Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby completed a hat-trick of Dewhurst Stakes wins as Shadow Of Light joined Native Trail and Pinatubo on the race’s roll of honour on Saturday at Newmarket. The colt, by Lope De Vega, came into the race on the back of a Group 1 victory in the… Read More »
Porta Fortuna is a filly that hasn’t shirked a challenge in her short career. Already a Group 1 winner courtesy of her win in last year’s Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket, she’d won at Royal Ascot last year and had been placed in a Breeders Cup Fillies Juvenile Turf and… Read More »
When Kyprios won his Ascot Gold Cup two years ago the world seemed his oyster and the possibility of multiple wins in Europe’s premier staying event looked very real. But nature intervened when a joint injury became infected with life-threatening consequences and he was forced to miss last year’s race…. Read More »
Aidan O’Brien’s Derby winner Auguste Rodin had developed a reputation as a bit of an in and out performer. He took a major step towards eradicating that notion and achieving the sort of recognition his talent deserved as he took his Group 1 win count to 6 when winning the… Read More »
Day One of Ascot’s Royal Meeting has seen some memorable wins for Australian sprinters over the years. This year just one horse had made the long and expensive trip, Henry Dwyer’s Flying Artie mare Asfoora who took her shot in the King Charles III Stakes. This is a race won… Read More »
In the aftermath of his crushing defeat in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket it was tempting to think that the City Of Troy bubble had burst. Had this brilliant two-year-old simply failed to train on, failed to physically mature in the way some of his peers had., or was the… Read More »
It had been a long time between drinks for Dermot Weld in the Oaks, his last winner of the Epsom classic was way back in 1981. But in Ezeliya, he had a filly he thought could end the drought, and so it proved. A daughter of Dubawi out of a… Read More »
Newmarket’s 1,000 Guineas saw several threads of trainer Roger Varian’s career intertwining in the victory of his filly Elmalka, who took the season’s second classic on only her third racecourse start. Varian had established his reputation during a ten-year stint with trainer Michael Jarvis. On Jarvis’s retirement Varian took over… Read More »
With trainer Aidan O’Brien being inducted into the British Racing Hall of Fame earlier in the afternoon the script appeared to be written for his unbeaten three-year-old City Of Troy as he lined up as odds-on favourite for the 2024 renewal of Newmarket’s 2,000 Guineas, the first classic of the… Read More »
What UK racing needed following last year’s Grand National, a race disrupted by Animal Aid protesters, was a 2024 renewal that rekindled the nation’s love affair with the historic event. It did not disappoint. 2024 Grand National – I Am Maximus pic.twitter.com/uiojcBqrfk — History of Horse Racing (@horsevault) April 13,… Read More »
Trainer Nicky Henderson endured a challenging Cheltenham Festival after going into the meeting with many of his stars withdrawn as the stable was under a cloud at the time. He understandably approached Aintree’s Grand National meeting with a feeling of trepidation but the victory of Sir Gino in Thursday’s Anniversary… Read More »
Aintree’s Grand National meeting got off to the sort of start the Jockey Club were hoping for on Thursday as good crowds through the gate witnessed top-class jumps racing with four Grade One races starting the meeting off in style. The spectre of animal rights protests had been lessened by… Read More »
Given his dominance at Cheltenham it took Willie Mullins until 2019 to win his first Cheltenham Gold Cup. Since then he’s waste no time at all in racing to four wins in the jumping season’s blue riband event, winning the 2024 edition with Galopin Des Champs, who was repeating last… Read More »
Day 3 of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival saw the British trainers bite back after the Irish had dominated days 1 and 2. But Gordon Elliott’s Teahupoo ensured the biggest prize of the day still crossed the Irish Sea by taking the Stayers’ Hurdle and redeeming himself after his defeat last… Read More »
Aidan O’Brien continued his dominance of the European two year old scene by unleashing the Justify colt City Of Troy to demolish the opposition in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. City Of Troy had been very impressive on his two starts prior to Newmarket, winning on his debut… Read More »
Newmarket’s Future Champions meeting has been a happy hunting ground over the years for the all-powerful Aidan O’Brien stable and he unleashed another two year old Group 1 winner in the shape of Ylang Ylang. The Frankel filly, out of a Shamardal mare, had arrived on the back of two… Read More »
Highfield Princess was a warm favourite to repeat last year’s win in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes on the back of her recent win at Goodwood. But for the third time this year the star filly couldn’t quite get it done at the top level and it was one of the… Read More »
Aidan O’Brien won yet another Yorkshire Oaks as his Galileo filly Warm Heart, ridden by James Doyle, narrowly held the Frankie Dettori ridden Free Wind at the finish. It was O’Brien’s 7th win in the Group 1 contest and Doyle’s second, following his win on Sea Of Class in 2018…. Read More »
The Juddmonte International Stakes at York had been billed as the next milestone in the increasingly impressive career of Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old colt Paddington. But John and Thady Gosden had other plans as they hatched a strategy they felt might upset the odds and their ploy played out perfectly as… Read More »
The Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood was billed as a match between the three year old filly many were claiming to be the best of her sex in Europe, Blue Rose Cen, and last year’s winner Nashwa, fresh from her Group 1 success in the Falmouth Stakes last month. It… Read More »
