Europe

Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) is one of the headline acts for FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on April 26. A total of HK78 million (€8,522,110) is on offer across the three Group 1 races--the FWD QEII Cup (2000m), FWD Champions Mile and the Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m). Overall, there are 38 entries for the three races (excluding reserves), 13 of them winners at the highest table. A winner of the Chairman's Sprint Prize in 2025, the gelding is aiming for his second win...

Croix Du Nord (Kitasan Black) and Magnitude (Not This Time) have moved into a joint-fourth on the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings after recent Group 1 victories. They sit at 122, equal to G1 Neom Turf Cup hero Royal Champion (Shamardal). In the Osaka Hai, Croix Du Nord defeated Meisho Tabaru (Gold Ship) (120) and Danon Decile (Epiphaneia) (118). Magnitude's rating rose from 117 to 122 with his one-length victory over Forever Young (Real Steel) (123) in the G1 Dubai World Cup near the end of March. Ka Ying Rising...

A new, free exhibition, We Give You The Horse, will open at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket from April 29 through May 21. The exhibit is presented in association with Bedmax. Showcasing paintings and sculpture by leading members of The Society of Equestrian Artists (SEA), the exhibition offers visitors the opportunity not only to view but also to purchase a diverse collection of equine-inspired works. Alongside contemporary pieces, visitors can also see an original artwork by Sir Alfred Munnings, on loan from the Munnings Art Museum in Essex. The...

Bjorn Nilsson, CEO of Svensk Galopp, will step down from his post on Friday, July 31, the organisation announced on Thursday. Nilsson will have served in the post for approximately two years. "It has been an intense couple of years, during which we've carried out a major reorganisation and put our finances in order," said Nilsson. "The role has required plenty of engagement with numerous stakeholders and, now that we've clear control of future challenges, it feels right to hand the baton to someone who can bring fresh energy." Nilsson,...

Three-time Australian Champion Sire I Am Invincible will stand for an unchanged fee of A$220,000 (inc GST) at Yarraman Park Stud this year. Vinnie, as he's known, is headed into his 17th year at stud. A trio of his progeny have won Group 1 races this season and seven of his yearlings have made A$1 million or more in the sales ring. Overall, of his 93 yearlings catalogued for sale from his 2024 crop, 71 sold for an average of A$559,000 across all nine yearlings sales held so far in...

The 2025 Grand National winner Nick Rockett has been withdrawn from the 2026 edition due to coughing. Pied Piper (New Approach), the first reserve, has been added to the lineup for Saturday's contest at Aintree. The son of Walk In The Park is trained by Willie Mullins for Stewart and Sadie Andrew. Willie's son Patrick, who also partnered the gelding to success 12 months ago, said, "It is 72-hour declarations for the Grand National, and we wanted to give him every chance, but he gave a few coughs this morning...

Champion two-year-old Gewan (Night Of Thunder), winner of last year's G1 Dewhurst Stakes and a leading contender for next month's 2,000 Guineas, has been fatally injured in a racecourse gallop at Kempton on Thursday morning. The colt, trained by Andrew Balding for Harrison Li's  Forz Europe Ltd, won three of his four starts last year, including the G3 Acomb Stakes at York. A post on social media from Balding's Park House Stables confirmed the news. It read, "It is with extreme sadness that we report that Gewan, champion two-year-old of...

6.15 Gowran Park, Mdn, 3yo, c/g, 9f 130yT KEPLER (IRE) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is a standout in this affair as a full-brother to the Pretty Polly and Nassau Stakes heroine Whirl. Aidan O'Brien introduces the homebred in a field that contains another unraced son of Wootton Bassett in Al Shaqab Racing and Amo Racing's Diligo (Ire), a Joseph O'Brien-trained half-brother to the Australian Group 3 winner Interpretation (Galileo) from the family of Daylami and Dalakhani. 5.40 Gowran Park, Mdn, 3yo, f, 9f 130yT FEEL THE LOVE (IRE) (St Mark's Basilica...

Consider this new series your one-stop shop to catch up with the best of the two-year-old action in Britain and Ireland, every week between now and the end of the turf season. Using performance ratings kindly provided by my old muckers at Timeform, we'll be ranking the five maiden/novice winners from the previous week's racing who most impressed the form experts, identifying horses early on in their careers with the potential to go on to bigger and better things. In this first instalment, we'll summarise the early frontrunners in this...

Wells Watson's 400,000gns Book 1 Graduate Sinmara (Kingman), a Joseph O'Brien trainee, shaped with a deal of promise tackling seven furlongs at the Curragh last October and continued her progression with an impressive breakthrough score in Wednesday's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden at Gowran Park. Sinmara retains tickets for the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 Oaks and G1 Irish Oaks. "It's a real pleasure to train such a nice group of horses for Wells Watson," O'Brien told TDN Europe. "We have Sinmara, as well as a nice filly, Johanna...

The Chris Waller-trained three-year-old filly Quinceanera (Pierro), a daughter of the great Winx who made headlines when selling for a record-breaking A$10 million to Debbie Kepitis's Woppitt Bloodstock at the 2024 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, has been retired without making it to the racetrack. Owner Woppitt Bloodstock confirmed the decision via X, stating, "We made the tough decision to retire her following veterinary advice and in consultation with Chris Waller." Quinceanera was the star attraction of the 2024 Inglis Easter sale, where a dramatic bidding duel saw American owner John...

By Dane McLeod/TTRAusNZ Savabeel, who is currently sitting second on the New Zealand Sires' Premiership behind Proisir, will stand for a Private fee at Waikato Stud in 2026. The 24-year-old Savabeel has recorded eight individual stakes winners in New Zealand this season alone - the most of any sire, with Belle Cheval becoming a new Group 1 winner in the Vinery Stud Stakes. Savabeel's tally now stands at 36 individual Group 1 winners, a figure that may yet rise given he has covered books of 108, 90 and 88 mares...