The pick of the maiden/novice winners last week came in unlikely surroundings at Thirsk, with a colt trained by Kevin Ryan taking top billing ahead of a Ballydoyle blueblood. 5. ROTELLE (GB) Showcasing (GB) – The Wagon Wheel (Ire), by Acclamation (GB) Timeform performance rating: 79 There was a blanket finish to the 5f novice [...]

Consider this new series your one-stop shop to catch up with the best of the two-year-old action in Britain and Ireland, every week between now and the end of the turf season. Using performance ratings kindly provided by my old muckers at Timeform, we'll be ranking the five maiden/novice winners from the previous week's racing [...]

The Albert Einstein bubble might have been burst somewhat at the Curragh on Saturday, but for so many other horses the Classic dream remains very much alive, with less than five weeks to go now until the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket provides the answer to the first of the many questions that have kept us [...]

Back in competitive action for the first time since being crowned Longines World's Best Racehorses for 2025, Calandagan (Gleaneagles) signalled that he won't be giving up his crown without a fight when reeling in longshot West Wind Blows (Teofilo) to avenge last year's defeat in the $6-million G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan on [...]

A model of consistency in Europe's premier middle-distance races throughout 2025, Godolphin's Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) teed himself up perfectly for another productive campaign when making light of a five-month absence to run out a smooth winner of Saturday's $5-million G1 Dubai Turf Sponsored by DP World at Meydan. Bettered only by Calandagan (Gleneagles) when [...]

Fairy Glen (Farhh) demonstrated remarkable versatility and no small amount of class when stepping up fully seven furlongs in trip to win Saturday's $1-million G2 Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors for Simon and Ed Crisford. The winner of last month's G2 Balanchine over 1,800 metres of the Meydan turf, the five-year-old Fairy [...]

With the Brocklesby entries just a matter of hours away from being published, the time has nearly come for us to close the book on Winter Watch for another year. The final instalment to come next week will attempt to wrap up the best of the action that we've witnessed on the all-weather over the [...]

Christopher McKeever, the breeder of last week's Champion Bumper hero The Mourne Rambler (Well Chosen), has spoken of his disbelief in the aftermath of the success that saw him join a select group of Cheltenham Festival-winning breeders, achieved with a horse trained by his great friend of 60 years, Noel Meade. “I was here at [...]

Rich Ricci, an owner synonymous with Cheltenham Festival success for the best part of two decades, finally has his hands on the prize that he coveted above all others after Gaelic Warrior (Maxios) produced a coming-of-age performance under Paul Townend to win Friday's Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup. The race had a tragic postscript, however, when [...]

CHELTENHAM, UK — On a day of high winds and even higher stakes at Cheltenham, it was Heart Wood (Choeur Du Nord) who best withstood the challenge to run out a wide-margin winner of the Ryanair Chase, Thursday's Grade 1 feature which lost much of its lustre when defending champion Fact To File (Poliglote) was [...]

Alongside the Godolphin duo of Nation's Hope (Ghaiyyath) and Palladas (Lope De Vega), The Last Dance (Iffraaj) recently made an impressive debut at Chantilly to become the third European-trained three-year-old to be named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' since our Winter Watch run began back in November. It looked a strong race in [...]

This time next week, County Waterford native Paul Cunningham will know whether he's the proud breeder of a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. If he is, then National Hunt racing's blue riband will have delivered another rags-to-riches story to rival classics of the genre given to us in years past. Okay, so The Jukebox Man isn't [...]