Young Tamworth trainer Leon Davies hopes to finish the Grafton racing carnival on a high note with Twin Zero in the $30,000 Maclean Cup on Sunday. Davies, 30, hit a carnival high when Kurtley won the $50,000 Grafton Guineas (1600m) on Wednesday. Twin Zero, by Dubleo out of Blue Lyric,… Read More »
Local trainer George Margarson is already dreaming of next year’s 1000 Guineas after his filly Lucky Kristale caused a sizeable upset in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket. Unbeaten and highly promising from her first two starts, Margarson’s 20-1 shot was only sixth in the Albany Stakes at Royal… Read More »
Reckless Abandon was a significant absentee from the 12 declarations for the July Cup at Newmarket. Clive Cox’s dual Group One-winning colt had been considered a major contender for this weekend’s six-furlong feature having finished third in Haydock’s Temple Stakes before placing fifth in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot…. Read More »
There are few harder horses to dislodge from the front than Universal and Mark Johnston’s battler continued his impressive rate of progress in the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket. As he was robust enough to be winning a third Pattern race from his 10th start of 2013, Johnston and… Read More »
Corine Barande-Barbe is looking forward to taking on St Nicholas Abbey again with Cirrus Des Aigles in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on July 27. Only a quarter of a length separated them in last year’s Dubai Sheema Classic with the French-trained runner coming out… Read More »
Tom Queally is to team up with Michael Bell in search of another Group One sprint aboard Sovereign Debt in the July Cup at Newmarket. Back in 2009, the Irishman caused a 20-1 surprise by winning the Diamond Jubilee Stakes aboard a spare ride for the Newmarket trainer in Art… Read More »
Charlie Appleby is to meet with the British Horseracing Authority later this week as he prepares to become the official trainer at Godolphin’s Moulton Paddocks operation. Following the eight-year ban handed to Mahmood Al Zarooni back in April for admitting to giving anabolic steroids to 15 horses in his care,… Read More »
Olivier Peslier expects Intello to prove he is the best three-year-old colt in Europe when he runs in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on August 11. The French rider is looking forward to taking on the top milers around before connections decide where to go after that. Intello,… Read More »
Danny Mullins has lodged an appeal against the 14-day suspension he was given for driving an ambulance back to the weighing room at Bellewstown on Friday evening. The jumps jockey, who is retained by prominent owner Barry Connell, drove the vehicle himself after he had pulled up his mount Private… Read More »
Jockey Brian Toomey remains in a “stable condition” after undergoing surgery on the serious injuries he sustained in a heavy fall at Perth last Thursday. The 3lb claimer is still in an induced coma at the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee after the surgery which was undertaken to reduce swelling and… Read More »
King’s Stand Stakes third Pearl Secret was the most notable absentee at the confirmation stage for Saturday’s July Cup at Newmarket. David Barron’s lightly-raced four-year-old, who lost his unbeaten record in last summer’s Nunthorpe Stakes, returned from a long absence at Royal Ascot and is likely to remain over five… Read More »
Hong Kong racing has crowned its champion rider with one meeting remaining for the season, with Douglas Whyte adding the 2012/13 title to his previous 12. Whyte goes to Happy Valley for the season finale on Wednesday night 13 wins clear of Australia’s Zac Purton after both rode a treble… Read More »
Eclipse Stakes winner Al Kazeem will bypass the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes to be prepared for a campaign aimed at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October. Trainer Roger Charlton said the five-year-old would have a break and miss Ascot’s July 27 summer showpiece after notching… Read More »
Champion racehorse Frankel shows signs of being as prolific in the breeding barn as the racetrack with a 95 per cent fertility rate reported for his first season at stud. In his first northern hemisphere season, Frankel covered 133 mares at his owner Khalid Abdullah’s Banstead Manor with 126 scanned… Read More »
Al Kazeem claimed his third consecutive Group One in six weeks in a dramatic Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. While it appeared the star of Roger Charlton’s stable had once again managed to overcome the persistent front-runner Mukhadram, Al Kazeem nonetheless hung across and hampered the eventual third placegetter in the… Read More »
An Irish jockey has been suspended for taking a ride of a different kind during a race meeting at Bellewstown on Friday. Danny Mullins received one of the most unusual bans in racing history after the stewards suspended him for 14 days for driving the on-course ambulance back to the… Read More »
Trainer Saeed bin Suroor is eyeing October’s Champions Day at Ascot as a potential comeback date for his sidelined stable star Farhh. Placed in five consecutive Group One events last season – beating all bar Frankel in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood and the Juddmonte International at York – Farhh… Read More »
Group One form came to the fore in the Ambant Gala Stakes at Sandown as Mandour wore down Afsare inside the final furlong. Alain de Royer-Dupre’s French raider had finished third in the Prix d’Ispahan behind Maxios last time out and quickened up stylishly under Christophe Lemaire. Luca Cumani’s Afsare… Read More »
Al Kazeem will face six rivals as he goes in search of a third successive victory at the highest level in Saturday’s Group One Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. The five-year-old has won his past four races including the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes… Read More »
Declaration Of War has jumped to a prominent position in the betting for Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown after owners Coolmore suggested the colt was a “possible” runner. The sponsors introduced the Queen Anne Stakes winner as the 7-2 second favourite behind the 15-8 chance Al Kazeem. Only Mars appears a… Read More »
