WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 TDN Q&A: JONATHAN >TRANSATLANTIC PICK 4= TO COMBINE NYRA, LONGCHAMP STAKES by T.D. Thornton THOMAS TALKS The New York Racing Association (NYRA) will host a morning/afternoon ATransatlantic Pick 4@ Sunday, Oct. 7, linking CATHOLIC BOY two Group 1 races from ParisLongchamp Racecourse with a pair of Grade I stakes from Belmont Park. In addition, the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the G1 Prix de l'Opera from Longchamp will both be televised live in a 90-minute Fox Sports (FS2) show that starts at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. The GI Flower Bowl S. and GI Frizette S. will be the Belmont races (order within the Pick 4 to be determined). Cont. p4 Click the photo to play the TDN/XBTV video. IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Young trainer Jonathan Thomas has enjoyed a breakout year in THUNDER MAKES NOISE AT TATTS IRELAND 2018, spearheaded by the rousing success of his versatile 3- First-crop sire Night Of Thunder provided the €180,000 year-old colt Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), who won the GI top-priced lot during the opening session of the Tattersalls Belmont Derby on grass and the GI Travers S. on dirt in Ireland September Yearling Sale. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. consecutive starts. With the Aug. 25 Travers representing his most recent start, Catholic Boy is being trained up to a tilt in the GI Breeders= Cup Classic at Churchill Downs Nov. 3., where he is expected to take on formidable older foes such as Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) and Diversify (Bellamy Road). The sophomore posted his first workout back since the Travers Sunday, breezing four furlongs at Belmont Park in :50.88, and Thomas sat down with the TDN the following day to discuss his outlook. TDN: The Travers was obviously a huge effort. How well did he recover from the race? JT: The 10 days following the Travers, we used just for a little R&R. So he got plenty of grazing time and got out in his round pen. We were really just trying to use it to regroup. We thought he came out of it well, but it's a good opportunity to give him kind of a mini-break. TDN: Looking forward, what is the plan for Catholic Boy? What went into the decision to forgo a prep race and train the horse directly up to the Classic in early November? Cont. p3 TRAFFIC Control. BT Winners BT Horses NO. 1 FIRST CROP SIRE CROSS TRAFFIC 3 5 Goldencents 2 4 Will Take Charge 1 4 Source: TDN Sire List, 9/25 JAYWALK DAME PLATA DANCIN SHOES White Clay Creek S. – 8/22 Northern Lights Futurity – 9/2 Sadie Diamond Futurity – 9/8 CROSS TRAFFIC The Fastest Unbridled's Song Not Named Arrogate. THE BREEDERS’ FARM 2019 Fee: $10,000 S&N spendthriftfarm.com | 859.294.0030 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Irish War Cry has been retired and will enter stud at Northview Stallion Station for the Justina Severni 2019 season. | Sarah Andrew Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] IRISH WAR CRY RETIRED 4 Marketing Manager Classic-placed ‘TDN Rising Star' Irish War Cry (Curlin) has been Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen retired from racing and will enter stud next season at Northview Director of Information Technology Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md. The Isabelle de Tomaso Ray Villa homebred, a three-time graded winner and runner-up in the 2017 [email protected] GI Belmont S., retires with a record of 13-5-2-0 and earnings of Bookkeeper $1,257,060. Terry May [email protected] NOTHING BUT NET FOR MONMOUTH FUNDRAISER 7 WORLDWIDE INFORMATION Members of the Monmouth Park jockey colony and other local International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN racing personalities participated in a charity basketball game against [email protected] the Shining Stars Ambassadors basketball team Monday night to benefit European Editor the special needs community. Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 8 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 JT: Right off the bat, we had kind of contemplated the Super JT: He's had plenty of seasoning and racing experience, so we Saturday week at Belmont, which included the GIII Hill Prince S. thought we'd kind of take a path that has worked particularly and the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, but after letting the dust settle well. It worked for Arrogate, it worked for American Pharaoh, and going back through his past performances and what's and then last year, to a similar extent, it worked for Gun Runner. worked really well for him, we felt You know, they all had their that the best option was to just last races at Saratoga and train him up to the Classic. He's run then trained up to the Classic. two of his lifetime best numbers off I'm a huge fan of Bob Baffert of a 63-day break and a 70-day and Steve Asmussen, and I break, and going into the Classic, love what they did with those it's a 70-day break. Lord knows he's particular horses, and we're fit and he has a tremendous certainly trying to replicate amount of seasoning under his belt, that. so we felt the best thing to do for him was just to let him regroup for TDN: You probably get asked a few weeks. He actually had his this question every day, but first work back Sunday and that at this stage in his career, do went really well--it gives us plenty you think Catholic Boy is of time to bring him there and better on dirt or turf? hopefully in peak condition. Catholic Boy | Sarah K. Andrew JT: We're in a unique position where he's at the top of the game TDN: Saratoga winners have had considerable success in the on both surfaces. I mean, if you're a numbers person, he runs Breeders= Cup Classic in recent years. Did that play a role at all faster races on the dirt, but that's normally how it goes, in your decision? numerically. The dirt races tend to get faster figures. And TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 8 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 visually, you could make a case that he's been maybe a little bit really going to push it on social media and on all of our more impressive as far as polishing off his races on the dirt. His platforms to get the word out there.@ GI Belmont Derby and GIII Pennine Ridge S. [wins] were Could this internationally linked wager be the start of a trend dramatic, and I think they had a particular flair in that respect. at NYRA? But right now, I think we'd probably have to give the nod that AEverything we do at NYRA, we always get together after the he's probably a little bit better on the dirt. fact and look at data and results,@ Allevato said. ASuccess isn=t always determined by the amount of money that=s bet, especially early on. Sometimes things take awhile to get going. So the short answer is yes, we=d like to do more of this--the idea Transatlantic Pick 4 cont. from p1 of taking the best races, wherever they are, and putting them into one bet. AI think we could see a day down the road when we could see a transatlantic pick 5, and maybe even someday a transatlantic pick 6,@ Allevato continued. AI think fans want it, and as long as we give them the right data to bet international races so that they can be confident and have a strong opinion, then I think they=re going to respond.@ IRISH WAR CRY RETIRED TO NORTHVIEW Racing at ParisLongchamp | Scoop Dyga Tony Allevato, NYRA=s executive broadcast producer and the president of NYRA Bets, told TDN via phone Tuesday that he believes this is the first time a United States pari-mutuel entity will combine domestic with international races in a single wager. AThis is the first time that I=m aware of that two international jurisdictions will tie together to produce one bet,@ Allevato said. AThe world=s getting smaller from a racing standpoint, and that means it=s become a lot easier for U.S. fans to follow international racing. NYRA wants to be a part of that, and to help the sport grow.@ Allevato said the Transatlantic Pick 4 will be available to any North American simulcast outlet or advance-deposit wagering Irish War Cry | Horsephotos company that wants to take it. The minimum bet will be 50 cents. The takeout is 24%.