Europe

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) welcomed more than 140 representatives from across the racing industry, government, education, and the local community to the National Equine Campus (NEC) Stakeholder Engagement Day at the Racing Academy & Centre of Education (RACE) on Monday. The event provided attendees with an opportunity to learn more about plans for the National Equine Campus, a transformative redevelopment project that will expand the role of the current RACE facility to become a national centre for education, training, wellbeing, rehabilitation, and high-performance services for the Irish racing industry.  Guests...

Trainer Michael O'Callaghan has opened up about the emotion surrounding the Goodwood success of The Harv (Ten Sovereigns), named in honour of his late friend and business partner John Fleming, who helped source the Royal Ascot-bound juvenile merely hours before his untimely death back in April.  The Harv was heavily-punted into 5-6 favouritism before making a winning debut in a six-furlong novice on Sunday. That performance convinced his trainer that the colt was up to running in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, for which he is a general 33-1...

Pierre-Charles Boudot is set to return to race riding next week after having his licence reinstated.  Boudot has not ridden in public since his arrest on a charge of rape back in 2021. However, he was completely exonerated of those charges last week, and is set for a return to the saddle as early as next week.  His agent, Herve Naggar, posted on X, "@PCBOUDOT will finally get back in the saddle next week in France. Bravo to you for having endured these five years of nightmare. Proud to have...

4.18 Salisbury, Mdn, 3yo, 9f 201yT CENTRUM (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) makes his belated debut for Juddmonte and the Gosdens but, as the 13th foal out of Concentric (Sadler's Wells), he has time to add to an illustrious family honour. A half-brother to the brilliant Enable (Nathaniel), he is the first progeny by this sire out of the mare, who has also produced the stakes performers Derab (Sea The Stars), Entitle (Dansili) and Contribution (Champs Elysees), with the latter responsible for Dubawi's Prix Penelope winner Agave. Heading the opposition is Al...

River In Paradise, who made a successful start to her career at Lingfield last Thursday, is set to be offered in the Tattersalls Online June Pop-Up Sale, which will take place on Friday, June 12. Consigned by Robert Edwards' Uplands Stables, the two-year-old daughter of Lope Y Fernandez beat nine rivals when winning a six-furlong fillies' maiden at the Surrey venue, earning a Timeform rating of 73p. The first foal out of the winning Invincible Spirit mare River Eden - herself a daughter of the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes scorer...

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is standing firm in response to criticism of how the stewards handled the aftermath of the stalls incident involving Benvenuto Cellini at Epsom on Saturday, expressing the view that its rules "should be in line with the majority of the international racing community on this issue, rather than an outlier". Aidan O'Brien's Derby favourite was deemed not to have had a fair start after his near hind leg was briefly caught on the inside shelf of the stalls as the gates opened for the premier...

If you've had reason to chat to Stephen Hillen at the sales you will know that he's an agent who is measured to the point of coming across as though he has ice running through his veins. Had he and his wife Becky been at Epsom on Saturday to watch the horse they bred win the Derby they may have felt pretty icy, too, but sensibly they were watching from afar in the warmer climes of Mallorca.  To the suggestion that he doesn't let himself get carried away by too...

Wathnan Racing and Karl Burke will head to Royal Ascot with some exciting two-year-olds and Monday's action at Carlisle saw Light Of Dawn (Showcasing) add her name to the list. The victory follows a brace of winners for the Wathnan operation at Churchill Downs on Sunday, both of whom - Sneakily (Tapit) and Leading Change (Gun Runner) - were subsequently named 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard'. Sent off the 5-6 favourite for the near-six-furlong novice, the €625,000 Arqana May Breeze-Up purchase was settled in rear of the quartet early...

William Haggas is weighing up an Irish Derby tilt with Maltese Cross but admitted a trip to France might be more likely for his Betfred Derby runner-up. The son of Sea The Stars was attempting to give the Somerville Lodge handler a second Derby victory on the 30th anniversary of his first ever runner in the race, Shaamit. There was to be no fitting fairytale on a wet and gloomy afternoon on the Surrey Downs, but Maltese Cross fought valiantly for the silver medal behind Aidan O'Brien's Christmas Day to...

Making yet more history for the legendary Yutaka Take, Sixpence (Kizuna) gained his first success at the top level when coming out on top in a thrilling finish to Sunday's Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo. The race is a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in October. Trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka, Sixpence was one of three runners in a breakaway group who appeared to have the race between them with 400 metres to run, with long-time leader World's End (Lord Kanaloa) to his left and Seiun Hades...

2.45 Carlisle, Novice, 2yo, 5f 182yT LIGHT OF DAWN (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) is a hot prospect for Wathnan Racing and the Karl Burke stable with Royal Ascot looming, being the operation's €625,000 purchase at the recent Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale. Out of Jim Bolger's Listed-winning An Ghalanta (Holy Roman Emperor), she is a half-sister to three stakes performers, headed by Bletchley (Makfi), who was runner-up in the Albany at Royal Ascot and Woodbine's Nassau.

With the Epsom Classics now in the rearview mirror, the countdown to Royal Ascot will soon be uppermost in everybody's thoughts, most definitely if your name is Michael or Anne Gaffney, the breeders of the hugely exciting Senorita Bonita. Already the Starspangledbanner filly has made headlines once this year when stealing the show at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale. Consigned on behalf of the Gaffneys by Mark Flannery of Egmont Stud, she fetched fully 350,000gns more than the next top lot when knocked down to Anthony Stroud for 900,000gns, following...