Magic Wand opens campaign with terrific 2nd in Pegasus turf

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Traffic problems hinder Hunting Horn but he finishes strongly in 3rd Spot

Magic Wand becomes the 37th member of Galileo's Millionaire Club

Season Earnings Updated

A.P.O'Brien Top Earning Horses Updated

Magic Wand finishes 2nd in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park it was a cracking start to the season for the daughter of Galileo

Hunting Horn flies home late to finish 3rd in the W. L. McKnight Handicap (G3) at Gulfstream Park can be counted as a little unlucky

Been working on something special ever wondered who the most successful Ballydoyle jockey in Aidan's time is in terms of winners or the best Ballydoyle jockey by strikerate well here it is

Aidan hoping to get 2019 off to a flyer stateside

24th January

Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien will attempt to get his 2019 campaign off to a multi-million dollar flier in Florida on Saturday when Magic Wand lines up for the inaugural Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf.

The $7 million contest run over almost ten furlongs is the main support event to the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on a hugely lucrative programme at Gulfstream Park in Miami.

O’Brien has decided to take up the challenge with Magic Wand, an impressive winner of last year’s Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot and subsequently runner-up in both the Prix Vermeille and the Prix de l’Opera.

Her last appearance of 2018 was when fourth in the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare behind Sistercharlie.

Magic Wand arrived at Gulfstream on Sunday night and O’Brien said on Monday: “She seems to have travelled well and the plan is to run. Wayne rather than Ryan will ride Magic Wand as the filly will carry only eight stone in the race. That is because she is set to get a 7lb weight allowance for not running on medication".

Lordan will also be on board O’Brien’s other Gulfstream runner, Hunting Horn, who lines up in a Grade Three over a mile and a half on the same card. They will be the first starters of the New Year for the world’s most successful yard.

Magic Wand & Hunting Horn have settled in nicely at Gulfstream Park huge thanks to Brisnet for the lovely pictures

Been working on something special ever wondered who the most successful Ballydoyle jockey in Aidan's time is in terms of winners or the best Ballydoyle jockey by strikerate well here it is

We're off and running in 2019 - Galileo's Year By Year GB & IRE stats updated

Cardini is now in training with David & B Hayes & T Dabernig in Australia.

Image result for cardini horse

Former Ballydoyle residents The Taj Mahal Homesman Johannes Vermeer Douglas MacArthur & Cardini are all entered in the All Star Mile at Flemington on Saturday 16th March Rekindling also entered.

Coolmore swoop to purchase Champion Abel Tasman for $5 million dollars

Champion Abel Tasman sold for $5 million to Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier to lead Monday’s robust opening session of the 2019 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. The amount for Abel Tasman, cataloged as a broodmare prospect, equals the $5 million spent at the 2000 January Sale for Mackie, a well-bred daughter of Summer Squall in foal to Mr. Prospector, as the highest price in January Sale history.

On Monday, Keeneland sold 223 horses for $21,052,200, for an average of $94,404 and a median of $39,000. During last year’s first session, 186 horses grossed $13,265,100, for an average of $71,318 and a median of $45,000.

“We had a very strong session today,” Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell said. “We were proud to offer Abel Tasman and to get the highest price for a broodmare prospect ever sold in January. We thank the Cleary brothers and China Horse Club for the opportunity to market her. It was great to see a large crowd here to watch her sell. She deserved the adoration she got and deserved the price, too.

“It was a very solid sale across the board, even with taking Abel Tasman’s sale price out of the numbers,” he continued. “Short yearlings are very much in demand; there is a great appetite for them. Well-covered broodmares sold very, very well.

“This was a good continuation of the November Breeding Stock Sale. We are in a good market at the moment and horses are being promoted and priced well, which was reflected in the RNA rate (of 29 percent). Consignors are doing a good job of evaluating the market and knowing where a horse should be.”

Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for owners China Horse Club International and Clearsky Farms, consigned Abel Tasman, a 5-year-old daughter of Quality Road cataloged as a broodmare prospect.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Abel Tasman proved herself one of the best distaffers of her generation, recording six Grade 1 wins and earnings of nearly $2.8 million during her racing career. She was the 2017 champion 3-year-old filly following wins in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Acorn (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and is a finalist for the 2018 Eclipse as champion older mare after notching wins in the Ogden Phipps (G1) and Personal Ensign (G1).

Out of the Deputy Minister mare Vargas Girl, Abel Tasman is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Sky Girl and stakes-placed Moonlight Sky.

“(It’s a lot of money), but she’s a queen, isn’t she?” Dermot Ryan, manager of Coolmore’s Ashford Stud near Lexington, said about purchasing Abel Tasman. “They are very rare when they come across like that, animals like her. She had everything; she’d be anybody’s dream filly to own. She’ll go to one of the Coolmore sires. M.V. (Magnier) will talk to his dad and partners and make a decision (on which stallion).

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have her. It is always significant when you get a queen like her, so hopefully she’ll go on and produce by one of our own stallions. It is very possible she will (stay in America).”

Mark Taylor, Vice President of Marketing and Public Sales Operations for Taylor Made Sales Agency, said Abel Tasman handled the attention of being the centerpiece of the January Sale.

“She was just so classy about the whole thing,” Taylor said. “If you study horses like that (you will see) what separates great horses from average horses. Everything she did was just different than the other horses: the way she handled the stress, the way she cleaned up her (feed), the way she came out and did her job and kind of analyzed what was going on. She looks like she is a totally different breed.

“That is what is fun about selling these kind of horses,” he added. “You get to study one of the best horses we have had in a long time. There are other horses that have the biomechanics she does but they don’t have the X-factor.”

Taylor Made Sales Agency was Monday’s leading consignor, selling 50 horses for $9,433,000. They included four of the session’s 10 highest-priced sellers.

With the purchase of Abel Tasman, Magnier was the day’s leading buyer.

Bidding for Abel Tasman opened at $3 million, and the final price of $5 million landed her in a tie as the most expensive horse ever sold at the January Sale. In 2000, Britton House Stud paid $5 million for Mackie, in foal to Mr. Prospector. A Grade 3 winner by Summer Squall out of Broodmare of the Year Glowing Tribute, Mackie was a half-sister to Kentucky Derby (G1) Sea Hero, Grade 1 winner Hero’s Honor and Grade 2 winners Glowing Honor and Wild Applause, she was consigned by Eaton Sales, agent.