MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2020 PRINCESS NOOR RETIRED TO DECIDE 2020'S WINNINGEST HORSE, LET=S STRIKE A THREE-WAY MATCH WITH SOFT TISSUE INJURY The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton Saturday=s Claiming Crown races produced a three-way tie atop the North American leaderboard for winningest horse in terms of victories in 2020. Galerio (Jump Start), Frost Or Frippery (Lewis Michael) and Combination (Alternation) all enter the final three weeks of the year tied with eight wins apiece. How about scheduling a three-way invitational among these relatively matched geldings to settle the score prior to Dec. 31? The category of most victories in a season is annually overshadowed by the purse-earnings rankings, which are dominated by high-end horses competing in elite graded stakes. Cont. p3 Princess Noor | Benoit IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Dual Grade I winner Princess Noor (Not This Time--Sheza WOOTTON BASSETT SESSION TOPPER TO USA Smoke Show, by Wilko) has been retired from racing with a soft A filly foal by Wootton Bassett (GB) topped the second day of the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale. Emma Berry has tissue injury after being pulled up as the heavy favorite in the report. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Saturday's GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos, owner Zedan Racing Stables reported Sunday morning. AShe's a star and a very talented filly,@ said Amr Zedan. AShe had the race and most probably a few more Grade Is to her name. Our focus now is to get her healthy and off to Kentucky to be the best mom she can ever be. It hurts, but thank God she's well and retirement is the best decision.@ A $135,000 Keeneland September yearling who blossomed into this year's OBS Spring 2-year-olds sale topper at $1.35 million after blazing through a :20 1/5 quarter-mile breeze, the dark bay debuted as an odds-on favorite Aug. 22 at Del Mar and cruised to the easiest of tallies, earning >TDN Rising Star= status. Backing that up with a dominant 6 1/2-length conquest of the GI Del Mar Debutante S., she made it three-for-three with an 8 1/4-length romp in the GI Chandelier S. Fifth as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Princess Noor was 3-5 to get back on track in the Starlet, but was pulled up by jockey Victor Espinoza shortly after taking the lead around the quarter pole. She retires with a record of 5-3-0-0 and earnings of $363,500. 2ND-LEADING FIRST-CROP SIRE #1 FIRST-CROP SIRE by GSWs and BTWs Sire of G1-winning 2YO filly SIMPLY RAVISHING, a 6 ¼-length winner of the Alcibiades S. (G1). G1 SIRE by Sire Sensation Uncle Mo. New to for 2021 Uncle Mo - Chattertown, by Speightstown WinStarFarm.com // 859.873.1717 First-crop 2YOS combine for NYSS Fifth Avenue EXACTA 2YO FILLY LAOBANONAPRAYER led a 1-2 finish for her sire and made it back-to-back stakes victories with a romping 8-length score over Jill’s a Hot Mess in the $250,000 New York Stallion Series S. Fifth Avenue division at Aqueduct on Sunday. WATCH RACE Owner: Daniel Velazquez Breeder: Christina Deronda New to for 2021 WinStarFarm.com // 859.873.1717 Uncle Mo - Chattertown, by Speightstown PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Monday, December 7, 2020 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] 2020 in Photos: February 28. Prince of Arran (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) gallops at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia the morning before the $2.5 million Social Media Strategist Longines Turf Cup. | Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia Justina Severni Associate Producer Katie Ritz NORTHVIEW SET FOR F-T MIDLANTIC DECEMBER 5 Director of Customer Service Katie Ritz talks to Northview Stallion Station’s Paul Vicki Forbes O’Loughlin about their near 50-head consignment at [email protected] Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed Sale. Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen ASMUSSEN’S FINGERPRINTS ALL OVER HKIR 7 Director of IT/Accounting Alan Carasso talks to Cash Asmussen about his legendary Ray Villa multi-faceted career and the impact he’s had on the Hong [email protected] [email protected] Kong International Races. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor 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 | www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • DECEMBER 7, 2020 Week in Review cont. from p1 But the accomplishment of racking up the most wins on the year can be more difficult, because it usually involves keeping a less athletically gifted claiming- or starter-level horse in winning form over a 12-month span. It=s also more intriguing to follow from an Aeveryman@ perspective, because Thoroughbred racing=s annual victory leaders are generally overachieving underdogs who are easy to root for. Combination was first up on Saturday. The Saffie Joseph, Jr. trainee for owner Frank Calabrese already had eight wins on the year and was seeking his ninth in the $75,000 Claiming Crown Express S. at Gulfstream Park. The 4-year-old, who has been claimed six times this year for tags between $8,000 and $25,000 while primarily sprinting in south Florida, tracked the favorite but couldn=t power past, checking in third. Combination | Lauren King Frost Or Frippery ran in Saturday=s final Gulfstream race, the $75,000 Claiming Crown Iron Horse S. The 7-year-old was claimed once this year, for $20,000 by current trainer Brad Cox on behalf of owner Steve Landers Racing, LLC, back in April, and spent most of this season roughing up optional claiming and starter allowance foes at Oaklawn Park, Churchill Downs and Indiana Grand. He unleashed a furious late bid to spurt clear in deep stretch but was almost nailed at the wire by another onrushing challenger. A tight photo revealed he got a nostril down first, earning win number eight on the year (21st lifetime). Galerio was not in action on Saturday. He won his eighth race of the year back on Nov. 21 at Laurel Park. The 4-year-old was claimed that day for $35,000 and is awaiting his next start for new owner SAB Stable, Inc., and trainer Dale Bennett. This trio ranks as tops in the continent. There are nine horses with seven wins right behind them. Cont. p4 Miss Brazil’s Beyer Speed Figure was higher than the following Beyer figures earned in 2020 Grade 1 Stakes Races ”MISS BRAZIL has the potential to be a special horse. Palace Malice was a great race horse and is continuing to be just as great as a stallion. I truly believe in him.” Tony Dutrow LGB, LLC 2020 Inquiries to Tom Hamm and Rebecca Nicholson 859.873.7053 • www.threechimneys.com @ three_chimneys TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • DECEMBER 7, 2020 But none are entered to race in the next few days, so let=s assume that only the three currently tied at eight are likely to be in the running for nine wins in 2020. Might Gulfstream be induced to try and bring them together in a season-ending invitational for winningest horse bragging rights? They aren=t very far apart numbers-wise: All three routinely run low-80s Beyer Speed Figures. Logistically, Combination is already stabled in south Florida, and Cox, the trainer of Frost Or Frippery, is maintaining a division there for the first time this winter. The connections of Galerio would have to be incentivized to leave Maryland. But he does appear to have a slight class edge based on success against allowance-caliber competition and his $35,000 recent claiming valuation (versus $25,000 for Combination and $20,000 for Frost Or Frippery). Frost Or Frippery (inside) | Derbe Glass Frost Or Frippery=s sweet spot is 1 1/16 miles. Galerio=s is a mile. Combination, however, is strictly a sprint specialist at five and six furlongs. Gulfstream=s extended backstretch chute would allow for flexibility in carding some middle-ground distance that might bring these three closer together. Perhaps seven furlongs or a one-turn mile? Maybe Combination could get a weight break for being out of his element, distance-wise? This concept might seem a bit outlandish, but it=s not without precedent. In 1997, when I was a member of the Suffolk Downs press box crew, a local gelding named Maybe Jack had 12 wins by December. So did a Finger Lakes-based gelding named Pro On Ice. We proposed an end-of-season match race to bring the two together, and both trainers agreed to participate in the AShowdown at Suffolk@ to see who would emerge atop the North American leaderboard with 13 wins.