Ouija Board, Proxy and Rich Strike feature in our weekly digest of recent international racing news
Globetrotting superstar Ouija Board dies aged 21
GB: Tributes have been paid to dual Breeders' Cup winner Ouija Board, a seven-time G1 winner who was a champion in both Europe and North America, following the outstanding mare's death aged 21.
Trained by Ed Dunlop and racing in the colours of owner-breeder Lord Derby, Ouijia Board won the Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf as a three-year-old in 2004. At four she landed the Hong Kong Vase, and in 2006 captured the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Nassau Stakes before a second victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
The daughter of Cape Cross won Eclipse Awards as America's champion female turf horse in both 2004 and 2006; she was also European Horse of the Year in both seasons.
Ouija Board was to become a successful broodmare in her second career, producing the 2014 Epsom Derby winner Australia from a mating with Galileo. It was the first time in history that a winner of the Classic came from a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner.
Dunlop said: “I was so, so lucky to be entrusted with such a great horse. Putting it simply, she changed my life and I owe her a huge, huge debt.”
Clark winner Proxy set for Pegasus and Dubai
USA: Michael Stidham is eyeing another tilt at the Dubai World Cup after producing the Godolphin-owned Proxy to win the G1 Clark, the colt’s first graded stakes win.
Stidham trained Mystic Guide to win the 2021 Dubai World Cup for the same connections. Speaking of Proxy, he said: “He’s bred to go a mile and a quarter. There are a lot of options now going forward. I’d love to get back to the Dubai World Cup but going into 2023 there’s a lot still on the table after a win like today.”
The trainer also mentioned the Pegasus as a potential next race for Proxy, who beat West Will Power by three-quarters of a length, with Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike finishing last of the six runners. The latter’s trainer Eric Reed told the Daily Racing Form that he had come out of the race with “a pretty serious guttural-pouch infection, about a four out of five.”
Katsumi Yoshida pays 1.2m gns for The Platinum Queen
GB: The Platinum Queen, the two-year-old filly who beat older horses to capture the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, has been bought by one of Japan’s leading owner-breeders Katsumi Yoshida for 1.2m guineas ($1.5m) after she went through the ring at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale. She fetched more than 20 times the sum she had cost Middleham Park Racing when bought at a breeze-up sale in April for 57,000gns.
Six-month cocaine ban for 2021 champion apprentice Marco Ghiani
GB: Last year's champion apprentice Marco Ghiani, one of the rising stars of the weighing room, has been banned for six months after admitting using cocaine. Ghiani, 23, who failed a drug test in August, will be out until February next year.
Joao Moreira passed fit to ride in Brazil ahead of Hong Kong return
Brazil: Joao Moreira is set to take a full book of rides when he returns to action at Sao Paolo in his native Brazil on Saturday [Dec 3], his first rides since Sept 21 when he left Hong Kong to recover from a troubling hip injury.
The four-time HK champion has announced plans to retire and hopes to begin a farewell tour at the Hong Kong International Races on December 11, for which he will have to undergo another medical assessment.
Breeders’ Cup winner Tuesday retired
Ireland: Tuesday, who signed off an Oaks-winning campaign in Europe with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland, has been retired. The full-sister to Minding will be bred to Triple Crown winner Justify.
Elsewhere in racing …
USA: Vicente Del-Cid, #2 jockey by wins in 2022, misses rest of year after suffering facial fractures in spill More here
USA: Veteran Channel Maker to race on in 2023 More here
GB: John Gosden fined over anti-inflammatory positive More here
Japan: David Egan granted short term licence to the end of January More here
USA: Luis Saez enjoys six-win Saturday More here
Japan: Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Geraldina to head to Arima Kinen More here
USA: Woodbine champion Kazushi Kimura to ride at Santa Anita over winter More here
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