The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
Tragic loss for Zenyatta
North America: Zenyatta has lost the filly foal by Lane’s End stallion Candy Ride she was carrying, it was announced on Zenyatta.com, a website dedicated to the Hall of Fame.
The statement read, “We at Team Zenyatta and Lane’s End Farm are deeply saddened to share that Zenyatta lost her 2021 foal early this year. She had been carrying a second Candy Ride filly, and we grieve the loss of this precious life. Thankfully, Zenyatta remains in excellent health and is doing very well.”
This is not the first loss for the 17-year-old daughter of Street Cry. She lost two foals - both by War Front - in 2014 and 2016, as well as an aborted a foal by Into Mischief in 2018.
The Lane’s End resident is, however, the dam of four registered foals that are yet to taste a win. She also has a 4-year-old daughter named Zellda (by Medaglia D’Oro), who has not raced, and a yearling filly by Candy Ride named Zilkha. Zellda last worked during the summer.
Sadly, the other great daughter of Street Cry, Winx, lost her first foal (by I Am Invincible) in Australia in October.
Farewell to Godolphin star Slickly
Europe: Slickly, the Godolphin runner whose 2001 win in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp gave him the highest year-end rating in the world for a miler that year, has died at the age of 25, Darley Europe announced.
Initially trained by Andre Fabre, Slickly was an unbeaten 2-year old and was successful at three. At the end of his second campaign, he was purchased by Godolphin and sent to Saeed Bin Suroor. He went on to take a hat-trick of G1 wins at a mile, including the Moulin in which he beat Banks Hill by three lengths.
Slickly stood his first season at Haras du Logis in 2003. He sired the winners of over 900 races on the flat, with four-time G1 winner Meandre, also trained by Fabre, undoubtedly his best offspring. He retired from stud duties in 2019.
Julian Ince, who managed his stud career, said, “Slickly has been a wonderful horse to have at Logis, and had a very loyal following among French breeders. He was the perfect sire for the French ‘primes’ - his stock could win as early juveniles and still be going strong as 6- or 7-year-olds, much as he was himself.”
Huge entry for Qatar festival
Middle East: The Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club has confirmed a massive 306-horse entry for the six international races for the $4.34 million HH The Amir Sword Festival, which will be held at Al Rayyan Racecourse in Doha on February 18-20.
The six races have attracted 75 entries from overseas: 29 from Britain, 23 from France, 15 from Oman, three from Ireland, two from Bahrain, and one each from Spain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The two main events are a pair of $1 million races, both over a mile and a half on the final day. The HH The Amir Trophy, presented by Longines, for Thoroughbreds has attracted 58 entrants, while 48 Purebred Arabians are entered for the HH The Amir Sword, sponsored by Al Hazm.
The G1 winners Aspetar and Lord Glitters, together with Berkshire Rocco, beaten just a neck when runner-up in the St Leger at Doncaster last September, spearhead an eight-strong British entry for HH The Amir Trophy, while another top-level scorer, Intellogent, features among five French-trained hopefuls, alongside Royal Julius, runner-up in this race two years ago.
Laoban filly tops Ocala sale
North America: The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s 2020 Winter Mixed Sale ended on a high note as a New York-bred yearling daughter of Laoban consigned by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds was sold to Sand Hill Stables for $175,000, topping Wednesday’s open session as well as the entire sale.
The bay filly is out of Best Reward, by Grand Reward, a half-sister to stakes-placed Avery Glenn.
For the open session, 231 horses sold for a total of $2,054,800, compared with 199 bringing $1,648,900 in 2020. The average price was $8,895 compared with $8,286 last year, while the median was $3,500 compared with $5,000 a year ago. The buy-back percentage was 21.4 percent; it was 24.9 percent in 2020.
Full results here
Hollie Doyle’s racehorse raffle effort
Europe: Leading British rider Hollie Doyle, second-highest ranked among the world’s female jockeys, has partnered with the Racehorse Lotto to promote its latest prize - ownership of a beautifully bred daughter of Postponed for the whole of 2021, including naming rights and registering the winner’s own colours.
The filly will be trained in Newmarket by Roger Varian, who trained the four-time G1 winner Postponed. All racing, training and vets fees are included - and any prize money goes straight to the raffle winner. Click here for entry details.
“It feels more important than ever to have some light at the end of the tunnel and the Racehorse Lotto’s latest raffle certainly gives everyone in racing something to get excited about,” said Doyle. “The pandemic has also hit areas of the racing workforce quite hard and Racing Welfare, who will receive 20 percent of all raffle sales, are currently providing grants for those in the industry that have been affected.
“She’s a lovely big filly by Postponed, who Mr Varian obviously knows very well, and she looked like a horse with plenty of scope and potential when I went to visit her in the snow last week.”
Elsewhere in racing …
South Africa: The outstanding Mike de Kock-trained Hawwaam, whose best performance in 2020 was rated at 120 in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings announced this week, is to be trained in Britain by William Haggas this year. More here
North America: The Jockey Club will close applications in for its academic scholarships on February 1. Details here
Europe: Leading jump jockey Tom Scudamore shared on Twitter a letter his daughter wrote to Boris Johnson, pleading with the British PM to delay the return to schools until after the 2021 Cheltenham Festival. More here
North America: Multiple G2 winner Sharp Samurai has been retired from racing and will take up residence at Old Friends in Kentucky. More here
North America: Fasig-Tipton has announced Covid-19 protocols for its upcoming Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale. More here
Europe: The second part of Goffs February Sale, a standout day of weanlings that had previously been rescheduled for March 2, will now take place on March 11 due to ongoing lockdown restrictions. More here