Saudi Cup jockeys’ challenge list, the retirement of Mawj and a potential A$50m deal for top Aussie juvenile feature in our weekly digest of recent international racing news
Triple Crown nominations include 47 from Japan
USA: A total of 346 nominations (down from 369 in 2023) have been received for this year’s Triple Crown – including no fewer than a record 47 names from Japan. Forever Young, unbeaten in three, leads the Japanese contingent for international pioneer Yoshito Yahagi.
Dual Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher leads the way with 54 entries, headed by Breeders’ Cup winner Fierceness, who was beaten at odds-on last weekend at Gulfstream Park. Bob Baffert, who is barred from having runners at Churchill Downs, has 18 nominations led by the unbeaten Nysos.
‘He is a really good colt’ – Nysos charges to top of three-year-old charts
The Triple Crown begins with the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby with a $5m purse on May 4. Initial entry fee for the three races is $600, with a $6,000 late payment option open until April 1. More here
Damien Oliver coming out of retirement at Saudi Cup
Saudi Arabia: Australian legend Damien Oliver is to come out of retirement for a one-off return at the Saudi Cup meeting later this month.
Oliver, 51, exited the scene with a fairytale victory on his final ride at his home track, Ascot in Perth, in December. However, the three-time Melboune Cup-winning jockey has been tempted back to ride in the annual International Jockey Challenge in Riyadh on Friday Feb 23.
Also among the 14 riders taking part – seven men, seven women – are world #1 Ryan Moore, French champion Maxime Guyon and US-based pair Luis Saez and Katie Davis. Four-time NZ champion Lisa Allpress, who made history as the first female to ride a winner in Saudi Arabia in 2020, also returns. More here
Guineas heroine Mawj retired
Dubai: Last year’s 1,000 Guineas winner Mawj, touched off by Master Of The Seas in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, has been retired to join Godolphin’s broodmare band.
Mawj provided trainer Saeed Bin Suroor with the 500th Group win of his career in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland in October. However, she was last of nine at Meydan on her four-year-old reappearance in the Jebel Hatta on Jan 26. More here
Also confirmed is the retirement is Goodnight Olive, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint for the last two years. She will be bred to Not This Time. More here
Coolmore secure star juvenile in potential A$50m deal
Australia: Coolmore have been active this week with big-money buys on both hemispheres – headed by the multi-million purchase of star Australian two-year-old Storm Boy.
According to multiple reports, a deal worth a potential A$50m (about $32.4m/£25.7m) via add-ons was agreed for the unbeaten son of Triple Crown winner Justify.
Trained by Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, Storm Boy is favourite for the Golden Slipper, the world’s richest two-year-old race, after a blistering win in last month’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic. More here
On Tuesday [Feb 6], the Coolmore team went to $2m for the purchase purchase of Zetta Z, the dam of star three-year-old Nysos. The daughter of Bernardini was top lot at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale. More here
Spendthrift acquire breeding rights to National Treasure
USA: Pegasus World Cup hero National Treasure will join the stallion ranks at Spendthrfit Farm at the end of his racing career. Spendthrift announced last week that they had acquired breeding rights to the four-year-old son of Quality Road, who won the Preakness Stakes in 2023.
“National Treasure is the kind of stallion prospect we all look for because he possesses every quality that excites you about his potential to become an important sire,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. “He was precocious enough to place in a very good Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, he’s an American classic winner at three, and now a leading older horse at four.” More here
Clean sweep for eight G1s for Mullins at Dublin jumps feature
Ireland: Even by his own standards, Willie Mullins monopolised the two-day Dublin Racing Festival with a remarkable clean sweep of all eight Grade 1 events across the two-day event at Leopardstown [Feb 3-4].
Mullins’s success at Ireland’s most prestigious jumps fixture was highlighted by the Irish Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs, who now heads to Cheltenham to defend his crown there, and Irish Champion Hurdle victor State Man. More here
However, the omnipotence of one stable is bound to raise questions about a preceived lack of competition in the jump racing sphere, now seemingly dominated by a handful of ‘super stables’. A total of 94 entries were this week received for the Grand National [April 13] – including a record 61 horses trained in Ireland. More here
Elsewhere in racing …
USA: Exercise rider Arturo Mares dies after training accident More here
USA: Death of Toby Keith, aged 62 More here
USA: Barn 15 at Belmont in EHV quarantine More here
Japan: Belmont winner Palace Malice arrives at Darley Japan More here
New Zealand: Scandinavian champion jockey Graberg making most of NZ stint More here
Dubai: Breeders’ Cup third Starlust heads Meydan feature More here
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