Second in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), Motorious defeats Sumter by a head in the Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T) down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Jockey Francisco Arrieta recorded a milestone 1,000th Thoroughbred victory in North America by winning the opening race at Oaklawn Park Dec. 28 aboard Eternally Grateful.View the full article

Haha. Apparently a typo in the toolbox! Said they'd honour Races 5 and 6 if I get a qualifying bet but I'd have to give them another call.

give them a call , this happened a few weeks ago and all had not been activated, or you may have had restriction put in place the reduce your choices, a subject that I am going to post about !! my son gets more bet back options than I do !!! 

I'm guessing for male apprentices only.😎

Autridge/Bosson?

Having a bit of a dabble on this today. Toolbox says Bet Back on Races 1-6 at Wanganui but only Races 1-4 show as Bet Back. Not really good enough is it?

Returning to seven furlongs, Mufasa notched his second graded victory in the United States while upsetting White Abarrio in the $150,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.View the full article

Whilst all of your points are valid , we mustn't forget that horses have become a much finer beast than even 40 years ago and many simply will struggle if the weights become to much .

You're talking about 2023, not 2022 (where in the first ten horses he bought at Karaka he had two group winners including the Karaka Million winner for the seventh year in a row and two further group placegetters). You're also apparently ignoring Bellatrix Star and saying he only bought 27. If you're going to ignore purchases for Fortuna you can at least also ignore Queen Consort and say he bought 26. His Karaka 2023 Book 1 purchases total a tick over $6m. Even with GST it's less than $7m. Next you'll be trying to tell us that It costs $220 a day to have a horse trained by Te Akau in Oz. You can say Te Akau's racing stable is going relatively poorly in NZ when compared to their usual dominance (which is arguably true; their strikerate and earnings are around the usual mark but they haven't won a Group 1 in the last six weeks). But let's not just pull numbers out of our arses. It's probably too early to be judging 2023 purchases, a third of the way through their 3yo year. Wexford will be hoping so anyway; their nine 2023 Book 1 purchases have won them four maidens. I'd rather buy a horse from Te Akau (or, if you think they do better playing at the lower end of the market, Fortuna). Right this second I'd rather have it trained by Wexford, but there's not much between them right now and in general. They're both in the upper echelon and I'd be happy to have a horse with either.

I would put money on it . I wonder if Hastings is available for the spring carnival just where the 3 G1s will go , I suspect at least one could go to Ellerslie . Give them long enough and I think they could co-op the Levin J/O's to Ellerslie .

Err , wrong , you can add the exchange rate to the Aus rate . Also it is a massive difference to what is charged in NZ . But you knowing I have Wild Knight can argue with me if you must , Micheal . Can I ask you a question , do you have or had a horse with TA ??

Not yet and correction - the figures quoted above are for the 2023 K1 sale not 2022 which to be fair produced Tokyo Tycoon and Quintessa both well bought for under 200k  but their top price purchase was another dud.   Don’t get me wrong is good for the industry if Te Akau succeed they have hundreds maybe thousnads of owners are the leading stable leading buyers and Ellis is supposedly the worlds best at it.   So they should be doing better than a $400k ish return on a $10m plus investment which is shitty shitty bang for your buck.

Opie wont be lost to our industry I can see him joining a top training partnership.The question is which one. In the mean time lets use him as a RIDING mentor  

Yes Ma'am, a half sister to Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan, is scheduled to make her career debut Dec. 29 in the seventh race at Oaklawn Park, a six-furlong maiden special weight event.View the full article

Led by Citizen Bull and Gaming, the 1-2 finishers in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar, at least a half dozen leading 2-year-olds breezed across the country Dec. 28.View the full article

Inclement weather in Hot Springs, Ark., led to the early cancellation of Oaklawn Park's Dec. 28 card. The track conducted just one race.View the full article

Thanks for the responses. The bookies always claimed a late scratching of a well-backed horse without changing the market disadvantaged them in terms of making the book on the race and I can see the point. There’s a point (20/1 I think) where, if a horse withdrawn is that price or larger, there is no Rule 4 deduction applied as the bookies accepted there was no material difference to the shape of the book. Back to the business at hand and we are at Whanganui today and I’m sure there will be a decent holiday crowd: Today’s selections - opposing a couple of favourites just for the hell of it. 2.25: ALTEZZA 3.01: SCELTA DI ELENA 3.40: METAVERSE 4.14: HE’S LUCID No reason why ALTEZZA should reverse form with the favourite in all honesty. HE’S LUCID, on the other hand, is dropping down in grade further than a pebble off a cliff. He looks a bigger penalty kick than Sri Lanka did at 121-0 last evening - obviously like all analogies it doesn’t stand up to close inspection. Mrs Stodge is calling me to do some gardening - God help me…..

Many thanks for that...please PM me your bank account to send the rest to...happy New Year to you and your family.

Outstanding points raised VOR. Thank you!