Eoin Harty

by Stefanie Grimm and Jill Williams Godolphin homebred Poster (Munnings) stepped from maiden winner to allowance winner in a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy performance Saturday to close out the card at Keeneland. Debuted going one mile on the grass at Ellis Park Aug. 19, he cruised home in gate-to-wire fashion by 1 3/4 lengths as the 5-1 fourth choice. Kept to that distance Saturday but bet down to 9-5, the Eoin Harty trainee was shuffled back by speedier rivals to his outside and wound up fourth along the rail as Enterdadragon...

4th-Presque Isle Downs, $30,450, Msw, 8-27, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f (AWT), 1:05.49, ft, neck. TESSITURA (f, 2, Medaglia d'Oro--Octave {MGISW, $1,660,934}, by Unbridled's Song), a bit flat- footed at the start, dropped back to last, and remained there as Courageous Ari (Courageous Cat) took the advantage through an opening quarter in :22.31. Seeming to remain unhurried despite the increasing pressure from her jockey Willie Martinez, the 7-2 chance was given a left-handed reminder turning for home as the 10-1 pacesetter seemed to be heading to victory. With several lengths to...

5th-Ellis, $70,880, Msw, 8-19, 2yo, 1mT, 1:35.17, fm, 1 3/4 lengths. POSTER (c, 2, Munnings--Pin Up, by Tapit), a 5-1 first-time starter for Godolphin, broke with speed from the rail but had company right away from Xavi (Great Notion) to his outside. Pressed through fractions of :22.81 and :47.12, he put that rival away off the turn and stayed away from a closing Turnbuckle (Global Campaign) despite ducking out a bit close to home to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Pin Up, who sold for $130,000 at KEEJAN this year,...

7th-ELP, $71K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, 3:52 p.m. ET. Shadwell Stables went to $1.1 million to acquire EL JOURY (Medaglia d'Oro) during Keeneland September. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the first-time starter is out of Irish MGSW Up (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was made the $2.2 million sales topper at the 2015 Keeneland January Sale by Jan Racing and Jan Vandebos. A half-sister to English and French G1SW Dutch Art (GB) (Medicean {GB}), this mare also produced GISP Monarch of Egypt (American Pharoah) and GII Lake Placid Stakes victress Aspray (Quality...

Berkeley City Council could vote on an ordinance that, if passed, would essentially lead to the premature closure of Golden Gate Fields and throw into question the near-term future of the Northern California horse colony, workforce and training colony, the latter already buffeted by 25% cuts to the track's purses. The Bay Area racetrack is scheduled to race from Dec. 26 through June 9, 2024, after which the facility is set to close permanently. The proposed ordinance--which makes the claim that confining a horse to its stall for the majority...

9th-TP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 6f (AWT), 9:55 p.m. A Godolphin homebred, HOLD OUT (Street Boss) will carry the royal blue for the first time Friday night. The colt is a son of Wipe Out, already the dam of GISP Degree of Risk (Cairo Prince). She also produced the dam of the ill-fated GSW New York Thunder (Nyquist). Wipe Out is herself a half to GI Forego S. winner Emcee (Unbridled's Song), GSW/G1SP Surfer (Distorted Humor) along with the dam of GSW Marzo (Medaglia d'Oro). Notably, her half-sister Baffled (Distorted Humor)...

Under the toughest of spotlights, the industry's collective eyes often turn to the stuff under foot. At least, that's what trainer Mark Casse did in a widely-shared TDN Q&A. "I think we really, seriously, need to look at more synthetic tracks," Casse said, triggering yet another cavalcade of commentary on the conceived benefits and blights of synthetic surfaces. "I believe in them. I believe they've got plenty of data to back that up." Former TDN writer Lucas Marquardt followed it up with an analysis of race-day fatality data through The...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 02/03/2023 Licensee: Eoin Harty Penalty: $3,000...

It's been some four years since Santa Anita suffered through some of the worst times in its long and otherwise glorious history, a prolonged period where horses were breaking down and dying at an alarming rate. Aidan Butler, the chief executive officer at The Stronach Group 1/ST Racing and Gaming, the corporation that owns Santa Anita, is still haunted by that period, so much so that he says he has nightmares about horses breaking down. "It was horrific," Butler said. "Can you imagine having bloody helicopters from the news stations...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-TAM, $31,500, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:48 p.m. William Mack's GIANT'S FIRE (GUN RUNNER), a $510,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, makes his first trip to post for trainer John Terranova. The chestnut colt is out of an unraced half-sister to multiple Group 1 placed Mad About You (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}). Also debuting is Godolphin homebred Exacting (Ghostzapper), a son of multiple Grade I placed Centring (A.P. Indy), who will be saddled by Eoin Harty. Jonathan Thomas sends out firster Dubrovnik (Union Rags)--a $180,000 FTKSEL yearling purchase--for...

For 14 years, Irishman Eoin Harty worked as the right-hand man to trainer Bob Baffert, helping oversee the careers of the dual Classic-winning duo of Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998) among many other luminaries. For the last two decades, Harty has served as an American-based conditioner for Godolphin, having developed the likes of Street Cry (Ire), champion Tempera--whom he trained to a victory in the 2001 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies--and Dubai Escapade. Now 58 and a decade removed from his most recent Grade I success, Harty was...

Last week, a Santa Anita press release had the misfortune of arriving amid the squall of a busy news cycle. In a nutshell, the release shared this not insignificant titbit: The track had wrapped a 16-day race meet, and a one month and 20-day training period, with zero fatalities. Since the beginning of the winter/spring meet last December, there have been five racing fatalities--zero on the main dirt track--from 5,069 individual starts. The resulting ratio for the year of an average of 0.98 fatalities per 1,000 starters made Santa Anita...