Today's Edition

Last weekend marked the arrival of Santa Anita's latest vice president of racing and racing secretary, Steve Lym, who had journeyed south after 43 years at Woodbine. A horseman for the first 11 years there, he trained for a period in the late 1980s--Lym was an employee of the track in various capacities for the other 32. He last held the position of Woodbine's director of racing. "I've given up a steady position of 32 years at Woodbine to come here," he said, of his career leap. "It's a big...

Whatton Manor Stud, halfway between Grantham and Nottingham, has thrived under the Player family for over 40 years. TDN's Gary King sat down with Ed Player to discuss the farm's strategy, and breeding plans for the 2019 season. GK: It's obviously an extremely busy time at Whatton Manor. Would you run through some of the mares on the farm, and their breeding plans for the season ahead? EP: We've got Elpida, who is the dam of Sporting Chance (GB) (Kodiac {GB}). He was a very smart 2-year-old last year, winning...

On a night where four of the seven winners carried Godolphin silks, Poetic Charm (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a half-sister to champion juvenile Teofilo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) no less, came from off the pace to win the global powerhouse's seventh G2 Cape Verdi title at Meydan for trainer Charlie Appleby on Thursday evening. Fellow Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor provided the exacta with Asoof (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). It was the fourth consecutive year the royal blue colours had been carried to victory in the $250,000 1600-metre event and Appleby's second Cape...

Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) was a standout from the beginning, selling for $3 million at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as a half-brother to Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) and Beholder (Henny Hughes). He delivered on the racetrack as well, winning the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf as well as the G2 UAE Derby. He stands his first season at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in 2019, and we caught up with Coolmore's Robyn Murray to talk about his initial book and how he's settling in. TDN: Obviously, a big part of the...

  Tweenhills Stud has added a trio of intriguing sires to its roster in 2019, and one of those is Australian shuttler Zoustar (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}), who will stand his first Northern Hemisphere season for £25,000. The Group 1-winning sprinter has got off to an excellent start Down Under with just a year and a half with runners, with highlights including a trifecta in last year's G1 Coolmore Stud S., a Magic Millions 2YO Classic victory and group-race wins by Lean Mean Machine (Aus) Zousain (Aus), Charge (Aus) and...

Lifelong horse enthusiast, philanthropist and Thoroughbred owner/breeder Phyllis Mills Wyeth died Monday at the age of 78, according to a statement released by the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art, of which Wyeth was a long-time supporter. Wyeth, who achieved her greatest success in racing as the owner/breeder of 2012 GI Belmont S. hero Union Rags (Dixie Union), passed away with her husband, acclaimed painter Jamie Wyeth, by her side. Born in New York City to the late James and Alice du Pont Mills and raised near her family's Hickory...

The Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing community is mourning the passing of Bill Graham, a larger than life figure in the industry as a prominent owner, breeder and builder in various capacities. He passed away Tuesday at 81-years-old following a battle with lung cancer. Graham, a burly individual who played three seasons as an offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League, had been involved in the business for almost 50 years. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2014 and was scheduled to receive the E.P....

As a sequel to our recent exhaustive survey of Kentucky sires for 2019, it seems only fair to cast the net wider and seek some value in the regional market. In doing so, however, we exchange one problem of scale for another: the sheer volume of stallions concentrated in the Bluegrass creates a far more coherent marketplace than the one fragmented from one coast to the other. There is, of course, a degree of traffic between the two. Stallions who fail to find a sustainable niche in Kentucky often migrate...

MG1SW Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}-Alpha Lupi {Ire}, by Rahy) will visit Coolmore's Derby hero and multiple champion sire Galileo (Ire) this spring, Niarchos racing manager Alan Cooper confirmed to the Racing Post. The lanky grey filly rolled through four consecutive Group 1 victories last spring and summer beginning in the Irish 1000 Guineas, followed by the Coronation S., the Falmouth S. and finally the Prix Jacques Le Marois. Her Flaxman colours were finally lowered by the tough-as-nails MG1SW Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) when she ran 3/4s of a length...

The opening of Santa Anita's winter meet late last month came with a spate of good results for European-breds, and three of those had more in common than their suffixes alone. The G2 Mathis Brothers Mile winner River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), the Listed Lady of Shamrock S. winner and GI American Oaks third Amandine (GB) (Shamardal) and the Listed Blue Norther S. third Thriving (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) were all sourced from Britain by owners Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal along with American-based agent Joe Miller of Kern...

For nearly 30 years, trainer Mike Machowsky has been largely known for a Southern California string out of which the odd diamond has been plucked. As of the middle of next month, he'll be helping other trainers in their attempts to achieve the same conjuring trick, when he hands in his trainer's license and picks up the mantle of Fasig-Tipton's full-time California representative. "It's been one heck of a ride," said Machowsky, about his training career. "I've loved it. It's a hard thing to want to give up if you...

The Burns family have been breeding Classic winners at their Lodge Park Stud in Kilkenny for three generations and while some bloodlines have come and gone in that time many others have flourished, including the dynasty spawned by Park Express (GB) (Ahonoora {GB}), one of the foundation mares the stud is probably best known for. The mare defied the theory that old mares tend not to breed their best stock in their latter years by delivering subsequent champion New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at the  age of 22. Before that...