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Joan Robertsonriding Arabian Horse without bridle or saddle
A field of 12 of South America’s top dirt horses representing Brazil, Peru and host country Uruguay is set to head to the post for Sunday’s G1 Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano at Maronas Racetrack in Montevideo.
Last year’s race, conducted over 12 grassy furlongs at the Valparaiso Sporting Club in Chile, was won by then 3-year-old Sixties Song (Arg) (Sixties Icon {GB}) and sophomores look to figure prominently this time around as well.
Local hopes rest on Fitzgerald (Brz) (Put It Back), who will try to become the first Uruguyan-based winner of the Latinoamericano since Good Report (Arg) (Ride the Rails) carried Jorge Ricardo to victory at La Plata in 2007. Winner of four of his six starts at Maronas, he exits a five-length victory against his elders in Group 3 company over course-and-distance Feb. 3 (video).
Argentina is represented by Roman Rosso (Arg) (Roman Ruler), who has won four times from his last five outings, including open-lengths victories in the G1 GP Provincia de Buenos Aires at La Plata last October and in the G1 Nacional at Palermo (video) when last seen in mid-November.
Peru accounts for a third of Sunday’s runners, including El Entrerriano (Per), a 3-year-old son of 2009 Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron (Giant’s Causeway–Better Than Honour). Runner-up to the impressive Golden Leaf (Arg) (Stay Thirsty) in the G1 Derby Nacional at Monterrico in November, he was most recently the easy winner of a Group 3 at home going Sunday’s 10-furlong trip Feb. 11, with Barbon (Per) (Badge of Silver) and Dixie Wave (Arg) (Stormy Atlantic) second and third, respectively (video).
Two Brothers Organic Farms Open Cow Shed – Indian Indigenous Cows (Desi Cows) Gir variety
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One of our farm partners has purchased a horse property in Norman that will need a property management company to help us lease the land to local horse owners. The property has a 10 horse barn already built on site with self feeding stations and self filling water troughs. This makes it convenient for the property manager to stop by the property once a week and refill the feeding stations and make sure the trickle system is running. We will be converting the system from a manually operated one to a fully automated software based system with remote functionality and cameras. This will allow horse owners that are leasing space and the property manager to check in on the animals remotely at any given time. For the safety of any of our guests we will also be installing below ground shelters for guests of the property should they encounter heavy winds while visiting. Oklahoma is known for tornadoes, so it is our responsibility to make sure any out of state guests have a safe place to take cover should a storm come through, so we will be hiring a local company that installs storm shelters in Norman to add two underground shelters near the guest properties. The grazing fields are 3 acres and are lush with foliage and grass year round for healthy organic grazing. There are two guest houses on the property that will allow for out of state visitors to take up residence by booking the rooms through an Air BnB. We have reached out to Energy Property Management about the property in Norman and will decide if they will be managing the property or not. There is another property management company in OKC that we contacted but have not heard back from them. We wanted to get this blog written and pushed out to our news letter so that if anyone in our Oklahoma horsing community knows of a property management company that is capable of managing the land and the rental of the horse stalls, then please either call or email one of us in the front office with contact information so we can get in touch with them. The pricing so far has been reasonable, but we would like to get a few more quotes. The management team can also manage the two guest properties if desired, otherwise we will be hiring a local house cleaner in Norman for the cleanup after guests have left the property. Thank you for being a part of the Honey Creek Farms community and staying subscribed to our news letters, this is by far the easiest way to communicate with all of you. As always, do not hesitate to email us with any questions you have about the property and what our expectations will be for anyone managing the property, stables, and guests suites.
This fascinating stage of the “European Road to the Kentucky Derby” series sees the return of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf hero Mendelssohn, who had previously helped make up the stable’s remarkable one-two-three-four in the G1 Dewhurst S., following U S Navy Flag (War Front) home and winding up in front of Seahenge and Threeandfourpence. The latter was not seen after that Newmarket feature, with the G2 Champagne S. scorer Seahenge going on to finish eighth in the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October.
Aidan O’Brien told the Racing Post, “All three horses had a good break and are just ready to start off. I’d expect all of them should improve for the run and at this stage of the year you never really know which horse is going to be the most forward. We’ll see how things go and then think about Dubai for some of them before any decisions are made about Kentucky.”
This also includes the impressive Feb. 23 course-and-distance winner Blackgold Fairy, whose trainer Mick Halford is looking forward to seeing how she acquits herself in this company.
“She’s been in good form since her win, but this looks an exceptionally strong renewal,” he told the trade daily. “We’re happy to let her take her chance, though, and if she can pick up some black-type we’ll be delighted.”
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Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us (Part 1)
Karl Grossman Chief Investigative Reporter examines Organic Farming on Eastern Long Island.
What is organic farming?
Organic farming can be defined as an approach to agriculture where the aim is to create integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production systems. Maximum reliance is placed on locally or farm-derived renewable resources and the management of self-regulating ecological and biological processes and interactions in order to provide acceptable levels of crop, livestock and human nutrition, protection from pests and diseases, and an appropriate return to the human and other resources employed. Reliance on external inputs, whether chemical or organic, is reduced as far as possible. In many European countries, organic agriculture is known as ecological agriculture, reflecting this reliance on ecosystem management rather than external inputs.
The objective of sustainability lies at the heart of organic farming and is one of the major factors determining the acceptability or otherwise of specific production practices. The term ‘sustainable’ is used in its widest sense, to encompass not just conservation of non-renewable resources (soil, energy, minerals) but also issues of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The term ‘organic’ is best thought of as referring to the concept of the farm as an organism, in which all the component parts – the soil minerals, organic matter, micro-organisms, insects, plants, animals and humans – interact to create a coherent and stable whole.
The key characteristics of organic farming include:
protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter levels, encouraging soil biological activity, and careful mechanical intervention;
providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient sources which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-organisms;
nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, as well as effective recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock manures;
weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, resistant varieties and limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and chemical intervention;
the extensive management of livestock, paying full regard to their evolutionary adaptations, behavioural needs and animal welfare issues with respect to nutrition, housing, health, breeding and rearing;
careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the wider environment and the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats.
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4th-KEM, £50,000, Cond, 3-7, 3yo, 8f (AWT), 1:37.74, st.
GRONKOWSKI (c, 3, Lonhro {Aus}–Four Sugars, by Lookin At Lucky), who had scored in facile fashion at Newcastle Feb. 9, was restrained towards the rear by Jamie Spencer for this rescheduled contest which forms part of the initiative of the European ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’. Tanking his way to the fore out wide after halfway, the 6-4 favourite took control with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining before lugging down to the right to cut across Court House (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}). Hitting the line with 3/4 of a length to spare over that progressive Gosden runner, the bay was allowed to keep the race by the stewards and earn 20 points in the series. Reportedly bound for the Blue Grass or Wood Memorial now, the winner is the first foal out of the unraced Four Sugars, who is a half to the GI Stephen Foster H.-winning sire Flashy Bull (Holy Bull). She has a 2-year-old colt by Uncle Mo, who was bought for $140,000 by Quarter Pole Enterprises at Keeneland September, with her 2017 foal by Verrazano having died and being barren to Nyquist this year. Sales history: $75,000 Wlg ’15 KEENOV; 50,000gns Ylg ’16 TATOCT; 300,000gns 2yo ’17 TATBRE. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $56,148. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-Phoenix Thoroughbred Limited; B-Epic Thoroughbreds Llc (KY); T-Jeremy Noseda.
The single session Book 2 wound up proceedings at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale on Wednesday with trade dropping down a gear in line with the perceived desirability of the yearlings on offer. Not everyone can operate at the upper echelons of the market however and no doubt from the 140 yearlings sold a number of high class runners will emerge. The number sold represented a clearance rate of 75%, quite a drop from last year’s figure of 85%. The other indicators also failed to maintain the gains made at last year’s successful sale with turnover falling 16% to A$5,512,000, average dropping 8% to A$39,371 and the median also dipping the same to A$35,000.
Speaking at the end of the sale Simon Vivian said, “I am happy with today’s aggregate but the clearance rate was a bit disappointing though the average held up fairly well. There’s been really good support from trainers and I am very happy that we had a really good buying bench.”
Topping the day’s trade was lot 659, a colt by Zoustar (Aus) purchased by Hawkes Racing from the Maluka Thoroughbreds draft for A$150,000. “The first day we saw him we liked him, we thought he was good value,” Wayne Hawkes said of the colt, who is out of Belle Of The City (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}) who has bred two winners to date from three foals of racing age. Luke Anderson of Maluka Thoroughbreds was delighted with the price and said, “It’s a brilliant result, a great price for the colt. He is a beautiful mover, really strong and he’s gone to a great home so he will have every opportunity.”
Four yearlings broke the six figure mark throughout the day and the first one to do so was lot 582, a colt by Street Boss. The bay, offered by Woodside Park Stud was knocked down to Andrew Noblet Racing for A$100,000. Soon after Hong Kong based Ric Wylie went to A$140,000 to acquire lot 596, a son of Starcraft (NZ) from Erinvale Thoroughbreds. John Foote was active as a purchaser throughout the week and he signed for seven lots on Wednesday, headed by lot 616, a colt by Epaulette (Aus) offered by Rushton Park, that cost A$110,000.
The next sale on the Inglis calendar is the Autumn Thoroughbred Sale at Oaklands Junction on Sunday March 18, a mixed sale for which 152 horses have been catalogued.
Most Beautiful Arabian Black Horse – The Black Beauty