Europe

Not so long ago, Not Listenin'tome (Aus) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) was the horse everyone wanted to be on in races over 1000 metres and he was one of the best-fancied horses for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan this past March. With Ryan Moore at the controls that evening, he never really picked up his feet, and there had been nothing to cheer since in four listless runs, including an eighth-place effort behind emerging sprinter Lucky Bubbles (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}) in the G2 Premier Bowl H. Oct. 23. All...

The Kwok Family maintained its stranglehold on the Jockey Club Mile, as Beauty Only (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) grinded away late to peg back 96-1 Romantic Touch in the dying strides to follow in the hoofprints of Beauty Flame (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), upset winner of the 2015 renewal. Winner of the 2015 Hong Kong Classic Mile, Beauty Only--a Group 3 winner in Italy--failed to see out the longer trips and since an eighth in last year's Hong Kong Cup (2000m) has been kept at 1400-1600m. The consistent gelding was...

The single-session Tattersalls December Yearling Sale takes place today, kicking off nine days of sales set to take place at Park Paddocks in Newmarket over the next two weeks. The December Foal Sale follows the yearling sale Nov. 23 to 26, and the December Breeding Stock Sale wraps up proceedings Nov. 28 to Dec. 1. The 200 lots catalogued for the yearling sale include the progeny of perennial leading sire Galileo (Ire) and his leading first-season sire son Frankel (GB). The two Frankels are a half-brother to Australian Group 1...

On paper--and on the Hong Kong tote--Sunday's Jockey Club Cup was anticipated to be a three-way go between the senior citizens of the local horse population: favored Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Blazing Speed (GB) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and Military Attack (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}). In the end, just the latter showed up in his first race back, and it was the well-backed contrarian Secret Weapon (GB) (Choisir {Aus}) who landed the spoils. Winner of a domestic Group 3 last February, Secret Weapon was 11th to Maurice (Jpn) (Screen...

As Europe's autumn sales' season continues its relentless march, amid the plethora of high prices and fascinating tales it is easy to overlook just how great an era is ending with the dispersal of the Wildensteins' bloodstock. The Goffs November Sale in Ireland last week was a huge event with 1,753 lots in the catalogue, but it would still have been a huge event even if it had only contained lot 1431: the Wildensteins' 2012 G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains heroine Beauty Parlour (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). This 7-year-old celebrity...

After the excitement of the Wildenstein Stables Dispersal, the final day of the November Breeding Stock Sale at Goffs was always likely to be a more muted affair but there were still plenty of fillies and mares from major breeding operations to ensure a decent level of interest throughout the session. That maintained the good clearance rate seen through the first day, with the breeding stock section as a whole recording 397 fillies and mares sold, 85% of the 476 offered. Turnover of €20,751,700 was more than double that of...

As if Sunday's three Group 2 features at Sha Tin weren't enough, the program closes with a pair of Class 2 handicap events, each of which has attracted potential stars of the future in Hong Kong. Race nine is to be contested over the metric mile and features Pakistan Star (Ger) (Shamardal), who wowed the Sha Tin faithful with a spectacular last-to-first dash on his career debut July 1 and became the locale's first 'TDN Rising Star' with another breathtaking rally from the tail in Class 3 company Sept. 18....

In the space of 24 hours in September, the Ballylinch stallions snagged a brace of Classics when first Harbour Law (GB) (Lawman {Fr}) won the G1 St Leger followed by the triumph of the redoubtable Wicklow Brave (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}) in the G1 Irish St Leger. Beat Hollow transferred to Ballylinch from Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud in 2012 and while he is busy being cast in a new light in the National Hunt sphere, Wicklow Brave's versatility reminded us that the 19-year-old son of Sadler's Wells is still perfectly...

In the space of 24 hours in September, the Ballylinch stallions snagged a brace of Classics when first Harbour Law (GB) (Lawman {Fr}) won the G1 St Leger followed by the triumph of the redoubtable Wicklow Brave (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}) in the G1 Irish St Leger. Beat Hollow transferred to Ballylinch from Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud in 2012 and while he is busy being cast in a new light in the National Hunt sphere, Wicklow Brave's versatility reminded us that the 19-year-old son of Sadler's Wells is still perfectly...

The preordained script which cast Beauty Parlour (JPN) (Deep Impact {JPN}) as the heroine of the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale was acted out in front of a packed auditorium with no twist in the tale as she duly sold for the sale-topping sum of €1.6 million. Adding extra intrigue to the story however was the extraordinarily determined efforts of Peter Brant to accrue so many members of the Wildenstein Stables Dispersal. Buying in the name of his Connecticut-based White Birch Farm on the telephone from Paris through first Henry...

With Mauritian-born, South African-trained jockey Karis Teetan in the plate, Lim's Cruiser (Aus) (Casino Prince {Aus}) took full advantage of his feathery weight, slicing through an opening at the inside en route to victory in Friday's EW Barker Trophy at Kranji. The 5 1/2-length winner of a Class 4 over 1600 metres Aug. 19, Lim's Cruiser made it two on the hop with a facile success in a 1400-metre Class 3 Sept. 18, but was only third as the 2-5 chalk in a course-and-distance test when last seen Oct. 14. Carrying saddle...

In an echo of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, the Wildenstein Stables Dispersal, which continued as the final section of the November Foal Sale, provided the highlight of the week's trade when A Nous La Liberte (Fr), a weanling filly by Siyouni (Fr), sold for €775,000 to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Shadwell Estate Company. A daughter of the young Listed-placed Galileo (Ire) mare Amerique (Ire), the filly (lot 1199), as her price suggests, boasts a top-drawer pedigree, with her grandam being the treble Group 1 winner Aquarelliste (Fr) (Danehill) who...