{"id":396081,"date":"2025-09-04T02:14:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T02:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/396081\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T02:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T02:14:13","slug":"randwick-one-day-kentucky-the-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/396081\/","title":{"rendered":"Randwick one day, Kentucky the next"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a Sydney trainer just days into spring and horses in crucial parts of their campaigns, ones which could lead to all-important Group 1s, Brad Widdup\u2019s attention is being pulled in different directions.<\/p>\n

\"Kenneland\"Sydney trainer Brad Widdup will be among the Australians attending the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. (Photo: Keeneland)<\/p>\n

And not just whether six-year-old sprinter Jedibeel headed to Melbourne for the Group 1 Moir Stakes or stayed in NSW to run in the Concorde Stakes or whether Savvy Hallie can make it three in a row in the Furious Stakes and potentially on her way to the Flight Stakes.<\/p>\n

Jedibeel, owned by businessman Mike Gregg\u2019s Mulberry Racing, will remain in Sydney and a strong performance at Randwick could put him in the picture for The Everest.<\/p>\n

Mulberry Racing, which is managed by Gregg\u2019s grandson Lachlan Sheridan, won the tender process to take on a slot in The Everest after The Star relinquished its involvement in the race due to ongoing financial issues.<\/p>\n

Jedibeel, arguably unlucky in three Group 1s during the autumn in Sydney and Brisbane, could be Mulberry\u2019s horse for The Everest. But it\u2019s no guarantee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been pretty straight up about it, it’s not about Brad Widdup Racing; they want to put the best horse they can (into the race), but the Briasas have gone, the Private Harrys are gone,\u201d Widdup tells The Straight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of the others are flying in the stables \u2026 so it makes it hard once the first few picks are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randwick on Saturday is one thing, but Widdup will be on a plane on Sunday heading to the United States for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington, Kentucky.<\/p>\n

As well as Mulberry\u2019s Australian-based trainer, Widdup has also become a trusted advisor to Gregg in helping manage his thoroughbred racing portfolio, which extends to America.<\/p>\n

For now, it\u2019s not about importing those horses to Australia, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike would like to, but we want to give the trainer in America (Brendan Walsh) every chance with them before we do that,\u201d Widdup says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll give them every chance to race at two and three, preferably three and see what happens after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeneland can be a daunting task for buyers, not least those coming from the other side of the world and landing on day one of the September sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are 4537 yearlings catalogued, making it the biggest sale of its type in the world, with an average of 378 lots to go through the ring a day across 12 sessions over a 13-day period.<\/p>\n

Such a schedule makes it impossible to inspect every horse and short lists, however they are devised, are a necessity.<\/p>\n

Widdup and Mulberry Racing, who bought six horses at last year\u2019s Keeneland sale, are relying on Walsh and global industry all-rounder Suzi Prichard-Jones for their input.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe give a list to Brendan Walsh and Suzi Pritchard-Jones, who’s a respected horsewoman over there, she\u2019s Irish but she lives in Florida and she has a look as well,\u201d the trainer said.<\/p>\n

Australian representation at Keeneland might be small in numbers, the antipodean buying bench will include Gold Coast-based agent Craig Rounsefell, a regular on the US sales circuit.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Netflix effect – Fasig-Tipton stampede continues global bloodstock surge<\/p>\n

Buyers from around the world, including a Switzerland-based owner inspired by a Netflix series about the Kentucky Derby, have helped push the Saratoga Sale hit a new benchmark with a US$100 million start to the North American yearling sale season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He flew out to the US on Thursday ahead of a big two-and-a-half weeks in Kentucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s probably the hardest work you’ll do at a sale for the year in terms of starting inspecting at 7.30 in the morning and going till they shut up at 5pm,\u201d Rounsefell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a sale, you’re looking at horses that, after you get through the first couple of books (1 and 2), you’re looking at horses that’ll sell the next day. So, it moves at a rapid pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rounsefell\u2019s already been to the US and back, attending last month\u2019s booming Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in upstate New York.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be inspecting yearlings for long-time client, US trainer Dan Blacker, as well as clients from Canada and the Hong Kong Jockey Club.<\/p>\n

The potential addition of the Jockey Club adds an interesting dimension given the US industry\u2019s focus on dirt horses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last few years we’ve been looking (for the Jockey Club), but like you see in Australia and even in Europe, there’s a lot of hoops to jump through in terms of pedigrees having to match the physicals, they\u2019re very strict on that and then obviously getting through their strict vetting criteria,\u201d Rounsefell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the US, there’s probably a smaller pool of horses that you’re starting with compared to say Australia or Europe because of the dirt factor. It’s just about doing the work and if that horse is there that fits the program and it’s in budget, then we’re set and ready to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The 100 per cent immediate tax write-off on American bloodstock, which has been legislated permanently under US President Donald Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill, proved an irresistible incentive for wealthy buyers at Saratoga, and Rounsefell expects similar market sentiment at Keeneland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s also been documented with that Netflix series (Race For The Crown) that it’s brought to light the positive aspects of the industry and probably brought in a few new people whose eyes are on the industry and there has been some really positive things happening in terms of medication and horse welfare and things like that,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think racing\u2019s becoming more and more popular again in the US in certain pockets and I think \u2026 you’ll see it in Keeneland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is definitely the best barometer with that volume of horses. When you line it up year-on-year, it’s the same sort of numbers and when you compare them year on year, you’re getting a true figure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Keeneland September Sale starts with the Book 1 session on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a Sydney trainer just days into spring and horses in crucial parts of their campaigns, ones which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-396081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115143617357676640","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}