East Coast invaders will square off in Saturday's GI American Oaks at Santa Anita. Alice Bamford homebred Californiagoldrush (Cape Blanco {Ire}) took the first two starts of her career locally before checking in third in the GI Del Mar Oaks Aug. 18. She made the reverse journey to Belmont to annex the GII Sands Point S. over yielding sod Sept. 15 and will be looking to provide Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale with a first American Oaks trophy. Paved (Quality Road) also...