Things to know today
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The Goffs Orby Sale closed its two day Book 1 with a turnover of 54,173,000 euro, up 3 per cent, 390 of the 441 offered sold at a clearance rate of 88 per cent, and record figures for both the average, 138,906 euro and up 4 per cent, and the median, 100,000 euro and up 5 per cent. A total of 197 yearlings made 100,000 euro or more. Henry Beeby, the Goffs Group chief executive, said it is all about the horses, that whatever an auction house does to market a particular sale it is worth very little without the raw material, and that the record breaking statistics have flowed from 48 hours of depth and consistency with a remarkable increase in the number of yearlings surpassing 750,000 euro. Wednesday’s opening Book 2 session turned over 5,286,000 euro, up 8 per cent, for an average of 27,532 euro and a median of 20,000 euro, and was topped at 210,000 euro by a Cotai Glory filly out of Ostatnia from the Irish National Stud, bought by Montgomery Motto (Thoroughbred Daily News, Racing Post) |
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Maurice Barnes has been banned for eight years from working in racing or applying for a licence and fined 5,000 pounds by a British Horseracing Authority independent disciplinary panel, which found ten charges proved: seven welfare breaches, a staff safety violation, a failure to keep equine medical records and a failure to notify the authority of a euthanasia. The panel found he had failed to seek veterinary treatment when it was needed, deprived a horse of water before racing, used a yard broom for grooming, treated wounds with diluted household bleach, driven a motorised vehicle in a way that frightened horses and allowed nine horses to have overly long feet. Barnes, who is 75, won the 1979 Grand National as a jockey on Rubstic and held a licence for 36 years before retiring in March. The panel chairman Clement Goldstone KC recommended in the strongest possible terms that the authority consider drawing the RSPCA’s attention to the breaches, the authority said some of his conduct towards horses in his care was simply unacceptable and has no place in the sport, and his representative said some of his methods could undoubtedly be considered old fashioned but that there was not any malice (Racing Post) |
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New starting procedures come into force in Britain on Monday 5 October for a trial of six to eight weeks, aimed at big field races at the major jumps festivals. Marker poles set up to 40 yards behind the existing starting markers will define a visible starting area, the starter may only let a race go once the front rank has entered it, and the requirement to approach at a walk or jig-jog is replaced by a mandatory walking pace. Breaches during the trial will bring stewards’ notifications rather than penalties. False starts occurred in 40 per cent of races at this year’s Cheltenham Festival against 18 per cent in 2022. Cathy O’Meara, the authority’s head of raceday officials, said they are hopeful the new procedures will create greater certainty for jockeys and the viewing public and reduce false starts, and Dale Gibson of the Professional Jockeys Association said a smooth and fair start for all horses is important for everyone and that they believe the changes will lead to an improved process (Racing Post) |
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Simon Cox begins as chairman of the British Horseracing Authority on Thursday, with the 28 October budget and its threat to betting shop revenue among the immediate items in front of him, along with the governance consequences of Ascot, the Jockey Club and Taunton leaving the Racecourse Association at the end of the year (Racing Post) |
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Shareholder will stand at Tally-Ho Stud in County Westmeath from 2027, joining Zavateri on the roster. The son of Not This Time won the 2024 Norfolk Stakes for Karl Burke and Wathnan Racing and was bought at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale for 460,000 euro by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, having been sourced by Jim McCartan at Keeneland in 2023 for 62,000 dollars and sold at Arqana under the Gaybrook Lodge banner. Roger O’Callaghan said he made a lot of money at the breeze-ups, is a Royal Ascot winning two year old and is also by one of the best stallions in North America, that they saw him as a foal, a yearling and at the breeze-ups, and that it could look very smart in a couple of years when Not This Time’s sons have runners themselves. Fees for both stallions are to be announced later this year (Thoroughbred Daily News) |
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Sahlan has been retired to Haras de Bouquetot for 2027. The Al Shaqab Racing homebred son of Wootton Bassett won last year’s Prix du Moulin de Longchamp by a short head from Rosallion, with Henri Matisse, Marhaba Ya Sanafi, Lead Artist and The Lion In Winter behind, and earned a Timeform rating of 118 for it. He won three of his nine starts for Francis-Henri Graffard, among them the Group 3 Prix Daphnis at Deauville, and was second in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau. He is out of the listed winning Toronado mare Wasmya, a half sister to Wahdan and Talbah. Graffard said Sahlan has always shown plenty of quality but that what really sets him apart is his decisive turn of foot. Syndication is under way and the fee is to be announced (Thoroughbred Daily News) |
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Arqana has folded its November Yearling Sale into the Autumn Sale, which runs from 16 to 19 November, adding around 100 Flat bred yearlings to the catalogue to be offered on Tuesday 17 November. The change is made possible by extra capacity at Cour Morny, a yard beside the sales complex. Horses in training sell on the Monday, stores and National Hunt bred yearlings share the Tuesday with the Flat bred yearlings, more National Hunt bred yearlings follow on the Wednesday, and breeding stock closes the sale on the Thursday (Thoroughbred Daily News) |
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Kind Of Blue won the EBFStallions.com Conditions Stakes at Kempton on Wednesday evening by three quarters of a length under James Doyle for James Fanshawe. Earlier on the card William Buick took both divisions of the maiden, on Charlie Appleby’s Muqarrabin and the Gosdens’ Votadini, each by half a length, and Hector Crouch rode a double on Clive Cox’s Arctic Tsar in the nursery and Gary and Josh Moore’s Hove Ranger in the handicap (Sporting Life) |
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