Europe

Jockey Club Racecourses North West will offer a £20,000 development award to any rider who is successful at Carlisle's ladies-only fixture August 1 before going on to win the Betfred Haydock Park Ladies' Trophy at the JCR owned Haydock five days later. The Carlisle fixture, the only one of its type anywhere in the world, is exclusively for females and is now in its sixth year. The prize is designed to provide an opportunity for personal development to support individual requirements for female jockeys. Hayley Turner OBE, booked to make her...

For the fifth year in a row horse racing legend Jim Bolger and former champion jump jockey Davy Russell will bring household names from horse racing and Gaelic football and hurling together to take part in Hurling for Cancer Research, a celebrity hurling match in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. The exhibition match will take place at St Conleth's Park, Newbridge, Co. Kildare on Aug. 9 at 6.30pm. To date, the event has raised €400,000 to help fund innovative cancer research projects in Ireland and the aim is to...

With three of the four domestic Classics in the locker and four Group 1 wins in the space of just over a month, Jean-Claude Rouget is firing like never before and Thursday's G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud features one of his stable's premier performers in Mekhtaal (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). Disappointing when only eighth in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club over 10 1/2 furlongs here June 5, Al Shaqab Racing's chestnut may have had two valid excuses for that below-par effort as he fared badly...

After two races which served effectively as warm-ups, Thursday's G2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil at Saint-Cloud could be the starting point for His Highness The Aga Khan's Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}). Last year's G2 Prix de Royallieu and G3 Prix Minerve winner and G1 Prix Vermeille runner-up who also took the Listed Prix de Thiberville on this card 12 months ago was second in the G3 Prix de Barbeville over 17 furlongs at Chantilly Apr. 24 before finishing third over an inadequate 10 1/2 furlongs under a penalty in the...

The Kevin Ryan trained Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) heads the weights for the £250,000 Qatar Stewards' Cup at Goodwood July 30. Ryan's 4-year-old is a progressive sprinter having won the G3 Coral Charge at Sandown recently and he will have other options around that time also including the G2 Qatar King George S. and the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. However one horse definitely on target for Britain's most valuable six furlong handicap is Ridge Ranger (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}). Fresh from her maiden pattern victory in the G3 Summer S. over...

Caravaggio (Scat Daddy), arguably the most exciting juvenile seen so far this year in Ireland and Britain is likely to have his next start in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. at The Curragh Aug 7. Aidan O'Brien has won the race seven times in the last ten years and according to Coolmore's UK representative Kevin Buckley the son of the ill-fated Scat Daddy (Johannesburg) is the most likely Ballydoyle first string for the six furlong contest. "I would imagine that the Phoenix Stakes is the obvious target, although no plans...

By Kevin Blake An array of success stories have emerged from the remarkable crop of stallions that retired to stud in Europe in 2011 with no less than eight of them having sired Group 1 winners thus far, but of all of those stories, none have as many twists and turns as that of the remarkable Starspangledbanner (Aus). An Australian-bred son of Choisir (Aus), Starspangledbanner was purchased by a syndicate for A$120,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and sent to be trained by Leon Corstens. He quickly progressed into...

The Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) charity has its first race night this evening at Sandown, with the six-race card being preceded by a parade of ex-racehorses and a display by the RoR musical ride team. Set to the music of pop star Jess Glynne, who is in concert at the track after racing, the equine performance has been arranged by Tom Hunt, a leading dressage-to-music composer. Competing with Jess Glynne for star billing will be the 2007 Emirates Melbourne Cup runner-up Purple Moon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who has swept the...

Hayley Turner is considering taking a few rides before taking part in the Shergar Cup at Ascot on Aug. 6. Turner retired at the end of last season after being Britain's most successful female jockey. She agreed to make a comeback purely for the Shergar Cup, in which she helped the women's team to success last summer, after G1 Melbourne Cup-winning rider Michelle Payne was forced to withdraw due to injury. However, Turner says she has no plans to make a permanent return to the saddle. "I've been riding out...

Red Verdon (Lemon Drop Kid) has been showing Ed Dunlop "all the right signs"--which is why the colt has been supplemented for his third Group 1 in three different countries. After being supplemented for the G1 Investec Derby at Epsom, where he finished a creditable sixth of 16, he was then added to the G1 Irish Derby where he managed to get a lot closer to Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in fourth place. Now, he will run in the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud on...

Mutakayyef (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) has emerged as a possible contender for the GI Arlington Million after his dominant display in the G2 Summer Mile at Ascot Saturday. William Haggas has always held the son of Sea The Stars in high regard, but it appears he is only now showing his true worth after being gelded in the winter. While he also has the option of being supplemented for the July 27 G1 Sussex S. or stepping up to 10 furlongs for the G1 Juddmonte International [Aug. 17], a...

Hugo Palmer feels Al Shaqab Racing's Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) is getting stronger every week as he continues to build up towards the G1 Qatar Sussex S. The son of Paco Boy will bid for a third Group 1 success of the campaign in the one-mile prize, for which he is the general 7-4 favourite, on July 27. Despite having met with defeat in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas, having previously landed the G1 English 2000 Guineas, the 3-year-old bounced back with victory in the G1 St James's...