racehorse

Coolmore has agreed to purchase a 50% interest in last year's G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who stays in training this year with trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. The news was first reported by Paris-Turf. Bred by Ecurie des Monceaux out of Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Sottsass was a €340,000 purchase at the 2017 Arqana August Yearling Sale by Peter Brant through Michel Zerolo's Oceanic Bloodstock. Racing in the green silks of Brant's White Birch Farm, Sottsass won at second asking at two. He took the...

Magic Lily (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), third in the G1 Fillies' Mile as a juvenile, made good on her early promise with a narrow victory over Team Valor International's Nisreen (Ire) (Raven's Pass) in the G2 Cape Verde at Meydan on Thursday. The Charlie Appleby runner bore the Godolphin blue silks in the one-mile contest under pilot James Doyle, who, along with Appleby, were winning their third Cape Verde. The 5-year-old completed the Cape Verde in a new stakes and track record-setting time of 1:34.84. Sent straight to the head...

A newly developed virtual reality experience that allows users to experience horse racing through the eyes of a jockey or harness driver is available to attendees of the Pennsylvania Farm Show.  The 360-degree virtual reality experience--using real video filmed during actual Thoroughbred and harness races in Pennsylvania--allows individuals wearing a virtual reality headset to look left, right, and behind them as they race against other horses toward the finish line. To complete the Thoroughbred racing experience, users can even experience the simulated virtual reality race while riding on an Equicizer,...

Bucking a nationwide trend, the number of mares bred in Pennsylvania in 2019 was 686, an increase of 12.5% over 2018.  It was the third straight year that the number of horses bred in Pennsylvania has increased. Overall, the number of mares bred in 2019 in the U.S. declined by 3.5%. The growing popularity of the Pennsylvania program is a direct result of the establishment of the Racehorse Development Fund Trust in 2017. The trust guaranteed that the government could no longer raid the Horse Racing Development Fund, which funneled...

John Dance's MG1SW Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), a six-time Group 1 winner, will visit the court of Invincible Spirit (Ire) (Green Dancer) in 2020, Salcey Forest Stud announced via Twitter Tuesday morning. The Karl Burke trainee, who captured the G1 Fillies' Mile at two, the G1 Prix Saint-Alary, G1 Prix de Diane, G1 Matron S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. at three and the 2019 G1 Prix Rothschild, was originally due to be covered by Coolmore Stud's No Nay Never (Scat Daddy). "Off she goes... our queen," tweeted the Warwickshire-based...

A native of a small farming community in South Africa, Lere Visagie grew up a long way from the U.S. Thoroughbred industry. Today, he sits at the helm of one of New York State's leading stud farms, as the owner/operator of Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York, which was established just seven years ago. While his is still a relatively new farm, Visagie said his goal is to improve the stallion market in New York through the growth of Rockridge's stallion division. This year, Rockridge welcomes two new Grade I...

Since its inception in 2012, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), has awarded more than $17.2 million in grants to accredited aftercare organizations. These groups are registered 501(c)3 organizations that have applied for and have been accredited by the TAA. In 2019, the TAA gave 40 organizations certification, including 32 that were applying for re-accreditation and eight that received the badge for the first time. The TAA is the only accrediting body focused solely on Thoroughbred aftercare. They have a network of 74 accredited organizations with approximately 160 facilities in North...

2019 GIII Hutcheson S. hero Gladiator King (Curlin) made his first appearance at Meydan a winning one, stalking the pace and grinding home to win the G3 Dubawi S. by a neck in Dubai on Thursday. He defeated MSW & MGSP Ibn Malik (Ire) (Raven's Pass), who was another 1 1/2 lengths in advance of last year's runner-up and dual Group 3 winner Drafted (Field Commission). Away in alert fashion, the chestnut stayed well off the inside and pressed the pace in fourth four deep on the backstretch as Lavaspin...