Europe

Qatar Racing's G2 Betfred.com Temple S. hero Pearl Secret (GB) (Compton Place {GB}--Our Little Secret {Ire}, by Rossini) will take up stud duties at Bucklands Farm and Stud in Gloucestershire, England, it was announced Thursday. Bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud and Pigeon House Stud, the 7-year-old, who is from the extended family of MG1SW Dutch Art (GB) (Medicean {GB}), will command £4,000. A winner of two more stakes during a 26-start career that also saw him place in the 2013 G1 King's Stand S., the David Barron trainee accrued $382,557...

Nobody knows better than the Aga Khan that he is engaged on a long game--one that demands not only patience but sometimes fatalism as well. So if the mares he is discarding at Deauville this weekend prove as fertile as some of their predecessors, notably during the past year, he will know that any short-term vexation is likely to be amply redressed in the long term. It would be easy to wring your hands over the cut-price sale here, five years ago, of Darkova (Maria's Mon)--now celebrated as the dam...

This is the second installment in an ongoing series where current trainees of Godolphin Flying Start sit down with graduates of the programme to discuss their career successes. In this second installment, second-year trainee Alayna Cullen catches up with Tessa Hetherington, who is trainer Andrew Balding's racing manager. Before I applied for the Godolphin Flying Start, I would spend hours upon hours trawling through the CVs and profiles of current trainees. Each time I did, I was amazed at how knowledgeable and experienced they were. When I came upon Tessa...

Au-Delà des Pistes, the newly formed retraining of racehorses charity which was created earlier this year with the support of Godolphin and the Aga Khan Studs, has announced a number of new ambassadors to raise the profile of their fund-raising endeavors in the future. World class jockey Christophe Soumillon and seven-time Group 1 winner Cirrus Des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top {Ire}) are among the star names who will give their time to the charity to attend Au-Delà des Pistes organised events which will ultimately aid in the re-homing of retired...

Tattersalls had already set a new record for annual turnover halfway through the third session of the December Mares' Sale and the 2016 tally had passed 265 million gns by the time the hammer fell for the final time at Park Paddocks on Thursday afternoon. By Chairman Edmond Mahony's own admission, this year's Mares' Sale was not a vintage edition, but large drafts of coveted individuals from Godolphin and Juddmonte in particular, kept figures not too far off those set last year. With only one more lot sold from December Mares...

Mark Johnston confirmed earlier in the week that a trip to Qatar for the Al Rayyan S. Dec. 28 was on the cards for his recent winner Masham Star (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) and another British trainer with an eye on the festival is Eve Johnson-Houghton. Her Scarlet Dragon (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) has been invited to run in the Qatar Derby at Al Rayyan Dec. 29 and connections are keen to accept the offer with the 3-year-old gelding, who was last seen winning the valuable Godolphin Flying Start Old Rowley...

A daughter of the outstanding racemare Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill) from Juddmonte's great Hasili (Ire) family was the standout of the third session of the December Mares' Sale at Tattersalls, selling for 775,000gns to Amanda Skiffington. Replete (GB) (Makfi {GB}) (lot 2133) may be unraced but, hailing from a dynasty interwoven with bold black type, she has plenty to recommend her, not least her high-flying mother, whose siblings include Intercontinental (GB), Cacique (Ire), Champs Elysees (GB), Dansili (GB) and half-sister Heat Haze (GB). Meanwhile Replete's half-sister Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire})...

3rd-KEM, £5,000, Mdn, 11-30, 2yo, f, 6f (AWT), 1:13.36, st/sl. +ENDLESS CHARM (GB) (f, 2, Dubawi {Ire}--Whazzis {GB} {GSW-Ity & SW-Eng, $149,964}, by Desert Prince {Ire}), sent off the 11-10 favourite, broke alertly to secure command before turning the screw from the two-furong pole. In no danger in the final 100 yards, the chestnut was eased down late to register a 3 1/4-length success from Tisbutadream (Ire) (Dream Ahead). The dam, who captured the G3 Premio Sergio Cumani, has already produced the listed-placed Whim (GB) (Nayef) and last year's smart...

Replete (GB) (Makfi {GB}) (lot 2133), a 3-year-old unraced daughter of champion Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill), caused some fireworks on the third day of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale on Wednesday when bought by agent Amanda Skiffington for 775,000gns. The granddaughter of the great producer Hasili is a maiden mare from the Juddmonte Farms consignment.

Trainer Roger Varian has purchased Clive Brittain's Carlburg Stables in Newmarket and will relocate there for 2017, according to Racing Post. Varian has been training at Kremlin House Stables since 2011 when his former mentor and boss, the late Michael Jarvis, retired. "It's an honour and a privilege to purchase such a historic yard in Newmarket," Varian told Racing Post. "I have great admiration for Clive Brittain as a person and a professional and I hope that myself and my family will enjoy Carlburg for as many years as Clive...

Professional jockeys in Ireland will be able to have some costs of Quality and Qualifications Ireland courses reimbursed through Horse Racing Ireland's new Education and Training Grant programme organised through its Careers and Racing Education department. The programme is part of CARE's commitment to help jockeys to develop their skills and qualifications for their current role, or to help them prepare for life and work outside race riding. The grant programme will operate on a reimbursement basis and will be paid in two 50% installments--at the beginning of the course...

It's a rare occasion indeed when the dam of the current year's Derby winner is offered at public auction and, ever since the announcement that Hazariya (Ire) (Xaar {GB}) would lead the Newsells Park Stud draft at the Tattersalls December Mares' Sale, it was widely––and correctly––assumed that she would be the star of the show. Producing Derby winners has become stock-in-trade for Coolmore and it was thus no surprise to find M.V. Magnier involved in the chase for the 14-year-old. Seamus Burns provided early opposition and Sheikh Fahad jumped in...