Europe

Liam Brennan, a former trainer in Ireland and champion steeplechase jockey, passed away Sunday Dec. 4. He was 83. Born Mar. 22, 1933, Brennan was the father of Ocala horsemen Niall and Ian Brennan. He was a man who wore many hats in the Irish racing community. In addition to being a champion amateur jockey in 1955, he trained both flat and steeplechase horses--including the likes of Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Forgive 'n Forget--and was instrumental in the implementation of Sunday racing in Ireland as a member of the point-to-point...

Cartier Horse of the Year Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) earned yet another accolade on Monday when she was named Horse of the Year at the Horse Racing Ireland Awards during a reception at Leopardstown Racecourse. Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier and Michael Tabor's Minding won five of the seven Group 1 races she contested this year, including a pair of Classics–the G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Oaks–and the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on British Champions Day. Her trainer, Aidan O'Brien, won the flat award for a remarkable season...

A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu... The stallion business in the antipodes changed forever once the practice of shuttling stallions from the Northern Hemisphere was established. Previously, it was an either/or situation regarding which hemisphere a horse could stand in, which meant that Australasia's imported stallions tended to be ones which had been deemed to be surplus to requirements in Europe or North America. Inevitably, some of these less obvious stallion prospects sired good horses, and it was not uncommon to see big races won by horses whose sires possessed...

The frost that whitened the sales ground when proceedings began was stealing back under a golden crescent moon by the time the second day of the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale drew to a close on Sunday. After the excitements of the premier session, this proved rather more of a test for those whose fuel gauges are running low at the end of the sales season. One pinhooker expressively summed up the state of play for many professionals: "I'm all right, I have all my shopping done by this stage," he...

Perth racing officials have launched an inquiry into jockey Douglas Whyte's ride aboard Saturday's G1 Kingston Town Classic second-place finisher Scales Of Justice (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}). Whyte was charged with failing to ride his mount out to the end of the race after wrapping up Scales Of Justice in the final strides of the 1800-metre feature, when he was caught by a fast-finishing Stratum Star (Aus) (Stratum {Aus}). Whyte pleaded not guilty to the charge, but the inquiry was adjourned to allow Scales Of Justice's owner and...

The European bloodstock community enters the home stretch of its grueling autumn-winter cycle still full of running, judging from proceedings on the opening day of the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale. For many, of course, yesterday's premier session represented a last chance to pull something out of the fire, and a case in point was James Delahooke, who had found himself repeatedly thwarted at Newmarket last week and feared that he was going to miss out again when offering €1-million for lot 178, Parvaneh (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). A 3-year-old...

Dual German group winner Parvaneh (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) (lot 178) became the top lot at Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale late in the session when making €1-million from agent James Delahooke. The 3-year-old filly, out of a half-sister to four stakes winners including Group 2 winners Nayyir and Sky Hunter, won this year's G2 Badener Stutenpreis and G3 Ullmann-Schwarzgold-Rennen.

Lot 170, a filly by Frankel (GB), became the most expensive foal sold during the opening session of Arqana's December Breeding Stock sale on Saturday when picked up by Hugo Merry for €450,000. Consigned by Haras des Capucines, the chestnut is out of the stakes-winning Ascot Family (Ire) (Desert Style), and is a half-sister to the stakes-winning Nordic One (Dubai Destination) from the family of Group 1 winners Flotilla, G Force and Lethal Force.

G3 Prix Penelope winner Camprock (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) (lot 158), who also missed by a head in this year's G1 Prix Saint-Alary, lit up Arqana's Deauville sales ring on Saturday when selling for €850,000 to Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm and Narvick International. Out of the Group 3-winning Camporese (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), the 3-year-old filly hails from the extended family of Juddmonte's blue hen Hasili. She was a €30,000 yearling purchase in the same ring at Arqana's October sale two years ago.

A charity auction of nominations held on Friday at Arqana's Deauville sales complex raised €285,500 in aid of Au Dela des Pistes, France's racehorse aftercare initiative founded by The Aga Khan Studs and Darley. Fourteen nominations were auctioned, with a season to Siyouni (Fr) topping the sale at €60,000 and bought by MAB Agency. A breeding to Dawn Approach (Ire) brought €32,000 from the Aga Khan Studs, while Haras des Capucines bought a season to Intello (Ger) for €26,000. Proceeds will benefit Au Dela des Pistes's initiatives, including organising events...

The curtain will fall on the European flat sales season over the next four days as Arqana plays host to their December Breeding Stock Sale. After a marathon three weeks with Goffs and Tattersalls running back to back, most horsemen will be looking forward to some downtime before the New Year. However, the stock produced from this auction in the past makes this seasonal finale in Deauville a must attend for breeders and traders alike. The dams of both Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Vadamos (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) were graduates of Arqana in December, albeit for...

The 35th Racehorse Owners Association Awards were held in London on Thursday night and it was recently retired steeplechaser Sprinter Sacre (Fr) (Network {Fr}) that scooped the ultimate accolade of Horse of the Year for 2016. The 10-year-old made a heroic comeback to rescale the heights of jump racing when winning the G1 Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March for trainer Nicky Henderson and owner Caroline Mould. The Owner of the Year was the Coolmore triumvirate of Mrs Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith whose brilliant filly...