It appears likely that British racing will shortly receive a stiff reality check following the government's decision to reduce the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (more colloquially known as slot machines or one-armed bandits) from £100 to £2. Storm clouds have been brewing for many years as the nation's betting habits have been [...]

No figure in Australasian racing history is more synonymous with the promotion of high-class stamina than the late, great J. B. 'Bart' Cummings, who passed away in August 2015 at the age of 87. Included among the winners of his 12 Melbourne Cups were some horses who will forever occupy a place in the highest [...]

Winter is still biting in Europe, but it's easy to believe that spring is somewhere around the corner when the entries for the French Classics are published. The first ones, the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, the equivalents of the 2000 and 1000 Guineas in Great Britain, are always [...]

The beautifully evocative photograph of Lester Piggott and Vincent O'Brien in last Thursday's TDN brought the memories flooding back, memories which warmed the latest bleak winter morning. The road to the Classics starts generally later in the spring in Europe than it does in the U.S., and at this time of year a catalyst to [...]

Few seasons have seen a more dominant pair of juveniles than the 2006 campaign when Teofilo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (Danehill) both excelled in Europe. They were well ahead of their peers, collectively sweeping the board with each winning two of Europe's biggest juvenile championship events. Teofilo won the top juvenile [...]

We are all aware of the dangers posed to the future of the breed by the modern trend of focusing on a handful of supposedly elite stallions, most of whom come from a fairly restricted segment of the sire-line spectrum. Happily, the recently-published European 2-Year-Olds' Classification of 2017 (which ranks the 45 European-trained juveniles who [...]

Pilgrims doing the rounds of the extremely successful and popular Irish Stallion Trail will have seen some exciting new stallions as well as the established stars. Possibly the most familiar of the new recruits on view was the charismatic grey sprinter Caravaggio, a winner at Royal Ascot in each of the past two seasons. Possibly [...]

Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) remains in a league of his own as regards siring stakes winners in Europe. During 2017 he became champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland for the ninth (and eighth consecutive) time. While nothing is certain, the 2001 Derby winner looks perfectly placed to equal and then probably pass his father's [...]

Every day this week, a member of the TDN's Europe/International team nominates a personal Horse of the Year. John Berry selects the Irish Derby and St Leger winner Capri (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). When you go to the races as an owner or trainer, the race which your horse is contesting is automatically THE big race [...]

One might say that the true mark of a great stallion is the ability to sire good horses from indifferent mares. This is a test which many of the great sires have never had the chance to pass (or fail) because they have covered high-class mares right from the outset. One stallion who has proved [...]

There's an old bloodstock saying, generally ironic but not totally incorrect, that an expert is someone who has been right once. If that is the case, how can we describe legendary New Zealand breeder Sir Patrick Hogan KNZM CBE, for whom Cambridge Stud and all its achievements pay testament to just how often he has [...]

Over the years there have been plenty of Coolmore stallions who have made explosive starts to their stud careers. Mastercraftsman (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) takes high order even in this elite company thanks to having had a Group 1-winning juvenile among his first batch of 2-year-olds in 2013 and three European Classic winners in his [...]