Europe

The Irish EBF Barrier Trials will return later this year with two dates approved for May and August. Naas will once again host the first day on Monday, May 25, on the inside track over six and seven furlongs. The second date is set for Leopardstown on Wednesday, August 26, with heats also over six and seven furlongs.  As in the past, each fixture will be restricted to unraced, named two- and three-year-olds with stalls certificates and in the care of licensed trainers. "We are grateful to everyone involved for...

Reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Forever Young (Real Steel) will break from stall 6 under Ryusei Sakai in a field of nine for Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who drew the gate number during the post-position ceremony at Meydan Racecourse on Wednesday morning, said, "I wanted middle to outer, so I'm pleased." Last year, Forever Young could manage only third in the Dubai World Cup behind Hit Show (Candy Ride), who is drawn alongside Forever Young in gate 5 as he tries...

Aidan O'Brien has revealed that 2,000 Guineas favourite Albert Einstein could make his seasonal return in Saturday's Gladness Stakes at the Curragh, despite having previously stated the Wootton Bassett colt would be going straight to Newmarket. Having won his first two outings last year, Albert Einstein met with a setback which ruled him out of Royal Ascot and ultimately the rest of the season. He was due to go for a racecourse gallop on Sunday at the Curragh but given it is so long since he ran, O'Brien is now...

Tattersalls Ireland has confirmed its continued sponsorship of the Treo Eile Showing Pathway Series 2026.  The partnership celebrates a shared commitment to the retraining and development of former racehorses, providing a prestigious platform to showcase their versatility and potential as riding horses beyond the racetrack. Now entering its fourth year, and with a prize fund of €10,000, the series will feature a number of qualifiers across the country, beginning at Midleton Agricultural Show on May 25th, and culminating at the Tattersalls Ireland July Show on 26th July.  With the diverse...

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. Wednesday's Observations features former star hurdler Constitution Hill. 7.30 Kempton, Cond, 4yo/up, 12f 219y (AWT) CONSTITUTION HILL (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}) continues his late-career Flat odyssey in this eight-runner affair with barely any meaningful competition if he is to repeat his antics at Southwell last month. One of the...

Coolmore's dual Group 1-winning juvenile Blackbeard is the 6/5 favourite with Fitzdares to be crowned Britain and Ireland's leading first-season sire by number of winners in 2026, ahead of Shadwell's Minzaal at 7/4. Fitzdares launched its market on Tuesday, four days out from the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster, the first two-year-old race of the year in Britain. Whilst both Blackbeard and Minzaal are without a representative among the 22 entries published on Monday, it's likely to be just a matter of time before their two-year-olds start to appear in large...

Fresh from another dominant display at the Cheltenham Festival, champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins provides the lowdown on leading Dubai Sheema Classic hope Ethical Diamond and more Not content with tightening his grip on the National Hunt sphere following another dominant display at the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins will be taking aim at the world's best racehorse Calandagan in Saturday's Dubai Sheema Classic with his Breeders' Cup hero Ethical Diamond - and the bad news for his contemporaries on the Flat is that the champion jumps trainer has revealed that...

Hong Kong Vase hero Giavellotto is pleasing his connections in advance of a fourth-straight appearance on Dubai World Cup night on Saturday. Affectionately known as Chicken around the Marco Botti yard, the seven-year-old son of Mastercraftsman ran second in the Vase in 2025. After running ninth and fifth in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the G2 Dubai Gold Cup, he ran fifth in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic last term. In this year's edition, he will lock horns with the Longines World's Best Racehorse, G1 Japan Cup star Calandagan...

Hong Kong's reigning Horse of the Year Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) won a barrier trial at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning. The gelding clocked a trial-best :57.62 for the 1000-metre trial over the Sha Tin lawn, a neck to the good of Beauty Waves (Starspangledbanner). The eight-time Group 1 winner, who currently holds the successive wins record at 18 for a Hong Kong-trained horse, is pointing toward the April 6 G2 Sprint Cup back at 1200 metres. Said pilot Zac Purton, "He's going really well. It's good to be back...

A Blackbeard half-brother to the GII Sands Point Stakes heroine Eternal Hope (Teofilo) features among 201 juveniles catalogued to sell at next month's Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale, with a further 151 lots set to go through the ring at Park Paddocks during the Horses In Training section. Other highlights among the two-year-olds catalogued in the Guineas Breeze-up Sale include lot 163, a Torquator Tasso half-sister to the G2 Champagne Stakes third Aftermath (Justify) whose dam, Flying (Galileo), is a full-sister to the Group 1 winners Misty For Me and Ballydoyle;...

High Value Developmental Races on the Flat will continue this season, with 76 races programmed to strengthen the British racing and breeding industry. The novice and maiden races are run with enhanced prize-money to support domestic breeding and encourage the purchase and racing of young talent in Britain. The programme of high value races is possible thanks to the support of British Stallion Studs (European Breeders' Fund), Darley, Juddmonte and Tattersalls, who combine with the BHA Development Fund to provide financial support for the initiative. The first High Value Developmental...

Saturday, Meydan, UAE, post time: 5.30 p.m., UAE DERBY SPONSORED BY JUMEIRAH-G2, $1,000,000, NH/SH3yo, 1900m Field: Pyromancer (Jpn) (Pyro), Wonder Dean (Jpn) (Dee Majesty {Jpn}), Six Speed (Not This Time), Go Man (Fr) (Goken {Fr}), Salloom (Authentic), Brotherly Love (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), Devon Island (Practical Joke), Rammaas (Speightstown), Union Security (Maximum Security), Duke Of Immatin (Gun Runner), Lino Padrino (Uncle Lino), Labwah (Charlatan). TDN Analysis: Listed winner Brotherly Love is hunting for his first GI Kentucky Derby points in the UAE Derby here. Breaking 11th of 12 in the 1900-metre...