66 Horses Supplemented to Keeneland January
Keeneland has announced that 66 horses–including Breeders’ Cup winner Structor (Palace Malice), Grade II winner Inthemidstofbiz (Fed Biz) and 2021 GI Spinaway S. third-place finisher Saucy Lady T (Tonalist)–have been supplemented to the 2022 January… [To read this entire TDN News Story, click here.] by TDN
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by Goffs
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Friday
The email bloodstock wakes up to
Golden Horn’s rather curious progeny record came under the microscope in yesterday’s Good Morning Bloodstock email. As a reminder, he gets an outstanding percentage of runners with a Racing Post Rating of 80 and above, and a very decent ratio of horses rated 100 and better, but his statistics fall off when it comes to higher rated performers.
The odd outcome is that the outstanding winner of the Derby, Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and Arc has yet to sire a single Pattern winner beyond the age of two, in spite of his oldest crop being on the verge of turning five.
A less surprising aspect of Golden Horn’s (pictured below) stallion career, considering his brilliance in middle-distance contests in his racing heyday, is that he is emerging as an accomplished jumps sire.
Ten members of his first crop, many of them with remarkably strong pedigrees, have raced in the National Hunt sphere, with seven having won and another one finishing placed.
Trapista, a half-sister to Prix du Cadran winner Mille Et Mille, is the highest rated with an RPR of 131. She won over hurdles for Nicolas Clement at Angers in March before joining Jonjo O’Neill, for whom she strolled to a five-length success in a Huntingdon mares’ novice hurdle in October.
Close behind with an RPR of 130 is the Nicky Henderson-trained First Street, a gelding out of Atalanta Stakes winner Ladys First. He won novice hurdles at Bangor and Warwick in August and September, although he let himself down by running too freely before weakening into fifth in the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow in October.
Byzantine Empire, a half-brother to high-class pair Crazy Horse and Richard Pankhurst, was an astute 20,000gns purchase by Colm Sharkey from Clarehaven Stables at the 2020 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sales, and he won a brace of novice hurdles at Southwell for Fergal O’Brien in the spring.
Trebizond, a half-brother to Group 2 winners Bonfire and Joviality as well as the dam of Palace Pier, was originally a 300,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 buy but was bought as an unraced three-year-old by Ted Durcan for £34,000 at Doncaster in September 2020. He won a Roscommon maiden hurdle on his fifth start for Henry de Bromhead in September.
There is also Galata Bridge, a half-brother to top-notchers Mutakayyef and Veracious who scored in a Plumpton maiden hurdle for Richard Newland in September; She’s All In Gold, a close relation of Intense Focus who won a Stratford mares’ novice hurdle for Oliver Greenall in June; and Topkapi Star, a filly out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Dominant who took a Uttoxeter three-year-old hurdle for Amy Murphy in August 2020.
All in all, it’s no wonder that Golden Horn’s progeny have been so popular at horses in training sales in recent months.
Among those who have been recruited by jumps stables but are yet to run for their new connections are Mcpherson, four times placed on the Flat and purchased by Dan Astbury and Stockton Hall for 20,000gns at Tattersalls in October, and now with Oliver Greenall; Mothill, a winner for Jean-Claude Rouget at Pau bought by Neil Mulholland for 18,000gns at Tattersalls in August; and Nemean Lion, a former Prix Chaudenay runner-up bought by Richard Lee for £18,000 at Ascot last month and currently with Kerry Lee.
Golden Horn’s popularity with the jumps fraternity needn’t be a source of embarrassment. It’s a rite of passage for nearly all middle-distance horses who become stallions in Europe, and if anything that demand for their second-hand stock ought to be another selling point in their favour.
As I remarked in yesterday’s email, Golden Horn’s falling yearling average price at the sales and reduced covering fee of £10,000 at Dalham Hall Stud in 2022 must surely represent opportunities for shrewd buyers and breeders.
Ruby Walsh: ‘At times somebody has to tell someone else to sit down and shut up’
Ruby Walsh spoke about the conduct of the weighing room after the independent disciplinary panel ruling against Robbie Dunne and said at times jockeys have to tell somebody to “sit down and shut up”.
During the hearing, the weighing room culture was described as “rancid” by BHA counsel Louis Weston, a claim challenged by the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) in a statement following the announcement of Dunne’s 18-month suspension on Thursday.
As well as criticising the BHA investigation and the disciplinary panel, the PJA statement said Frost “felt” bullied, which led to a headline in the Times suggesting the jockeys’ organisation had ‘backed’ Dunne.
The PJA chairman Jon Holmes doubled down on the use of the word “felt” when pressed by ITV Racing on whether Frost had been bullied but he defended the organisation and said changes were under way.
Dunne banned for 18 months for bullying and harassing Bryony Frost
Several jockeys reportedly boycotted media interviews over what they felt was an unfair representation of the weighing room. Dunne, who was at Cheltenham on Friday, has seven days to appeal against the ruling, following the receipt of written reasons.
“Based on the evidence surrounding this case, to say that the culture is rancid is an easy accusation to make,” Walsh told ITV Racing. “Do I think that’s the culture of the entire weighing room? Certainly not.
“That said, you have a room full of competitors and rivals. They’re not all friends, nor should they be, but they represent the image of the sport and they have to uphold that. There will be rows but at times somebody has to tell somebody else to sit down and shut up. That doesn’t appear to have happened. That’s what went wrong.
“You have to use words like ‘I’m sorry’. That’s part of any altercation and in sport they’ll always happen but you have to go and apologise. They’re simple words. Then somebody has to reassure the person who was heckled not to worry about it. That’s how the weighing room should work but it stopped working, which is the problem.”
Former jockey Mick Fitzgerald, a PJA board member, discussed what the PJA needs to do to avoid a repeat incident, and said: “We must emphasise that change is happening and that the code of conduct that has been brought in – and will be displayed in every weighing room – means every jockey knows what’s expected from them.
“We wanted a visible presence so any rider, with any grievance, can seek help and get things sorted so we don’t reach a situation like this one. You can’t alter the past but you can change for the future.”
Holmes pointed out several changes the PJA has made in the last year, most notably introducing a code of conduct for all jockeys.
“I have to say, when I first took the job, before this all emerged, I was rather astonished that racing and the PJA didn’t have a code of conduct. We now do and every jockey has seen that. It will be displayed prominently in weighing rooms all over the country.”
Comment: weighing room culture allowed a poisonous situation to fester – it must change
While acknowledging there may be “isolated incidents”, Holmes defended the culture of the weighing room, despite the concerns of the independent disciplinary panel it was “deep-rooted and coercive”.
“I understand how it’s been portrayed in the media and I know the reason behind that,” said Holmes. “In the main, these people are professional, hardworking and decent. There’s obviously isolated incidents but I won’t go into that now as there may be an appeal.
“In every sport, we’re examining where we are, looking at our conduct, the way we administrate and handle player associations. We’ve made changes but I also have to stand up for my members.”
When asked if he accepted the finding that Frost had been bullied, Holmes added: “It’s subject to appeal so I can’t go into the case but I accept she felt bullied, absolutely. She’s one of our members and we offered help in the first place through Dale [Gibson] and Paul [Struthers]. I spent a lot of time on the phone with her – I couldn’t do it in person due to the pandemic. We’ll continue to offer her our help and I know Dale has already attempted to reach out to her.”
The BHA’s chief executive Julie Harrington, who also rejected the claim the weighing room culture was “rancid”, was questioned on the PJA’s claim that it had lost faith in the BHA and the disciplinary panel.
“The independent judicial panel is just that, it’s independent of the BHA and has legal experts who can form an opinion,” she said. “Its record in finding for and against the BHA speaks for itself.
“We work closely with the PJA on a number of matters. Inevitably there will be times when we’re on the opposite side of the table. It’s important to remember they were representing both parties in this case and we’ll continue to have an open dialogue with them and make sure we both gather learnings from this case for the future.
“I spoke to Jon Holmes this morning and we agree it’s important to acknowledge the weighing room is a hugely positive environment 99 per cent of the time but we must take action in the minority of cases when it just isn’t working for somebody. We have to show we’ll support and pursue poor behaviour where it exists.
“Steps are being made. People will naturally feel defensive when an environment they cherish is being criticised but I hope with a bit of perspective people are keen to use this as a catalyst for further improvement.”
Read more on this subject:
BHA chief rejects ‘rancid’ picture of weighing room but says racing must change
‘Absolute disgrace’ – jockeys’ body slams BHA over weighing room claims
Who is Robbie Dunne? From struggling conditional to weighing room ‘enforcer’
