A private funeral for Sir Henry Cecil will be held in Newmarket on Monday week, it has been announced. The legendary trainer died on Tuesday morning, aged 70, following a long battle with stomach cancer. While his funeral will be a family-only occasion, a further celebration of Cecil’s life is… Read More »
Dawn Approach has emerged a surprise contender for Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Godolphin’s 2000 Guineas hero was originally thought to be an unlikely runner in the mile race after finishing last in the Derby at Epsom earlier this month. However, trainer Jim Bolger reports his Classic… Read More »
Seventeen horses from the stables of three Hong Kong trainers have tested positive for the banned drug zilpaterol, a substance used to produce muscle growth in livestock, the Hong Kong Jockey Club said on Wednesday. Thirteen of the horses have been withdrawn from Wednesday’s public holiday races following testing that… Read More »
High profile jockey Matthew Chadwick has been granted bail by police after being arrested in relation to an alleged assault in Hong Kong. Chadwick was accused on Monday of assaulting a bus driver and breaking a window on the bus door, reports the South China Morning Post. His girlfriend was… Read More »
Frankel’s owner Prince Khalid Abdullah has paid a personal tribute to Sir Henry Cecil following the trainer’s death on Tuesday at the age of 70. Abdullah and Cecil enjoyed one of the strongest relationships in racing with the owner standing by Cecil throughout his period in the doldrums in the… Read More »
Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil was one of the most popular and greatest racehorse trainers of this, or any other, era. A phenomenal 10 champion trainer titles and 25 British Classic winners are the tip of the iceberg, with his 75 victories at Royal Ascot not in danger of being… Read More »
Champion trainer Sir Henry Cecil has lost his long battle with cancer. His death at the age of 70 was announced on his website on Tuesday. Responsible for 25 British Classic winners and crowned champion trainer 10 times, Cecil was also the leading handler at Royal Ascot by a long… Read More »
Frankie Dettori has been booked to ride United States raider Havelock in the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot but his agent admits it has been hard to find mounts in the big races. Dettori, who has only just returned from a six-month drugs ban, will link for… Read More »
Watering has resumed at Ascot ahead of next week’s Royal meeting with little rain forecast over the next few days. Australian Group One winner Shamexpress will run in the King’s Stand on the first day of the five-day meeting. Clerk of the course Chris Stickels turned on the taps on… Read More »
Veteran English trainer Clive Brittain says he has used the controversial substance Sungate on his horses, unaware it contained a banned steroid. Brittain, who has won many of the world’s biggest races including the Breeders’ Cup with the great racemare Pebbles, told the Guardian that some of his horses, who… Read More »
Plans remain fluid for vanquished Epsom Derby favourite Dawn Approach. The 2000 Guineas winner lost his unbeaten record in the premier Classic when he came home last, having refused to settle from the outset. Godolphin’s colt has already been ruled out of the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot,… Read More »
Ex-pat Australian trainer Jeremy Gask reports Medicean Man to be on course for Royal Ascot despite a slight scare following his victory at Haydock on Friday. The seven-year-old sprinter took in a piece of turf during the Achilles Stakes and had to stay the night at the track. However, he… Read More »
Prince Khalid Abdullah is reported to be scaling down his breeding and racing empire but superstar Frankel will remain with Juddmonte Farms. Juddmonte chief executive Douglas Erskine-Crum confirmed on Saturday the prince would be reducing his numbers. “His Highness is going to make some disposals in the course of the… Read More »
Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom is now odds-on to win the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot with his main rival Farhh to miss the race through injury. The Queen Anne will be Animal Kingdom’s final start before he heads to Australia’s Arrowfield Stud which is the major shareholder… Read More »
Palace Malice took charge on the home turn to win the Belmont Stakes, holding off Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow and Kentucky Derby champion Orb. The win gave Todd Pletcher his second Belmont winner in six years and vindicated the trainer’s support of the three-year-old who came into the final leg… Read More »
Through all the tumult of the past five weeks, the final leg of the 2013 Triple Crown season has in some sense come full circle to where things stood on the eve of May 4. Trainer Todd Pletcher again has compiled a five-horse arsenal to face morning-line favorite Orb in… Read More »
Ed Dunlop remains keen on a trip to Royal Ascot with Snow Fairy after the mare came through a racecourse gallop at Sandown on Thursday with flying colours. The six-time Group One-winner has not been seen in competitive action since her exhilarating victory in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown… Read More »
Ed Dunlop’s globetrotting superstar Red Cadeaux is set to make his first appearance in Britain in almost a year in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. The 2011 Melbourne Cup runner-up has enjoyed another outstanding winter campaign, claiming the biggest victory of his career in December’s Hong Kong Vase before… Read More »
A second trainer from British racing headquarters Newmarket has been charged with giving anabolic steroids to horses, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced on Friday. Nine horses trained by Gerard Butler tested positive for steroids but, although he admits using the drug Sungate, which contains banned substances, he claims he… Read More »
Trainer James Fanshawe is likely to make a late call on whether Deacon Blues will be ready in time for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. The six-year-old has been off the course since winning the British Champions Sprint Stakes at the Berkshire track in October 2011. He is… Read More »
