Europe

The Prix d'Ispahan will be renamed the Prix Aga Khan IV as a tribute to the significant contribution made to racing and breeding by His Highness the Aga Khan IV, who died in February 2025, France Galop announced on Thursday. This particular race has been chosen in homage to the historic link between the Aga Khan dynasty and ancient Persia. The Prix d'Ispahan, first run in 1873, was intended to honour an official visit by the Shah of Persia to Paris, with the race name being a reference to the...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features the return of Wootton Centurion. 12.17 Chantilly, Cond, 3yo, c/g, 8fT WOOTTON CENTURION (IRE) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is the first of two TDN Rising Stars, Presented by Hagyard to spring back into action on a fascinating card, with Victoria Head eyeing a potential Classic tilt for...

The breeze-up season gets underway this month with the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale - which takes place from April 13 to 15 - followed by the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale - on April 21 and 22. Few trainers have enjoyed better luck than Richard Hughes when it comes to sourcing horses from that sphere.  The Group 1-winning handler has big-race targets for breeze-up graduates Rose Ghaiyyath (Ghaiyyath), America Queen (Havana Grey) and Nobody Knows (Wootton Bassett). Meanwhile, the Group-placed Bella Lyra (Oasis Dream) has recently been sold to continue her...

A total of 68 lots have been entered in the Tattersalls Online April Sale, including the Grade 1-placed jumper Tullyhill. The son of Martaline is slated to sell as lot 35 from Willie Mullins's Closutton Stables. He is currently carries an IHRB chase rating of 140. The grey is also a listed winner over hurdles. Maiden winner Politely (Advertise) (lot 22) won a Lingfield one-mile affair by five lengths two weeks previously. Rated 80 by the British Horseracing Authority, she is related to Group 2 winner Eminent (Frankel), who was...

Group 1 winner Bay City Roller makes his 2026 bow in the G2 Prix Harcourt for trainer George Scott on Sunday. By New Bay, the four-year-old claimed Germany's G1 Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern by a devastating seven lengths in Munich when signing off his three-year-old season. He was an unbeaten G2 Champagne Stakes hero at two and placed in a trio of Group 2s last year before his German tally. Scott said, "He's in really good order. He's more forward than he was last year. "He's entered in the...

Saturday, Newmarket, post time: 15:35, THE BETFRED 2000 GUINEAS STAKES-G1, £525,000, 3yo, c/f, 8fT Field: Alparslan (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Avicenna (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Billecart (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Bow Echo (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Distant Storm (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Into The Sky (Ire) (Starman {GB}), King's Trail (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Lord Britain (GB) (Universal {Ire}), Needle Match (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Oxagon (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), Padraig Dawn (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Power Blue (Ire) (Space Blues {Ire}), Thesecretadversary...

Racing has been "forcibly abandoned" at Chelmsford City Racecourse on Thursday and Friday following a decision by the board of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) not to grant a licence to Golden Mile Racing Limited (GMRL). The latter is the name of a new company formed to operate Chelmsford City Racecourse (CCR) in place of the previous licence holder Great Leighs Estates Limited (GLEL), which has been placed in administration. A turn of events described by Chelmsford City's CEO Nathan Holmes as "a scandal" included declarations being taken on Wednesday...

Ghaiyyath is still awaiting a major winner in Britain and Ireland but he is compiling an interesting record in other parts of the world, including Australia, and to his G1 VRC Derby winner Observer was added Saturday's G2 Tulloch Stakes winner Storm Leopard. Most exciting of Ghaiyyath's second European crop last year was Godolphin's My Highness, who went unbeaten through four starts for Andre Fabre, culminating in an impressive victory in the G2 Sumbe Prix du Calvados last August.  Notably, amid a flurry of French Classic entries for the Fabre...

Erdenali (Caravaggio), wildly impressive on debut at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, has been handed a Timeform rating of 97p.  Owned by the Aga Khan Studs, Erdenali pulled over six lengths clear of his nearest rival to create a massive impression on debut for trainer Francis Graffard and jockey Mikael Barzalona.  It was a performance that earned the gelding a TDN Rising Star and the winning jockey was suitably impressed in the immediate aftermath. "He did it very well - he was in a nice rhythm and relaxed at the back and...

Trainer Declan Carroll says he is still hopeful stable star Lifeplan (Kodi Bear) will make the 2,000 Guineas despite the fact the Gimcrack winner has picked up a setback that will rule him out of an intended reappearance in the trial.  Lifeplan had been on track to return at the Craven meeting ahead of the season's opening Classic to determine whether his charge could stay a mile, but Carroll may now have to reassess plans for the three-year-old. He said, "Lifeplan is good but he's had a slight little setback...

Aidan O'Brien has said that Albert Einstein and Gstaad could yet be supplemented for the 2,000 Guineas after being mistakenly scratched from the Classic on Tuesday morning. The much-vaunted Albert Einstein headed ante-post lists for the Rowley Mile showpiece prior to his disappointing reverse in Saturday's Gladness Stakes at the Curragh, after which O'Brien suggested his charge could revert to sprinting while leaving the option of a possible Guineas bid open. Gstaad, winner of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at the...

The catalogue for the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale, the source of top stayer Onesmoothoperator and Irish 1,000 Guineas fifth City Of Memphis, has been released.  It features juveniles by top-notch stallions Kingman, Sioux Nation, Wootton Bassett, Starspangledbanner, Night Of Thunder, Sands Of Mali, Sea The Stars, Starman, New Bay, Siyouni, Justify and more.  The sale takes place between Thursday 21 and Friday May 22, with a total of 252 two-year-olds catalogued.  Tattersalls Ireland CEO Simon Kerins said, "The Tattersalls Ireland Breeze Up Sale continues to go from strength to strength,...