Bright Track Weekly 6 December

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. We will sign off from Bright Track following this week's edition, and look forward to resuming in the New Year. Hong Kong International Races Sunday This Sunday at Sha Tin will see the latest edition of the Hong Kong International Races, with four Group 1 races fielding HK$126 million (A$25 million)  in prize money. Group 1 Hong Kong Vase - 2400m The betting here is headed by Australian-based challenger Without a Fight. He was a most encouraging third to Via Sistina in the Group 1 Champions Stakes at Flemington last month after a long break due to a tendon injury. He is of course last year's G1 Caulfield Cup and G1 Melbourne Cup hero, so fingers crossed that he can build on his return and strike for Australia here. Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint - 1200m This race is widely expected to be a coronation for Hong Kong's new star sprinter Ka Ying Rising. He recently broke the long-standing 1200m track record here, and will look to improve again on that mark here. International interest is provided by Australian challenger Recommendation, a pair of Japanese challengers (Lugal and Toshin Macau) and the UK-based recent Breeder's Cup Turf Sprint winner Starlust. Group 1 Hong Kong Mile - 1600m This potentially looks the most open of the four Group 1 races, with Australian challenger Antino right in the mix for trainer Tony Gollan after his electric Group 1 Toorak Handicap win at Caulfield, which he followed up well with a good effort to run second to Mr Brightside in the Group 1 Champions Mile at Flemington. Stiff competition comes from the likes of Japanese contenders Jantar Mantar (lightly raced and highly progressive) and Soul Rush (well proven at this level and ran well here to be fourth last year), while grand local campaigner Voyage Bubble is another entering this race in good recent form. Group 1 Hong Kong Cup - 2000m Like the Sprint, there is another short-priced local favourite here, with Romantic Warrior at cramped odds to win his third consecutive Hong Kong Cup. He is unbeaten since his Group 1 Cox Plate triumph in 2023 and looks hard to beat again here. His main competition looks on paper to be star Japanese mare Liberty Island. While she's been a little below her best in two starts this year, she was a star in 2023 and looks to bounce back here. She has a good Australian connection, as she is by Duramente and out of star Australian filly Yankee Rose. Tattersalls Breeding Stock Sales buoyant Continuing the theme of buoyant sales, the Tattersalls Breeding Stock sales over the past week was the latest to show strong gains, again demonstrating the incredible appetite for top-class bloodstock on a global level. Their December Foal Sales posted an increase of 46% in aggregate up to 43,504,000 guineas (A$90,444,816), with the average up to 52% to 67,660 guineas (A$$140,665). The sale was headed by the 2.5 million paid by Amo Racing for the Frankel x Suelita filly, who is a full-sister to 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean. This equalled the highest-price ever paid for a foal in Europe, a record which was set 27 years ago. The December Mare Sale continued in a similar vein, with turnover up by 20% to 83 million guineas (A$172,557,000). A mark of these huge increases at the Tattersalls sales this year has been extraordinary investment from the Amo Racing team, and this continued through the mare sales, with the top price of 4.8 million guineas paid for Group 1 Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me (by Nathaniel),  pictured above. A Snitzel colt for Winx It has no doubt been an anxious wait for the connections of Winx, and congratulations to them all upon the safe arrival of her Snitzel colt on 25th November, pictured above courtesy of Coolmore Stud. This colt certainly has plenty in his favour, being by Australia's leading stallion, out of a mare by one of the world's top broodmare sires and, of course, being out of an absolute superstar. Fingers crossed he can live up to his illustrious bloodlines on the track. Overpass relishes Perth once more   Last weekend's racing in Australia was highlighted by the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes at Ascot in Perth, and it was again the Sydneysider Overpass who showed his liking for the Wildflower State. He did not get things his own way, with jockey Josh Parr forced to do plenty of work from a wide barrier early, but showed tremendous acceleration in the straight to power clear and hold on well from Maharba. This was, incredibly, Overpass' fourth win in Perth from four starts, this being his second Winterbottom Stakes, adding to his dual wins in the $4 million The Quokka.   Copyright © 2024 James Harron Bloodstock, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: James Harron Bloodstock GPO BOX 4983 SYDNEY, NSW 2001 Australia Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Bright Track Weekly 21 Nov

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. Japan Cup - This Sunday This Sunday will see the 2024 running of the Group 1 Japan Cup in Tokyo, with total prize money of over A$11 million on offer for a field of 14 runners. Pictured above is 2023's outstanding winner Equinox. The market leaders look to be Japanese locals Do Deuce (by Heart's Cry) and Cervinia (by Harbinger). Do Deuce was an impressive winner of the Group 1 Tenno Sho in October, showing a fantastic turn of foot to get there from the back of the pack. Cervinia is this year's star three-year-old filly in Japan, winning the Group 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the Group 1 Shuka Sho in her past two starts. She takes her first step against the older horses on Sunday. The race is also given great flavour by virtue of a pair of exciting challengers from Europe. Goliath (by Adlerflug) was a hugely impressive winner of the Group 1 King George and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot over the summer, then a cosy winner of the Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris last month in preparation for this race. He is German-bred and trained in France by Francis-Henri Graffard originally for owner/breeder the Baron von Ullmann, and since the King George a significant stake has been sold to USA-based owner John Stewart's Resolute Racing. The other European challenger is dual Derby winner and six-time Group 1 winner Auguste Rodin (by Deep Impact). He is trained in Ireland by the master of Ballydoyle, Aidan O'Brien, racing for the Coolmore team. Auguste Rodin was a close second to Economics in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes in his most recent start, and looks to make amends here.   Records fall at New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale   The latest sale in Australasia was this week's New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, and again, the sale indices increased from last year's figures. Last year's sale had seen the aggregate increase by 39% up to NZ$35.1 million (A$31.2 million), and this rose again, by a further 9.7% up to NZ$38.5 million (A$34.7 million). The average price held steady, with more horses on offer this year. The sale highlight saw a new record for a two-year-old in training sale in Australasia, with David Ellis of Te Akau Racing paying NZ$1.65 million (A$1.49 million) for Lot 174 (pictured), the I Am Invincible colt out of dual Flemington Group 1 winner Shillelagh, who was bred by Chris and Susannah Grace, and reared at Segenhoe Stud in New South Wales. A new star rises at Sha Tin It had been 17 years since Sacred Kingdom scorched the turf at Sha Tin to set the 1200m track record which, despite being a strong sprinting jurisdiction, had stood the test of time until last weekend. The new superstar of Hong Kong racing, Ka Ying Rising (pictured above) lowered the mark to 1:07.43 in the Group 2 Jockey Club Sprint. Ka Ying Rising is a son of New Zealand-based stallion Shamexpress, who stands at Windsor Park Stud. He is now undefeated in his past seven starts for trainer David Hayes, and will be a heavy favourite to take out the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin on 8th December. Kimochi reigns for Gary Portelli and Yulong Kimochi (by Brave Smash) has been a fine stalwart for her trainer Gary Portelli (pictured above with winning jockey Craig Williams and Yulong Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray), only missing a top four finish three times in her 18-start career, and together they claimed a well-deserved Group 1 victory last weekend in the Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield. She was the latest high-priced acquisition for Mr Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong operation to pay dividends after the tremendous exploits of Via Sistina, with Kimochi having been purchased for $2.2 million at this year's Inglis Chairman's Sale. Congratulations to Yulong who had yet another fantastic day at the races, with two-year-old Gobi Desert also taking out the Max Lees Classic at Newcastle. Espionage back into work After suffering a frustrating injury when kicking out on the walker which required surgery, our dual Group-winning 3YO colt Espionage has been undertaking a gradual rehabilitation at both Coolmore Mt White and Oak Ridge Spelling Farm.  He has taken everything in his stride and blossomed into a magnificent specimen over the Spring. We cannot wait to get him back into action for our owners and our stud partner Coolmore. He will head back into work with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott early next week, with his initial target being the Group 1 Lightning Stakes at Flemington on Saturday 15th February. Copyright © 2024 James Harron Bloodstock, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: James Harron Bloodstock GPO BOX 4983 SYDNEY, NSW 2001 Australia Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Bright Track Weekly 14 Nov

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. Sunshine in Melbourne! Since her purchase at the 2023 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale, Sunshine in Paris has been a model of consistency and brilliance. She won the Group 2 Sheraco Stakes on her first run for new owners John and Deb Camilleri, a race she won again this season prior to a big run in the $20 million The Everest. She was again close up when second to Bella Nipotina in the $3 million Russell Balding, and then last weekend finally got her well-deserved second Group 1 victory, this time in the Fairway Thoroughbreds colours, when defeating a high-class field in the Group 1 Darley Champions Sprint on the final day of the Flemington Carnival. Sunshine in Paris has been beautifully managed by her trainers Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald, and this was a spectacular ride from Champion Jockey James McDonald, who kept her covered up until the last possible moment to unleash her outstanding turn of foot. Congratulations to John and Deb on this richly deserved success — an incredible reward for their astute purchase of this remarkable mare. Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalogue released   The time certainly flies, and it's hard to believe that in just two months' time we will be once again up at the Gold Coast for the traditional curtain-raiser of the yearling sales season.  Gerry and Katie Page Harvey, alongside Barry Bowditch and his team have put together a sensational week of entertainment to coincide with both the exciting sales action from 7th - 13th January and the $14.5 million race day on  Saturday 11th January. If you have never been before I could not recommend it more highly for a fun trip. This year's catalogue features 1401 yearlings selling over six days, including the first "super session" on Friday 10th January, where the sale will continue into the evening to replace the old format of the Saturday night session. Good luck to all of our clients, with 13 James Harron Bloodstock-managed yearlings entered for this sale, amongst them are plenty by our stallion graduates Capitalist (who has 38 yearlings entered in total) and King's Legacy (with 18 entered). Brightside reigns again Dropped back to 1600m after a pair of creditable runs at 2000m in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes and the Group 1 Cox Plate, seven-year-old gelding Mr Brightside was back to his very best to defeat Antino and Fangirl in an exciting edition of the Group 1 Champions' Mile. What an outstanding war horse Mr Brightside has proven to be, with 18 wins from his forty starts, and here as good as ever sixth-up into a gruelling preparation where he has faced the best mile to mile and a quarter horses in the country every time. His earnings now stand in excess of $16 million, and he shows no signs of slowing down. Congratulations to Ben, Will & JD Hayes and their entire Lindsay Park team and also to Craig Williams, with this victory stamping an outstanding season for him, with earnings over $15 million for the third consecutive season. Flemington posts crowd increases It has been a recent feature of the big Australian race meetings to post big crowd figures, and this year's Spring Carnival at Flemington was no exception. With the total attendees across the four days of action sitting at 285,675, marking an 8% uplift on the 2023 figures.  Most notable in recent attendances has been a large number of young people attending, and indeed this was again the case over the Carnival, with 45% of general admission ticket holders being under the age of 35. Overall these are great trends for the industry, with capturing the attention of younger racegoers a key aim of racing authorities. Copyright © 2024 James Harron Bloodstock, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: James Harron Bloodstock GPO BOX 4983 SYDNEY, NSW 2001 Australia Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Bright Track Weekly 11th October

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. Everest gains Group 1 status In an exciting announcement for Sydney racing, the $20m The Everest was announced this week to be elevated to Group 1 status with immediate effect. The Everest has been a wonderful event for JHB and our partners, taking out the first edition with Redzel in 2017 and the 2022 edition with Giga Kick. We are very much looking forward to this year's race on 19th October, where we will be cheering on Lady of Camelot. Tattersalls Book 1 booming!    There was much anticipation ahead of this year's Tattersalls October Book 1 Yearling Sale, and it has been a blockbuster in every sense of the word. The aggregate spend increased by a remarkable 34% to 127,823,000 gns (A$260 million), despite 46 fewer yearlings sold than last year, while the average was up by an incredible 52% to 370,501 gns (A$753,535) The presence of Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing has been a major driver of the increase, with their spend of 19,575,000 gns (A$39.8 million) headed by the 4.4 million gns (A$8.9 million) Frankel filly out of Aljazzi (pictured above) consigned by Newsells Park Stud, the second highest priced yearling ever sold at Tattersalls after the 5 million gns (A$10.1 million) paid for the Galileo x Alluring Park filly by Al Shaqab Racing back in 2013. The massive interest in quality stock is good news for all involved in the horse racing and breeding industries. With the ever-increasingly global nature of the sport, it is crucial that quality bloodstock retains its status as an appealing asset class. A great crop of young jockeys in Sydney The strength of any industry is always naturally dependant on the quality and skill of its participants, so it has been exciting to witness the rise of several young jockeys in the Sydney riding ranks in recent seasons all from the same crop of apprentices. This group had a field day on Saturday, with Reece Jones (pictured) taking out his maiden Group 1 race in the Metropolitan Handicap on Land Legend, while Zac Lloyd showed the benefit of his great grounding in riding a treble, headed by a Group 1 win in the Flight Stakes aboard Lady Shenandoah. With other rising stars from the same crop, Tyler Schiller and Dylan Gibbons also already on the Group 1 scorecard for their careers, the future for jockeys in Sydney looks to be in safe hands. Foal Showcase During the Spring we get to not only enjoy fantastic racing, but also the arrival of the latest crop of foals. Below features some of the impressive youngsters produced by our portfolio management clients so far, with photos courtesy of Newgate Farm. Anamoe x Forever Loved filly, bred by Greg and Donna Kolivos' Lightning Thoroughbreds - Forever Loved was a JHB yearling selection and winner of the Group 2 Blazer Stakes at Flemington. Capitalist x Danserai d'Amour colt, bred by Belinda Bateman. Danersai d'Amour is a Redoute's Choice three-quarter sister to dual Group 1 winner Russian Revolution, out of JHB broodmare purchaser Ballet d'Amour. Anamoe x Kiki Express filly, bred by G1G Racing and Breeding. Kiki Express was a winner of the Listed Debutant Stakes at Caulfield as a two-year-old and was a JHB purchase at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale in 2024, carrying this filly. Home Affairs x Pretty Woman filly, bred by Rob Love. This filly is out of Rob's homebred Pretty Woman, who was an impressive winner of her first two starts as a two-year-old, and very unlucky in the Group 2 Reisling Stakes. Anamoe x Starry colt, bred by Belinda Bateman. This colt is out of JHB yearling purchase Starry, who is already the dam of Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes runner-up Celestial Bling (by Capitalist). Copyright © 2024 James Harron Bloodstock, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: James Harron Bloodstock GPO BOX 4983 SYDNEY, NSW 2001 Australia Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Bright Track Weekly 3rd October

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Last week we looked forward to America's Championship race, the US$7 Million Breeders' Cup Classic. This week sees the latest renewal of Europe's Championship race, the €5 million Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which will be run this Sunday at 11:20pm AEST. This year looks a particularly open renewal, with the betting dominated by the three-year-olds Look de Vega (by Lope de Vega and trained in France by Yann and Carlos Lerner), Sosie (by Sea The Stars and trained in France by André Fabre), Los Angeles (by Camelot and trained in Ireland by Aidan O'Brien) and Shin Emperor (by Siyouni and trained in Japan by Yoshito Yahagi). As always this will be a fascinating contest, and the video above from Attheraces gives you a bit of background into the thinking behind the race and the great spoils up for grabs. Lady of Camelot to tackle The Everest It was with great pleasure that we announced on Wednesday that we have reached an agreement for Sir Owen Glenn's Go Bloodstock operation to lease the James Harron Bloodstock slot in the 2024 The Everest, with a view to running their outstanding Group 1 Golden Slipper winning filly Lady of Camelot. It is fantastic to do a deal with Sir Owen. Lady of Camelot is an outstanding flagship for his hugely successful breeding operation, and we are looking forward to cheering her on at Randwick in The Everest, with upside for our partners in the slot built into the deal should she run as well as we hope she can. This year's Everest looks to be wide open, and based off the form she showed when winning the Group 1 Golden Slipper, Lady of Camelot is right in the mix and can bounce back to this form returning to weight for age (carrying 51kgs vs the older geldings on 58.5kgs) after being poorly treated at the set weights and penalties scale last time in the Group 2 The Shorts. Solid selling at Goffs Orby    The European yearling sales circuit transferred this week to Goffs for their two-day Orby Yearling Sale, and the sales figures held up strongly. The average was up 5% to €128,594, and in total over €50 million worth of yearlings changed hands. Godolphin were in strong form, purchasing seven yearlings including the sale-topping Frankel colt at €2,000,000 pictured above. This colt is out of the Listed-winning Invincible Spirit mare Loch Lein, and from the family of Group 1 winners Bandini, Out for a Spin and Lord North. Martini Mumma to the Kosciuszko The $2 million TAB Kosciuszko has been a fantastic innovation by Racing NSW, giving country trainers, and punters the chance to experience the thrill of racing at Royal Randwick on Everest day for huge prize money. It has been a long-term aim for Rob Love's homebred mare Martini Mumma by her trainer Matt Dale to work towards this race, and it was fantastic that on Friday last week she managed to secure a slot, with David Tatler of Ermington electing to put his faith in her. She ran on Saturday at Rosehill, where she simply ended up far too much out of her ground, running on strongly from an impossible position and recording the 3rd best final 600m of the day. Better placed in running, she can bounce right back to her brilliant best in the Kosciuszko. Trial winner for King's Legacy    As the new crop of two-year-olds begin to hit the trials, it is always interesting to see how the progeny of the new stallions will shape up, and of course we are watching with great interest with regard to the first runners for our Colt Partnership graduate King's Legacy (by Redoute's Choice, and pictured above). On Tuesday in Adelaide we saw an impressive debut trial from King's Legacy filly Steel Trap, trained by Dan Clarken and Oopy Mac Gillivray. She was smartly into stride, and always travelled powerfully near the speed before drawing clear for an impressive win. She will now likely head to the 2YO Moorundi Classic at Murray Bridge on Saturday 12th October. WATCH THE TRIAL CLICK HERE Two-year-old hour of power! The first hour of racing this Saturday will see the first outing on race day for the new crop of two-year-olds, which is always both exciting and interesting with a view towards the remainder of the juvenile season. These races were good to us in 2023, with Espionage taking out the Breeders' Plate and Bodyguard (pictured above) victorious in the Maribyrnong trial. Below are the juvenile races carded, with times in AEST. Saturday 5th October 12:15pm - Officiating at Aquis Plate - 1050m Doomben 12:40pm - Group 3 Arrowfield Breeders' Plate - 1000m Randwick 12:55pm - Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes - 1000m - Flemington 1:15pm - Group 3 Keeneland Gimcrack Stakes - 1000m Randwick This year, our Colt Partnership will field Valedictorian (by Zoustar, trained by Michael Freedman and ridden by Tommy Berry) in the Breeders' Plate and Gambler (by Capitalist, trained by Peter Snowden and ridden by Michael Dee) in the Maribyrnong Trial. We will also see the debut of impressive trial winner Memo (by Capitalist) in the Gimcrack. She was bred by our portfolio management client Rob Love, who has retained a share in this exciting filly. Equimillion this weekend    While there is plenty of exciting action on the track this weekend, we will also see a great showcase of thoroughbreds in action off the track, with the Equimillion, a recent initiative from Racing NSW. Open exclusively to retired racehorses, the Equimillion offers $1 million in prize money across various classes, including showing, dressage and show jumping. We are delighted to sponsor JHB Colt Graduate Mexico (by Capitalist), who will compete in the dressage and showjumping with rider Kimberley Keegan (both pictured above). Mexico only retired in March this year, and has quickly adapted with aplomb to his new career - so best of luck to he and Kimberley! For more information on the Equimillion, please CLICK HERE Copyright © 2024 James Harron Bloodstock, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: James Harron Bloodstock GPO BOX 4983 SYDNEY, NSW 2001 Australia Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Bright Track Weekly 27th September

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we will bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. City of Troy ignites excitement Coolmore and their partners have long coveted victory in the US$7m Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on dirt, coming agonisingly close in 2000 with "The Iron Horse" Giant's Causeway going down by just a neck to Tiznow, who would go on to defeat another European star, Sahkee, in 2001 by a similar margin. Their latest star, City of Troy (by Justify), has now put together a trio of Group 1 wins as a 3YO in the Epsom Derby over 2400m, the Eclipse Stakes and the Juddmonte International, both over 2000m.   Demonstrating the meticulous planning of Coolmore Ireland's master trainer, Aidan O'Brien, City of Troy was sent for a racecourse gallop at Southwell in the UK this week, with the team not only sending City of Troy and a field of stablemates to simulate a race, but also a set of American starting gates, along with the bell that will ring as they open, to further expose their colt to what he will face against America's best at Del Mar on Saturday 2nd November. On what was not a race day at Southwell, a large crowd turned out to watch him in what was a great display of the appeal of horse racing, and the connection that fans build with its stars. City of Troy put on a great show for those that travelled to see him, powering well clear of his companions, and it will be with great excitement that he lines up at California in November for his date with destiny. You can view footage of his track gallop at the link above. A greyt week for Silver Spirit Rob Love's broodmare Silver Spirit (pictured above with her 2021 Capitalist filly Spirit of Wealth) secured by JHB for $60,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale from Bhima Thoroughbreds (sold on behalf of GSA Bloodstock), has been something of a quiet achiever with her progeny, and looks like breaking through in some style with her latest pair of flying fillies. She was bought in foal to Capitalist, with the resultant filly, Greyt Mumma, retained to race by Rob and a group of his friends, to whom she provided a great journey. She took the ownership group to many super days at the track,  winning three times, including at city level. Next came the very speedy Pariah filly Martini Mumma, also retained by Rob to race and she has been a revelation with Goulburn trainer Matt Dale. She won twice in the country by big margins, before heading to town and again impressively taking out a strong Highway at Rosehill before running a brave fourth in the Listed Denise's Joy Stakes at the Scone Cup Carnival. She returned in great order recently at Randwick with a strong third at BM78 grade, and again returns to that level tomorrow at Rosehill where she will get her favoured soft ground conditions and can hopefully put herself on notice for one of the remaining slots in the $2m Kosciuszko at Randwick on 19th October. Silver Spirit's latest three-year-old filly looks to be well on the path of following her sisters' hoof prints. Sold to Darby Racing and trained by Michael Freedman, she is named Spirit of Wealth and has impressed hugely by winning both of her starts, including in city grade on Wednesday at Warwick Farm, again trucking along near the lead and showing her rivals a clean pair of heels in the straight. She looks every inch a black type filly in the making, so well done to her connections. We look forward to heading to the Gold Coast in January with Silver Spirit's lovely King's Legacy colt in the Newgate Farm draft. New Magic Millions 'super session' of selling    The Magic Millions' $14.5m race day, which in 2025 will be held at the Gold Coast on Saturday 11th January, has by all measures been a runaway success. It is a wonderful day of top-class racing, with huge prize money up for grabs for the participants. It has, as pointed out by Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch, become quite arduous after a long day at the races, to switch focus to an evening of selling horses for buyers and sellers alike.   Magic Millions should be applauded for, as always, listening to the feedback and innovating a new approach to the final session of selling by essentially moving the Saturday night session, and creating a 'super session' on Friday 10th January, giving all involved the chance to thoroughly enjoy a day of quality racing on Saturday. Copyright © 2024 James Harron Bloodstock, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: James Harron Bloodstock GPO BOX 4983 SYDNEY, NSW 2001 Australia Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Bright Track Weekly - 20th September

Bright Track Weekly In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we will bring focus on the positive. Bright Track Weekly highlights a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. Bodyguard Returns to the Trials We have waited patiently for the return of our Colt Partnership's dual stakes-winning juvenile Bodyguard at the trials as a three-year-old, which was set for this Monday at Rosehill. Always an outstanding physical specimen, as you can see in the photo above, he's blossomed further into an Adonis as a three-year-old, and it was fantastic to see him blitz his trial rivals under jockey Tommy Berry, coming home over six lengths clear of his competition. (REPLAY CLICK HERE) He will return to racing action next Saturday 28th September in the Listed Heritage Stakes at Rosehill over 1100m, with Tommy Berry booked to ride. First Official 2YO Trials on Monday   The latter part of September is always a very exciting time in both the breeding and racing worlds, as we see the latest crop of Sydney two-year-olds unveiled at the first official two-year-old trials, which this year will be on Monday 23rd September. This is often a source of many future stakes winners, no more so than last year, where we saw no fewer than 10 future individuals stakes winners. For the James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership these trials were the source of stakes-winning juveniles Espionage, Bodyguard and Highness last year, while also producing Fearless (later Gr1 placed) and Customized (later Gr3 placed). Outside of these we also had the first look at subsequent Group 1 winning fillies Lady of Camelot and Manaal. This year's heats will see three colts for the JHB Colt Partnership, Gambler (by Capitalist) in Heat 1 at 9:00am, Valedictorian (by Zoustar) in Heat 3 at 9:30am and Anarchist (by Exceed and Excel) in Heat 5 at 10:00am, while our Filly Partnership sends out Mythology (by Wootton Bassett) in Heat 4 at 9:45am. It is also great to see that JHB Colt Partnership graduate Capitalist is the most-represented sire, with six of his two-year-olds entered to trial. The action kicks off from 9am on Monday, and will be live on Sky Thoroughbred Central and www.racingnsw.com.au  Brightside and Jenni in epic Flemington showdown This year's Group 1 Maybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday really was a race for the ages. Both ridden to their optimal effect, both Mr Brightside and Pride of Jenni gave their absolute all on a heavy 9 track, with Mr Brightside just getting his nose in front on the line under Craig Williams. These two warhorses are building one of the most captivating rivalries we have seen in years, and here's hoping that they will have many more duels in the future. The Everest Taking Shape The past two weekends have seen a couple of key races with regard to the make up of the field for this year's The Everest on 19th October. Bella Nipotina is an incredible example of longevity and toughness, looking to be as good as ever with a fast-finishing second to I Am Me in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes over 1000m on what was her 53rd start. It was no surprise to see a deal done for her this week, with TAB securing her to race in their slot for 2024. Sunshine in Paris lined up to defend her crown in the Group 2 Sheraco Stakes on Saturday and under an inspired Tommy Berry ride, she got there in the nick of time after sitting well back from the frantic speed set up front. She was secured by JHB at the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for her owners John and Deb Camilleri. With John and Deb's Fairway Thoroughbreds now having secured an Everest slot, Sunshine in Paris looks assured of lining up on 19th October.

Bright Track Weekly - 12th September 2024

A Bright Start to a New Season In a world where challenges often take centre stage, we will bring focus on the positive. This new, weekly newsletter, Bright Track Weekly, will highlight a selection of racing and breeding snippets, celebrating the vitality of our great sport. Yearling Sales Booming Following a record-breaking Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale in August, which saw over US$82,000,000 (A$122m)  worth of yearlings changing hands, the stage moved to Kentucky for Book 1 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale this week. The incredible momentum continues unabated, with records once again being surpassed. Book 1 (the first two days of a 12 day sale) concluded with an average up 10.8% to US$586,000 (A$876,230)  and a median up 18.75% to  US$475,000 ($A710,260). Pictured above is the sale-topping US$5m (A$7.48m) Curlin x Cavorting colt, sold by Indian Creek on behalf of Stonestreet Stables to Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm. Strong start for three-year-olds When any crop of juveniles return for their three-year-old season there is great anticipation to see if they can measure up against their elders. With that in mind it was exciting to see Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Hayasugi and Group 1 Golden Slipper winner Lady of Camelot perform with great credit to be second and third respectively against the older horses in the Group 1 Moir Stakes last Saturday. This sets the stage for an exciting season ahead for the very highly-regarded three-year-old crop. Dual Group 1 breakthroughs There have been two Group 1 races in Victoria so far this season, and both have seen trainers taking out their first victories at the elite level. Pictured above on the left is Gavin Bedggood alongside his revitalised sprinter Mornington Glory, who took out the Group 1 Moir Stakes at $9. On the right is Enver Jusufovic with his Group 1 Memsie Stakes winner Pinstriped, victorious at odds of $14. Congratulations to all involved! Excellent Frankel colt for Emro Our Broodmare Partnership welcomed a new arrival this week in the shape of a Frankel colt out of Emro. She was purchased by James for US$425,000 in foal to Constitution at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. The resultant yearling filly by Constitution sold for US$500,000 to Lael Stables at the  Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale this August, so Emro is off to a cracking start in her broodmare career!  Mexico for the Equimillion The thoroughbred is an incredibly versatile breed, able to take on any number of disciplines. Mexico, who was Group 2 placed in the Roman Consul Stakes for the James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership, was retired just six months ago, and is proving to be a great comrade for his new owner Victoria Bloch (both pictured above). The Equimillion is a new initiative, showcasing and celebrating the adaptability and suitability of thoroughbreds in new careers, with $1,000,000 in prize money available over four days of competition. We are very proud to sponsor Victoria and Mexico as they work towards this new event in early October.