FRIDAY, 9 AUGUST 2019 FAST START FOR KEOGH AT THE CURRAGH GOFFS UNVEILS DEEP By Kelsey Riley ORBY CATALOGUE Late last month Pat Keogh, chief executive officer at Leopardstown since 2011, took up the same position at The Curragh upon the resignation of Derek McGrath. The fast nature of that change over means that Keogh will slowly phase out of his Leopardstown role, presiding over both racecourses until the conclusion of Longines Irish Champions Weekend on Sept. 14 and 15. It is no secret that the redeveloped Curragh Racecourse, unveiled after three years of construction this spring, has undergone some growing pains which have already been addressed by racecourse management. TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley spoke with Keogh on Thursday ahead of his first Curragh meeting in his new job, Friday=s Keeneland Phoenix S. card, and Keogh said he is committed to restoring the Irish racing faithful=s love of the historic course. Cont. p3 Orby graduate and Prix de Diane winner Channel | Scoop Dyga IN TDN AMERICA TODAY Goffs on Thursday released the catalogue for its flagship Orby DICKINSON: RACING MUST GO BACK TO SYNTHETICS yearling sale, with 472 yearlings set to be offered on Oct. 1 and 2. Bill Finley chats with Michael Dickinson, the inventor of Tapeta This year, Orby celebrated a second consecutive Oaks winner Footings. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN America. when Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) was victorious in the G1 Prix de Diane. Bred by Kilcarn Stud, Channel was an i18,000 private purchase at Orby in 2017 by Meridian International. The year prior, G1 Investec Oaks winner Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) had been bought by MV Magnier for i900,000. One of the highlights of this year=s catalogue will be lot 262, the latest Galileo filly out of Forever Together=s dam Green Room (Theatrical {Ire}). Green Room, who has also produced the G1 Fillies= Mile winner Together Forever (Ire), a i680,000 graduate of this sale, last year provided this sale=s i3.2-million top lot, the Galileo filly subsequently named Do You Love Me (Ire) and bought by Phoenix Thoroughbreds from Ballylinch Stud. Phoenix Thoroughbreds also laid out i2-million for another daughter of Galileo, a full-sister to three-time Group 1 winner Alice Springs (Ire), at Orby last year and another full- sister to those two goes through the ring this October as lot 127. Other Galileos up for grabs include lot 155, a colt out of G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Banimpire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), and lot 213, a full-sister to this year=s G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire). Cont. p2 TDN EUROPE • PAGE 2 OF 11 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • 9 AUGUST 2019 Goffs Unveils Deep Orby Catalogue cont. from p1 The progeny of young sons of Galileo will no doubt cause some stir, and Frankel (GB) fields a half-sister to dual Group 3 winner Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) (lot 55). Australia himself is responsible for, among others, lot 255, a half-brother to recent Superlative S. winner Mystery Power (Ire). Mystery Power is by No Nay Never, whose progeny here include a half-brother to last year=s G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy) (lot 205). Kingman (GB) is undoubtedly one of the hottest sires on the continent, and his Orby haul includes a half-sister to the six-time Group 1 winner Moonlight Cloud (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 81) as well as lot 258, who is out of a half-sister to the Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}). Orby graduate Forever Together winning the 2018 Investec Oaks | Racing Post Showcasing has also been on a tear this summer, and he has lot 181, a half-sister to Australian Group 1 winner Harlem (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}). There are two catalogued by Dubawi (Ire), including a half- brother to Cheveley Park Stud=s G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. winner Persuasive (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) (lot 188), while Dark Angel himself has a full-sister to champion sprinter Harry Angel (Ire) (lot 156) on offer. Leading French sire Siyouni (Fr) has five on offer, including lot 228 from the excellent Aga Khan family of G1 Irish Oaks winner Ebadiyla (Ire) among others. His compatriot Le Havre (Ire) has six catalogued, including the first foal out of Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) (lot 301). Lot 345 is from the first crop of G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire), and is a half-brother to this year=s winner of that Classic, Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). TDN EUROPE • PAGE 3 OF 11 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • 9 AUGUST 2019 Goffs Orby catalogue cont. Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said, AWe have catalogued a world-class selection of yearlings thanks to our vendors who have entrusted us with many of their best colts and fillies. Last year=s Orby was a record sale for Goffs headlined by the two highest-priced yearling fillies in the world, and that the breeders of both of those fillies have sent the own-sisters back to the Orby this year is a wonderful compliment to the sale. They are joined by a multitude of Group 1 pedigrees to make up a catalogue that we believe has taken a further step forward in terms of quality and depth. We look forward to promoting the catalogue to the world over the coming months and to welcoming buyers old and new to Goffs in October.@ Keogh Off To A Fast Start At The Curragh cont. from p1 KR: What have been your first priorities since taking up the new role at The Curragh within the last couple weeks? PK: The Curragh has always had a fantastic racecourse and training grounds; they=re famous all over the world. But for the last 20 years, The Curragh has had very poor facilities for racegoers. We now have invested and built a very fine grandstand, which is magnificent. But I suppose with a lot of new sporting venues--and we have seen this before in racing-- you=re going to have teething problems. Unlike a football stadium where someone goes to the same seats for the whole match, people move around racecourses, and trying to anticipate people=s movements isn=t easy. There were teething problems and what we=ve tried to do is iron those teething problems out and allow everyone to grow to love The Curragh and really establish it in its rightful place in world racing. There was a feeling where some people said there were too many reserved areas within the racecourse, where the general pubic didn=t have access, and we=ve dealt with that very swiftly. My first race meeting is [Friday] night for the Keeneland Phoenix S., and the public will see changes already when they get there [Friday] night. We=ve made quite a few changes, we=re not finished yet, but we=ve already made changes and I think that=s a signal of our intention to make whatever changes we need. KR: It was well publicized that there were only 12,000 people on course on Irish Derby day. This highlights a wider problem in racing where we=re facing dropping racecourse attendances; what do you think can be done to reverse this trend? TDN EUROPE • PAGE 4 OF 11 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • 9 AUGUST 2019 Pat Keogh Q&A cont. PK: Competition has never been greater. There was a time when you had to go racing to see it, before TV, before you could bet online; you didn=t have the option to stay at home and watch racing along with all your other favourite sports. That is a challenge for all racecourses. I think we have to go back to basics on this. I certainly went Vice President, International Operations Gary King racing the first time for the love of the sport, the love of the Twitter: @garykingTDN animal, the beauty, the speed, the colour, all those things. I [email protected] think we have to work on that, because that hasn=t changed; it=s + 1.732.320.0975 as beautiful today as it ever was. But I think there=s something else which is also a challenge. International Editor This is the entertainment business that we=re in and we have to Kelsey Riley entertain when people come to our racecourses. You=re not only Twitter: @kelseynrileyTDN entertaining the big racing fans; that racing fan has a partner, [email protected] they have children and you=ve got to entertain them too. European Editor They=re going to watch the racing, but they also want some food Emma Berry and the children want playgrounds or whatever it is. You=ve got Twitter: @collingsberry to recognize the needs of a full family audience. [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson Twitter: @HLAndersonTDN Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen Twitter: @AlaynaCullen [email protected] Contributing Editor Alan Carasso Twitter: @EquinealTDN Cafe Racing Sean Cronin Tom Frary [email protected] Pat Keogh with the Jim Bolger-trained Moonlight Magic | Racing Post Irish Correspondent At Leopardstown, we more recently started doing that and the Daithi Harvey response has been good. You=ve got to recognize you=re not just entertaining the fanatical racing fan who just wants to the see Regular Columnists Chris McGrath | Andrew Caulfield | John Berry the race and have a bet; you=re entertaining the person who is Kevin Blake there with their family. It=s an entertainment venue and you have to offer as much entertainment as your competitive sports do, or whatever your competition may be--restaurants, the theatre; it=s not just sports.