thoroughbred

The 2020 Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) Select Sale catalogue, featuring 13 yearlings from the penultimate crop of the late Deep Impact (Jpn), was released on Monday. Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the coronavirus, the live-format sale at the Northern Horse Park offers 257 yearlings on July 13th, with 239 weanlings catalogued for the day after. The JRHA is also preparing to take bids over the phone, as well. Print catalogues will be available the first week of June. Deep Impact's thirteen yearlings-divided between 10 colts and three fillies-include...

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP), formed in 2010 under the banner of the "Retired Racehorse Training Project," is a non-profit organization with a mission to boost the presence of and demand for off-track Thoroughbreds in the show and recreational riding world. Its founder, Stuart Pittman, recognized the need for retraining clinics and ideas to help owners and adopters of Thoroughbreds to advance their horses. He also saw ways to showcase the attributes of the Thoroughbred in the show world. In 2009, the organization conducted the first Retired Racehorse Training Symposium...

Arlington Park and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) remain bitterly deadlocked over months-long contract negotiations for the now-delayed 2020 meet. Both sides understand that the scheduled May 1 start of racing isn't going to happen because of COVID-19 restrictions, which tightened further Thursday when Illinois extended a statewide stay-at-home order through May. But the new sticking point, which emerged during testimony at Friday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) tele-meeting, centers on the horsemen wanting to ink a only a one-year deal because of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, while track management's...

On Mar. 19, the New York Racing Association suspended racing for an undetermined period after a backstretch worker tested positive for COVID-19, which left New York horsemen scrambling to adjust and come up with Plan B for themselves, their horses and their staff. Nine days later--following the announcement that Aqueduct had been approved as a temporary hospital site--NYRA announced that the rest of the Aqueduct winter meet would be canceled and the Ozone Park oval would not host its traditional spring meet, headlined by the GII Wood Memorial S. "On...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance issued its second round of grant checks early in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants totaled $1.7 million. TAA President John Phillips issued the following statement: "Amid a global crisis, even one that closes the doors to many businesses, horses still need care. Thanks to our supporters, industry partners, sustainable funding programs, and rigorous financial discipline throughout our history, the TAA is able to continue its mission of accrediting and funding aftercare organizations, even during this difficult time. More than ever, work of aftercare is...

The Ocala Breeders' Sale Company has rescheduled its 2020 Spring and June Sales of 2-Year-Olds in Training in response to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The Spring Sale, originally scheduled for Apr. 21-24, will now be held June 9-12. The June Sale, which was slated for June 10-12 will now be held July 14-17. The Spring Sale under tack show will be May 31-June 6 and the June under tack show will be July 6-11. The Spring Sale catalog will stay as is and entries will be accepted from the June...

My leading sire for this year would be Nyquist. I was connected with him in my role with Paul Reddam. It's quite rare that you see a two-year-old win three Grade I races and then come back and win the Derby as an unbeaten horse. My number two pick is Air Force Blue. He was a very good two-year-old in Ireland and War Front seems to be a good sire of sires. My favorite horse at the sale at OBS March was Hip 27, a son of Air Force Blue...

One thing that the French trainers seem to have in common at present is their opinion that racing will not resume in mid-April. Claude Beniada spoke to Pascal Bary and he was adamant that the wait for racing action will be a lot longer than that. CB: How have the recent measures affected your daily schedule? PB: "They haven't really. We can continue to train the horses and in that regard not much has changed. The staff is there, no one is missing, the tracks are very well maintained and...

MGSW & MG1SP City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who is standing his first season at stud in 2020, has his first mares scanned in foal, Haras d'Etreham announced on Wednesday. The bay, who ran second in the G1 Prix de la Foret, stands for €7,000. Among the in foal mares is Havaianas (Elusive Quality), a half-sister to Grade II winner & MGISP Qurbaan (Speightstown). Other mares in the 2018 G1 Diamond Jubilee bridesmaid's book are: MGSW All is Vanity (Fr) (Gold Away {Ire}), Benzolina (Ire) (Second Empire {Ire}), the dam...

The 2019 GI Kentucky Derby winner Country House (Lookin At Lucky--Quake Lake, by War Chant) has been retired following a bout with laminitis, according to a statement put out by the Country House ownership group Friday evening. The 4-year-old, campaigned by Mrs. Joseph Shields Jr., E.J.M. McFadden Jr. and LNJ Foxwoods, was promoted to first in the Derby after the disqualification of champion Maximum Security (New Year's Day), retires with two wins in seven starts and earnings of $2,120,175. Stud plans are forthcoming. "On June 27, Country House was sent...

A total of 616 entries, representing 604 unique trainers and teams, were accepted Friday for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover Oct. 7-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. The application process for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover required trainers to demonstrate their skills and expertise through competition results, videos and references, as well as a letter from a vet stating that the applicant had the necessary skills and knowledge to appropriately care for a horse transitioning off the track. The RRP's selection committee took into consideration both candidates' ability to effectively retrain an...

Ontario Racing's Mare Purchase Program (MPP), designed to bolster the province's breeding and racing industry through its Thoroughbred Horse Improvement Program (TIP), has concluded with a total of 123 new broodmares added to the breeding program and 76 of those pledged to breed back to Ontario stallions. Through the end of the OBS Winter Mixed sale Jan. 29, a total of 24 in-foal broodmares were purchased at various public auctions with 16 expected to be bred back to a registered Ontario sire during the 2020-21 breedingseason and eligible for the...