Thursday, May 29, 2003

CORAL EUROBET PRICES FOR SUNDAY'S FRENCH DERBY

**French Derby Betting
1-3 Dalakhani, 3-1 Super Celebre, 7-1 Papineau, 12-1 Touch of Land, Coroner, 40-1 Diyapour

IRISH SALES DATES AND NEWS

The first 250 lots in this years catalogue are the only horses that can ever be eligible for next year's race, while all fillies in the three day sale, sired by an EBF stallion, are eligible for The Bewleys Hotels & EBF Fillies Championship Bumper and The Bewleys Hotels and ITBA Bonus Fillies Bumper.

This years catalogue is once again full of high class pedigrees. Few pedigrees will jump off the page as powerfully as Lot 77, a half-brother to two outstanding performers in Feathered Gale and Magical Approach.

Jessica Harrington's Bust Out gained a well deserved big race success when taking the honours in the Grade 1 Baileys Arkle Chase at Leopardstown earlier this year. He is one of two winners from the well connected Nordic Beauty and her three-year-old son forms part of Peter Molony's Rathmore Stud draft as Lot 166.

Martin Curran's Moyode House once again has an impressive group of horses for sale. Un Desperado is the sire of Best Mate and he is also sire of Lot 96, a four-year-old brother to Bertone. Moyode also consigns a four-year-old Alflora gelding out of a sister to Bradbury Star (Lot 94). Immediately following the Un Desperado into the ring will be Alan Dunlop's Religiously four-year-old half-brother to Delphi Lodge. He won the Grade 1 Power Gold Cup.

Demand for well bred fillies is very strong and there is no shortage of such in this year's sale. Lot 129 is a daughter of Houmayoun (sire of Scottish Memories) and a half-sister to Harbour Pilot, winner of the Grade 1 Pierse Drinmore Novices' Chase and third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Their dam Las-Cancellas is a full-sister to the dam of Monty's Pass, hero of this year's Martell Grand National at Aintree.

Accordion's daughter out of Meine Vonne Lady is a half-sister to Shaunies Lady, winner of the Murphys Irish Stout Champion 4YO Hurdle. This four-year-old is Lot 89. Lot 64 is a three-year-old gelding by Accordion out of a sister to the Grade 1 Martell Aintree Hurdle winner Mister Morose.

Many purchasers like to invest in sons and daughters of leading racemares and, excluding any mentioned already, these include progeny of the Conyngham Cup Chase winner Fatal Hesitation (Lot 149), 9 time winner Bornacurra Ella (Lot 158), 13 race winner Kovalevskia (Lot 207) and the Grade 1 placed Boro Bow (Lot 246).

While a lot of focus is on the entries on day one of the sale, it would be a mistake to overlook the lots on the second and third days. Early risers on the second day will be immediately drawn to Lot 259, a grandson of Sadler's Wells but a half-brother to Historic, a dual graded hurdle winning son of the great stallion.

Well known racing journalist Claire Barry offers a son of Over The River (Lot 297) who is a half-brother to recent winners Brewster, Mefein Boy and Eagle Hill, out of a full-sister to Buck Rogers. Jerry Rohan has a son of Fayruz, Lot 306, out of a half-sister to Remittance Man and Treble Bob.

Lord Transcend, a star of the Howard Johnson stable, is winner of four of his five starts over hurdles and the highlight was his defeat of Deano's Beano in the Grade 2 Premier Stayers Hurdle at Haydock. His full-sister is Lot 308.

Bishopstown Stud has consigned the last two winners of the Goffs Land Rover Bumper and among their 19 entries in the sale this year is a half-sister to Glin Castle (Lot 350). Lot 394 is a half-brother to the Paddy Power Chase winner I Can Imagine, from the first crop of the multiple stakes winner Scribano. Monty's Pass provided Goffs with a second consecutive winner of the Aintree Grand National and Lot 377 is a daughter of Aahsaylad, out of a winning half-sister to Jimmy Mangan's hero.

The sale is rounded off with a couple of large drafts of horses with form.

Goffs have recently updated their website and the catalogue for the upcoming June Sale can be viewed on-line at www.goffs.com.

The Tattersalls Derby Sale is being held this year on the 26th and 27th June. The sale begins each day at 9.30am and has 521 lots catalogued. Sales catalogues are now available and the catalogue can also be viewed on www.tattersalls.ie.

* filliesThe EUR100,000 Bewleys Hotels & EBF N.H. Fillies Championship Bumper

The EUR100,000 Bewleys Hotels & EBF N.H. Fillies Championship Bumper is a race that is available for all fillies, sired by an EBF stallion, that are sold at the upcoming Goffs June N.H. Sale, the Tattersalls Derby Sale and the Tattersalls August N.H. Sale.

Value EUR100,000 of which:

1st EUR50,000

2nd EUR20,000

3rd EUR13,000

4th EUR 8,000

5th EUR 3,000

6th EUR 2,000

7th EUR 1,000

8th EUR 1,000

9th EUR 1,000

10th EUR 1,000

The vendor (being the person named on the entry form as the owner) and purchaser (being the person who signs the purchaser's docket at the sales) will receive similar prizes, which are:

1st EUR4,000

2nd EUR2,000

3rd EUR1,000

The I.T.B.A. will present the breeder of the winner with a cheque for EUR1,500

To be run at Punchestown, November/December 2004:

'The Bewleys Hotels & ITBA Fillies Bonus Bumper'

This race will be run under the 6 day entry system and further details to be announced at a later date.

AMERICAN STEEPLECHASE NEWS

The talented group with Belmont on the agenda includes Hard Scuffle Stakes (Gr. I) winner Trebizond. The Irish-bred sprinted through the stretch to win the Steeplechase Triple Crown opener at Churchill Downs May 1, and prepped for Belmont with a training flat score at Fair Hill, Md. on May 26. Trained by Kathy Neilson for Delaware-based owner Bill Lickle, the son of Sadler's Wells has earned $70,720 this season.

Eldon Farm Racing Stable's Imperial Gold also won a training flat race at Fair Hill, and could arguably be the race favorite based on a Grade III stakes win vs. open company in April. The New Zealand import, trained in Virginia by Doug Fout, won the $50,000 Temple Gwathmey Stakes at Middleburg on April 19. Behind him that day came veterans Pelagos and Tres Touche, who both went on to win their next starts.

Whitewood Farm's Understood will be familiar to Belmont fans thanks to a flat career that included several stakes starts while racing with trainer Rick Violette. The 7-year-old finished behind Forbidden Apple in the 2001 Manhattan (Gr. I) and was beaten just two lengths by Man From Wicklow in a Saratoga allowance that summer. Over fences, Understood has won twice including a stakes victory this spring at Atlanta.

The complete nomination list (with trainer): Blasphemous (Jeremy Gillam), Coal Dust (Tom Voss), Fighting Star (Janet Elliot), Hotspur (Jonathan Sheppard), I'm Hit Sarge (Ricky Hendriks), Imperial Gold (Doug Fout), Mr Perkolater (Kathy Neilson), Preemptive Strike (Paul Rowland), Naughty Prince (Ricky Hendriks), Niello (Winky Cocks), Senor Melchor (Sanna Hendriks), Sham Aciss (Jack Fisher), Trebizond (Kathy Neilson) and Understood (Richard Valentine).

Entries for the Meadow Brook close Monday, June 2.

FORMER CHAMPION JOCKEY KINGSLEY RETIRES

Jockey Arch Kingsley, champion in 1997, announced his retirement recently due to head injuries sustained while riding. Kingsley, 30, had won eight races from just 24 mounts this spring but also received two concussions in falls.

"I could ride for 10 more years without the concussions," he said. "Who knows why, but I was very susceptible to them, and I set a mark in my mind before this year that if I got a couple more my career was over."

The first came April 12 at Atlanta and the second came May 3 at the Virginia Gold Cup. The jockey emerged from both falls with no other injuries, but was briefly knocked unconscious in both. Kingsley said there are no permanent effects from the concussions (he had several prior to this season), but did not want to increase the risk by continuing to ride.

Kingsley leaves the game with a races-won championship (1997), two money-won titles (1997 and 1999), 123 career steeplechase wins (22nd on the NSA list) and $3,285,511 in lifetime earnings. He rode 1996 Eclipse Award winner Correggio and other Grade I winners Ninepins, Mario, Invest West, Master McGrath, Romantic and Bisbalense.

Kingsley's career began in 1994, and quickly progressed to championship status. He rode under contract to leading owner Bill Lickle and trainer Ricky Hendriks in the mid-1990s, and also enjoyed a successful relationship with Jonathan Sheppard. Beyond steeplechasing, he worked for Hall of Fame flat trainer Bill Mott during summers at Saratoga and winters in Florida. The former jockey lives in Camden, S.C. and is working to become a full-time blacksmith.

TAGG RIDES STEEPLECHASE PAST TO BRINK OF TRIPLE CROWN
Trainer Barclay Tagg is fast becoming a household name because of his horse Funny Cide, who could become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner with a victory in the Belmont Stakes June 7. But savvy racing fans will remember Tagg from his riding days.

Tagg was a licensed steeplechase jockey from 1964-73, and won 37 steeplechase races including a high of 13 in 1969. That year, Tagg rode 113 races and finished fourth in the overall standings while riding for top trainer Jonathan Sheppard. In 1966, Tagg won first jump race, a 1 1/2-mile, $500 maiden hurdle aboard Kings Cruise for trainer Peter Howe at Deep Run, Va. In addition to Sheppard and Howe, Tagg rode for trainers Burley Cocks, Morris Dixon, Ronnie Houghton, Charlie Cushman and others.

During Tagg's time, steeplechases were a regular fixture at many racetracks and he scored victories at Belmont, Saratoga, Aqueduct and Monmouth Park.

Tagg wouldn't be the first former steeplechase jockey to win the Triple Crown, as Seattle Slew's trainer Billy Turner also started out as a jump jockey.

SUMMER SCHEDULE INCLUDES COLONIAL, SARATOGA

Steeplechasing will again be a part of the racing schedules at Virginia's Colonial Downs and New York's Saratoga racetracks. At Colonial, 10 jump races are carded on five consecutive weekends June 15, 22 and 29, plus July 5 and 12.

Highlighting the stint in Virginia is the $50,000 Zeke Ferguson Memorial on July 12. All of the Colonial races will be key stepping stones on the road to Saratoga, which kicks off with the July 20 Open House meeting.

Saratoga's regular schedule will include a jump race on every Thursday during the six-week meet, and the Wednesday of Weeks 2, 4 and 6. The $75,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. II) on July 31 and the $100,000 New York Turf Writers Cup (Gr. I) on Aug. 28 highlight the meet.

FISHER LEADS TRAINERS; JOCKEYS KNOTTED

Through May, the NSA standings featured battles in every category. Maryland-based Jack Fisher's 12 wins topped the trainers, but Fisher is feeling the pressure of fellow Marylander Ricky Hendriks (10). Fisher has started 58 runners, and also leads the standings in earnings with $274,433.

Kathy Neilson was third with seven wins. Three-time defending champion Tom Voss was uncharacteristically out of the to 10 with just two wins from 33 starts.

Among the jockeys, 2000 and 2001 champion Gus Brown and 2002 earnings leader Rob Massey were tied with nine wins each followed by Jody Petty and the retired Arch Kingsley with eight apiece. David Bentley, the 2002 champion, is part of a three-way tie with Tom Foley and Michael Traurig at seven wins each.

The owners were similarly close with four topping the $100,000 mark. Pennsylvania's Augustin Stable led the way with $132,562 from six wins and 24 starts. Maryland's Contrarian Stable was next with $124,916 (four wins from 15 starts) followed by Michael Watt, who's one horse stable of Al Skywalker has accounted for $120,385 on three wins in four starts.

Maryland-based Arcadia Stable completes the quartet with $110,450 from six wins and 15 starts.

Three-time stakes winner Al Skywalker led the horses with $120,385, followed by McDynamo ($95,775), Pelagos ($71,500), Trebizond ($70,720) and Shamrock Isle ($58,733).

NEWS AND NOTES
Jockey Tom Foley will ride in New Zealand during June under an agreement with international Thoroughbred owner Michael Watt. Foley plans to pick up mounts in the Great Northern races at Aukland's Ellerslie Racecourse . . . American Steeplechasing, the NSA's annual hard-cover yearbook, is available through the NSA office. Many members of the media are on the complimentary list, but please call if you do not receive a copy. The book includes official Daily Racing Form charts of all 2002 NSA races, plus detailed statistics, lists and historical information.

2003 SPRING/SUMMER RACING DATES
June 5 Belmont Park; Elmont, NY (one race)
June 15 Colonial Downs; New Kent, VA (two races)
June 22 Colonial Downs; New Kent, VA (two races)
June 29 Colonial Downs; New Kent, VA (two races)
July 5 Colonial Downs; New Kent, VA (two races)
July 12 Colonial Downs; New Kent, VA (two races)
July 20 Saratoga Open House; Saratoga Springs, NY (four races)
July 24 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
July 30 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
July 31 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
Aug. 7 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
$75,000 added A.P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. II)
Aug. 13 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
Aug. 14 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
Aug. 21 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
Aug. 27 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
Aug. 28 Saratoga Race Course; Saratoga Springs, NY (one race)
$100,000 added New York Turf Writers Cup (Gr. I)

2003 FALL RACING DATES
Sept. 20 Fairfax; Leesburg, Va.

Sept. 27 Shawan Downs; Butler, Md.

Sept. 28 Foxfield; Charlottesville, Va.

Oct. 4 Tanglewood; Clemmons, N.C.

Oct. 4 Virginia Fall; Middleburg, Va.

Oct. 11 Genesee Valley; Geneseo, N.Y.

Oct. 11 Morven Park; Leesburg, Va.

Oct. 12 Philadelphia Park; Bensalem, Pa.

Oct. 18 Far Hills; Far Hills, N.J.

Oct. 18 International Gold Cup; The Plains, Va.

Oct. 25 Aiken Fall; Aiken, S.C.

Oct. 26 Pennsylvania Hunt Cup; Unionville, Pa.

Nov. 1 Callaway Gardens; Pine Mountain, Ga.

Nov. 1 Montpelier; Montpelier Station, Va.

Nov. 9 Charleston Cup; Charleston, S.C.

Nov. 16 Colonial Cup; Camden, S.C.

For old articles (from 1st March 2000) go to the Newslink Archive

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