Shared Content Archive

By Emma Berry  He's won Classics in Britain, Ireland, America and Italy, not to mention two Melbourne Cups; but, like many in Irish racing, Dermot Weld can't resist a tilt at some of jump racing's biggest prizes, and his training skills were demonstrated once more at Cheltenham with the rousing victory of Windsor Park (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle.  Owned by Dr. Ronan Lambe--who last year tasted Cheltenham glory with the Weld-trained Silver Concorde (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in the Champion Bumper as well as Cheltenham Gold...

The “Ship & Win” program introduced at Del Mar four years ago and designed to attract out-of-state horses to race in California has been expanded to include the entire Southern California racing circuit beginning Apr. 2. The program, which will apply to horses racing at Santa Anita, Los Alamitos and Del Mar, will guarantee a $1,000 appearance fee and a 30% enhancement to all purse money earned in the initial start of horses who have not raced in California in the past 12 months. Funding for the program will come...

Ecurie Victoria Dreams' racing manager Laurent Benoit has revealed that High Celebrity (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a leading contender for next month's G1 1000 Guineas, has suffered a setback and will be forced to miss an intended racecourse gallop at Longchamp Sunday. However, connections of the Andre Fabre trainee, who was a Group 3 winner in France last season and placed in both her starts at Newmarket including third to Tiggy Wiggy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the G1 Cheveley Park S., remain hopeful that the filly will recover in time for the...

By Kelsey Riley  Longines Thursday unveiled the Longines Positioning System, a new technology for timekeeping and tracking in racing, during a press conference at Royal Randwick. The technology will be put into action for the first time during Saturday's second day of The Championships at Royal Randwick, which features the A$4 million Longines Queen Elizabeth S.  The LPS will utilize tiny boxes, weighing about 60 grams and placed in the saddlecloths, that have an integrated antenna that will communicate with about 20 antennas positioned around the racecourse, “to ensure permanent...

Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out a trio of GI Kentucky Derby hopefuls for Saturday morning breezes at Palm Beach Downs, including unbeaten GI Besilu Stables Florida Derby winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Materiality (Afleet Alex), GII Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth S. winner via disqualification and Florida Derby fourth-place finisher Itsaknockout (Lemon Drop Kid), and GII Louisiana Derby runner-up Stanford (Malibu Moon).  Starlight Racing's Itsaknockout, paired with recent Tamarac S. winner and unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Competitive Edge (Super Saver), who is targeting the Pat Day Mile May 2, worked a half-mile :49.06. The duo covered the last quarter...

Sheikh Mohammed homebred Via Strata (Street Cry {Ire}) puts her unbeaten record on the line in Belmont's GII Ruffian S. Saturday. A 5 3/4-length debut victress sprinting over the Big A inner Dec. 13, she had no trouble defeating winners when stretched to a mile back in Ozone Park Feb. 7. The 4-year-old earned the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction last time when she crushed Keeneland optional claimers box to wire by eight lengths Apr. 9. The daughter of MGSW Golden Velvet (Seeking the Gold) is coupled with fellow Kiaran McLaughlin trainee and 'Rising Star' Wedding...

The 2014 Italian Horse of the Year Priore Philip (Ity) (Dane Friendly {GB}) will face a crucial test Sunday at Capannelle in the form of the G1 Premio Presidente Della Repubblica, over 2000 meters. The chestnut 4-year-old, who won the (then) G1 Gran Criterium at two, looked like a good miler when prevailing in the G2 Premio Carlo Vittadini at San Siro in May of 2014 after an unlucky defeat in the G3 Italian 2000 Guineas the previous month. Priore Philip improved a lot after a summer break and collected the G1...

It's a scene that could play out Saturday in Baltimore or, perhaps, three weeks later at Belmont Park. Dortmund has the lead as the field hits the sixteenth pole, and American Pharoah is bearing down on him. The two lock heads, go stride for stride the last few yards ... and Dortmund wins by a nose. There will be no Triple Crown winner in 2015. Plenty of things stand between American Pharoah and the Triple Crown. The list begins with the fact that it's nearly impossible for a horse to...

Saturday's racing surely came extremely close to perfection for any lover of the Thoroughbred. The highlight, inevitably, had to be American Pharoah's majestic display at Belmont, which finally quenched America's thirst for a Triple Crown winner. However, there were no grounds for complaint earlier in the day at Epsom, when the exciting Golden Horn maintained his unbeaten record in excellent style in the Derby.  Appropriately, each of the colts is a representative of the male line which has made the greatest impact on his respective country's Triple Crown events in...

Irish Rookie (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), the 3/4-length runner-up in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches May 10, may bypass Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane and instead be supplemented for next Friday's G1 Coronation S. over a mile at Royal Ascot. Newmarket-based trainer Martyn Meade told At The Races he may prefer to stick to a mile with his charge, and he also revealed Irish Rookie had a small setback in training and could find the extra few days into the Coronation beneficial.  "The campaign I organized for her was to run...

The ongoing cobalt doping controversy has sent shockwaves throughout the Australian racing industry and there were further developments on Thursday when five people were charged by Racing Victoria stewards for doping offences. Among these were Group 1 winning trainers Danny O'Brien and Mark Kavanagh. O'Brien, whose biggest success came when Shamus Award (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) won the Cox Plate in 2013, and Melbourne Cup winning Kavanagh, were charged along with the father-son training partnership of Lee and Shannon Hope plus the veterinarian Dr Tom Brennan. In March, Darren Smith became the first...

The trainers who have supplied the two most recent winners of Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. look to have the race surrounded with horses who stand a chance to make some noise during the second half of the season.  Bob Baffert sent out Code West (Lemon Drop Kid) to win the 2013 Matt Winn for owners Gary and Mary West, and the Triple Crown winning-conditioner will tighten the girth around 6-5 favorite Fame and Power (First Defence) for the last of the evening's four graded events. A maiden winner through four starts...